Category Archives: invertebrates

Why I Photograph and Blog Strange and Obscure Little Animals

By Adrian | Published 24 January, 2013

It’s still winter,, thus, still time for introspection, and time to  revisit some of the 96 draft posts that have accumulated in the last year…

Not long ago, Chris Buddle at Arthropod Ecology did an heart-felt post on “Why I study obscure and strange little animals“. While I don’t think he expected it to be a meme, his reasons struck home and made me pause and think. I am not a scientist, but why do I blog and photograph “obscure and strange little animals“? My rambling reasons follow:

  • because bugs are fascinating in their physical details, and one of the best ways to see the details is in a photograph.
  • because they are beautiful, with so much diversity in forms and structures, carved by evolution.
  • because they are everywhere, yet so little regarded or respected.
  • because I may, by sharing the fascination, turn a bug-stomper into a bug-respecter – maybe even a bug-lover.
  • because it allows me to occasionally cross paths with entomologists and other scientists: they are good people (and almost as interesting as the bugs!) and worth listening to.
  • because we know so little about bugs– and photography has the potential to open up new paths of  understanding.
  • because bugs have amazingly fascinating behaviors and life-cycles, and photography and blogging helps me to share the wonder.

    "Salticid, Habronattus cuspidatus"

    “You talkin’ about me?“

  • because photography is a skill that needs to be constantly honed and developed.
  • because they can provide a channel for creativity.
  • because they keep me physically and mentally active.
  • because they are great tools for learning, and understanding the natural world.
  • because it helps re-enforce memory, and I need that.
  • because it serves as a searchable record of what I do.
  • because it satisfies the child in me.
  • because it satisfies my need to connect with nature.

In the world of bug photography and blogging, I’m relatively a minor player.  However, I do gain some  personal satisfaction in what I do, and partaking in the community of bloggers, ‘arthropodologists’ and  bug photographers continues to be an enriching experience.

 

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Also posted in Alberta, Amateur Entomologist, Art, arthropods, Behaviour, Biodiversity, Blog, Bugs, Canada, Edmonton, Education, Insect, macro, photography, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Week on Sunday 17

By Adrian | Published 13 January, 2013

13 January, 2013 and another edition of The Week on Sunday.

♦ Opening today with this video from John Acorn, who makes us yearn for warmer days…

♦ If you like parasites, this has been a good week for news:

◊ Carl Zimmer writes about the jewel wasp, Ampulex compressa, that parasitizes cockroaches…

◊ But just how does a jewel wasp larva survive in the bacteria-infested cockroach anyhow? See If You’re Going To Live Inside A Zombie, Keep It Clean for more.

◊ What is this obsession with disinfection? Ed Yong reveals the latest ant research with news on Ants disinfect their young by drooling backside poison. (I’m so embarrassed…he said backside! :oops: )

◊ And – last and most disturbing - Jerry Coyne shares a video by someone who think bugs only exist to be bombed into oblivion. But that’s not the point…see how a Gordian worm emerges from parasitized spider…after the spider has been blitzed.

♦ The latest edition of the free magazine Anima Mundi is out, and the lead article has photographs of the amazing Pterochroza ocellata, the peacock katydid.

♦ Do you want to learn about tropical Lepidoptera? What looks to be a great course is happening at the Jenaro Herrera research center in the Department of Loreto, Peru. “The station is located in a biodiversity hot spot, surrounded by Amazonian rainforest that includes a variety of ecosystems.” Delicious!
Check out the Neotrropical Lepidoptera Course at CEBIO for more information. (Hat-tip to Terry Thormin)

♦ The Christmas season messed me up somewhat. I missed Terry Thormin’s post on Butterflies, Dung and Carrion… and who in their right mind would want to miss out on that?

Photography

♦ Not long after the release of Wide-angle Macro, the Essential Guide by Clay Bolt and Paul Harcourt Davies, Piotr Naskrecki came through with his approach to the subject. Be sure to visit Getting Low and Wide Part 1 and Part 2 for great tips.

♦ Ted MacRae  - that most amazing bug blogger over at Beetles in the Bush - has a problem. He is trying to refine his flash diffusion method, by means of popular opinion! Whatever one may think of popular opinion, be sure to check out Ted’s post and vote!

And from the Last but not Least dept., go over to Splendour Awaits’  (little) brother blog and have a look at Dan Johnson’s amazing piece of work…it is art riddled with bug paths.

 

 

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Also posted in Arachnid, arthropods, Blog Link, Canada, Equipment, Flash, Insect, Inspiration, Lepidoptera, macro, Orthoptera, Parasitism, Roundup, Week on Sunday, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Week on Sunday 15

By Adrian | Published 30 December, 2012

It’s been a distracting week here at Splendour Awaits, so for this ‘Week on Sunday’ I go retro, and look at a movie from the past that came into my view again this holiday season:

Perhaps the best all-round, full length insect documentary ever made: Microcosmos, the 1996 film by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou, is the last ‘Week on Sunday’ post for 2012.  Microcosmos not only displays excellent story telling through buggy vignettes and amazing filming technique, it is worthwhile listening to just for Bruno Coulais’s  soundtrack alone. Be sure to watch the snail love scene that begins at about 15:30!

That’s all folks, I’ll be back in the new year. All the best to you all in 2013!

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Also posted in Insect, Inspiration, Video, Week on Sunday | Leave a comment

Best Images of 2012

By Adrian | Published 27 December, 2012

For a variety of reasons, 2012 was not a very productive year for me in regards to bug photography, but here are a handful of my favorite images that, overall, attracted the most attention in the last twelve months. First the images taken in 2012:

A rose is a rose is a rose is a death trap…

Bombus centralis approaching Digitalis grandiflora

The Black Oil Beetle, Meloe niger

Male Habronattus americanus from the Opal Natural Area

Stick Insect on a Pin

Baby earwig at one day old

Female earwig protecting her eggs

Female earwig protecting her eggs

 

  • The most visited blog post with a single bug image in 2012 was the Centipede on White from 2009:

Lithobius sp. on Whiite

Echthrus sp., (Family Ichneumonidae) in ‘drilling’ position.

Many thanks to all those who have visited and supported this blog over the last year!

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Also posted in Alberta, Amateur Entomologist, Arachnid, Art, Behaviour, Bugs, Canada, Dermaptera, Feature Blogger, Forficulidae, Fun, Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Insect, macro, photography, Season, Shameless self promotion, Thomisidae, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments