Annual mass migrations of zebras, wildebeest, Thompson gazelles, and other assorted ungulates on sweeping, dry African plains are the source of some of the most evocative and celebrated images of our world at its finest. Cue in the blazing red orb of the setting sun as the endless string of magnificent, heroic silhouettes passes across…
Category: Insects
More babies
Earlier today Kristin was reading on the couch, when she noticed a small insect crawling up the wall. “It is either a very small mantis or an assassin bug”, she opined, exhibiting some pretty good entomological expertise. I was not expecting to see either but, sure enough, it was a small praying mantis. Then we…
Predatory katydids
Earlier this week I spent a couple of days in Philadelphia, visiting my Holy Shrine, the Orthoptera collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences. I was giving a talk at a meeting of the American Entomological Society (not to be confused with its much younger, up-and-coming offshoot, the Entomological Society of America.) It was also…
What happens on the fourth Thursday of November
The fourth Thursday of November is upon us, and this can mean only one thing – winter moths are coming! A few days ago, while trying to decide if this year we should have a turkey or two turkeys for dinner, Kristin looked up from the menu list she was working on and said, “Thanksgiving moths…
An auditory cyclops
Although these days most of our life is spent in front of devices that cram the world into a convenient, two-dimensional space, the moment when we peel our eyes off the screen brings the realization that we still live in a universe that has a pesky third dimension. Sights, sounds, and smells come to us…
A disappearing Goliath
Quickly vanishing forests of West Africa are still home to one of the most magnificent members of the beetle order—the Goliath beetle (Goliathus regius). Despite their bulky appearance, Goliath beetles are excellent fliers, frequenting flowers blooming in the forest canopy. Adult beetles feed also on ripe fruits and sap, while their giant grubs, which can…
The Smaller Majority 