In the News: Phasmid wins BMC Ecology Photo Competition

 

From BBC News: In Pictures: Ecology photo contest's winners

Phasmid Studies 18(1&2)

Phasmid Studies Volume 18 is now available for download from the Phasmid Study Group website. This issue has been edited by myself and Judith Marshall.


The two indomalayan genera Tagesoidea Redtenbacher, 1908 and Eurynecroscia (Phasmatode: Anareolatae: Diapheromeridae: Necrosciinae)
Frank H . H ennemann & Oskar V. Conle

Necroscia perplexus (Redtenbacher, 1908) comb. nov. (Phasmatodea: Diapheromeridae: Necrosciinae), a new species to China 
 George Wai-chun Ho

Type specimens of phasmids in the National Zoological Survey of India collection (NZSI), Kolkata, India (Insecta : Phasmida)
Tushar K. Mukherjee & G. Sirinivasan

Description of female and egg of Sinophasma hainanensis Liu, 1987 (Phasmatodea: Diapheromeridae: Necrosciinae) 
George Wai-chun Ho

Some Nature Lives on Stick Insects

A couple of videos of me talking about stick insects as part of the Nature Live series at the Natural History Museum.

07/07/2012:

01/11/2012:

In the News: Exhibit Puts Friendly Face on Spiders

From Voice of America: Exhibit Puts Friendly Face on Spiders

NEW YORK CITY — Spiders, a unique class of creatures known as arachnids, come in 43,000 varieties and have thrived for nearly 300 million years on every continent except Antarctica.

Despite their ubiquity - and our frequent contact with them in our homes, gardens and farms - spiders are poorly understood and not well appreciated. A new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York is out to change that.

The museum boasts the world’s largest spider collection, and has populated its new “Spiders Alive!” exhibit with a diverse sampling. Live specimens of 20 different species crawl about in the exhibition’s glass display case, from the tarantula, which can grow to the size of a dinner plate, to the goliath birdeater, and the infamous Black Widow with its distinctive hourglass markings.

Read more

Could flies feed the world?

An interesting piece from the BBC's Material World podcast:

Download MP3

The South African company behind the idea of feeding maggots (MagMeal) instead of fish (FishMeal) to poultry is called AgriProtein (the website is a model of euphemistic language). The maggots themselves are fed on abattoir waste.

Invertebrate Sound and Vibration 2013

An interesting sounding conference.

The 14th Invertebrate Sound and Vibration international meeting will be held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, July 23-26, 2013. 

Invertebrate Sound and Vibration (ISV) integrates a wide range of themes including biomechanics, evolution, behavioral ecology, neuroethology, phylogenetics, and genomics of acoustic and vibratory communication in invertebrates. ISV typically attracts over 100 delegates at all stages of their careers. ISV meetings provide an excellent opportunity to present your work and to network with colleagues. 

The meeting will be a superb opportunity to catch up with colleagues, talk excellent science, and visit Scotland! 

The meeting host is Dr James Windmill, with co-organiser Dr Shira Gordon, both at the Centre of Ultrasonic Engineering, University of Strathclyde.

Conference website

Lord Howe Island phasmid hatching

First video of a nymph of the Lord Howe Island stick insect hatching from its egg.

 

33rd ANNUAL ORTHOPTERISTS MEETING 7th November 2012

Dear Fellow Orthopterist,

This year we will be meeting at the Natural History Museum, London on Wednesday, 7th November from 14:00 to 20:00. Details of the venue at the museum will be sent out with the draft programme in September.

The meeting will be convened as a special interest group of the Royal Entomological Society and everyone is very welcome to attend whether to present research or just to listen and meet other orthopterists. This year, as last, we are aiming to put together a programme which will have a mixture of presentation lengths. Both initial results and ideas, as well as completed research are welcome. You can offer talks or posters on grasshoppers, crickets and related groups (cockroaches, earwigs, stick insects, mantids).

There will be space to display posters and other exhibits as usual, and computer projector facilities will be provided. To date, we are expecting talks on cockroaches of the genus Ectobius new to Britain, the mobile phone Orthoptera key, the new Orthoptera atlas, and communication in Speckled Bushcrickets (Leptophyes punctatissima).

The copy date for the next issue of the RES magazine Antenna is 31st July and while we realise that this is very short notice, if you know you would like to present something please let us know as soon as possible so details can be included.

The total cost will be £12 per person to cover tea and biscuits during the afternoon and a cold buffet with wine at about 18:00.

We hope that you will be able to attend the meeting. Please see below for registration details.

Yours sincerely,

David Robinson
d.j.robinson@open.ac.uk

Björn Beckmann
orthoptera@ceh.ac.uk

Registration

Please reply providing the following details by 25th October 2012 (talk titles as soon as possible please):

• the title of any talk or poster you would like to give, details of specimens you will bring with you, etc. Please also let us know about any particular display equipment etc. that you require.
• your title, first name, surname, institution (for name badge)
• any special dietary requirements

Payment

£12 to include tea and biscuits and a cold buffet with wine.
either

Send a cheque made payable to the Royal Entomological Society to:
Ms Kirsty Whiteford, Senior Administrator, Royal Entomological Society, The Mansion House, Chiswell Green Lane, St Albans, Herts, AL2 3NS.

Pay by bank transfer:
Royal Entomological Society, sort code 30-97-25, account number 01921533.
Please ensure that you include your name and “Orthoptera SIG” for reference.

Pay by debit or credit card over the phone. Please phone Kirsty on +44 (0)1727 899387.
(Please note that there will be a 2% admin charge payable on all credit cards)
Overseas visitors will probably not be charged or can pay on the day.

Baby Octopus Explosion

From ZooBorns a while ago: Baby Octopus Explosion

There's no such thing as a jellyfish