Looking back at 2009

In a brief editorial to the latest Phasmid Study Group Newsletter I said that for phasmatologists it had been a good year with several major papers (I will say something about the partial review of Phyllium by Hennemann et al soon), a field guide to the Australian stick and leaf insects by Paul Brock (I reviewed it here), and a number of new species bought into culture.

Personally it's also been good, in particular a trip to Costa Rica but also e-Biosphere, work on the Blattodea SpeciesFile, visiting the SpeciesFile team and a new job at the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

In the blogosphere (bugosphere?) we have seen new offers from Erica McAlister (Curator of Diptera's Blog) and a student blog from the entomologists at the University of Illinois (I went there this year too).

It seems the Amateur Entomologists' Society had a good year too.

So despite what you may hear or feel, there are still some good, new and exciting things happening in the world of insects.

New U of I Entomology Blog

The IB 401 students at the University of Illinois (I was there briefly earlier in the year: U of I Pollinatarium) have started an entomology blog. So far they seem to be pretty keen and doing a fine job, so check it out.

Good to see they have chosen an orthopteroid as the logo image too!

Pollinatarium at University of Illinois

On a recent trip to meet the Species File development team I had the privilege of visiting the University of Illinois Pollinatarium. This is a great outreach project geared to educate school groups (and others!) about pollinators. Of course there is plenty about bees (see video below - they have live ones) but also information about birds, bats and other creatures.

This is certainly one of the most exciting outreach projects I've seen, and the enthusiasm of the staff for this resource is infectious.

I have put some photos on Flickr. If you can go I strongly encourage you do so.