Author Archives: swarm
Stridulation Friday
Here’s a little sappy gem from my bug-music collection, from none other than Burl Ives. The song is endearing enough by itself, but all the “dancing bug” footage in this 1963 Disney feature film is a swarm of silly. http://youtu.be/qW2_xXMelR8 … Continue reading
The Uncomfortable Insects of Sarah Garzoni
We frequently use insects as tools in industry, science, art and agriculture. We keep them as pets, kill them for clothes, and patent their genes. In that uncomfortable vein is a great collection of insect-related works from Sarah Garzoni. Though … Continue reading
Caution:
Funny thing is, even though they’re in a union, they never get breaks…
Stridulation Friday
In keeping with yesterday’s cicada theme, sharing a live version of one of my favorite insect-tunes: “Cicada” by the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, from Athens, GA. Though it’s kinda hard to tell in the video (heck, it’s hard to understand the … Continue reading
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Tagged Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, cicada, juliabee, stridulation friday
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Brood XIX Blues
Still a little sore that I’ve missed out on the gigantic cicada invasion known as Brood XIX, but not so sore that I can’t share some wonderful cicada-themed artwork by Nashville-based Anderson Design Group. I love the combinations of entomology … Continue reading
City of Insects
I love a good insect-snack when they’re served in edgy restaurants or entomology conferences, but these are essentially leggy window-dressing, a haute cuisine curio usually consisting of a dry-roasted cricket coated in spices daringly decorating a fancy hors d’oeuvre. Sure … Continue reading
Crop Circles
Dr. Mohamed Babu from Mysore, India fed ants food-dye filled sugar water, photographing these lovely patterns of ants filling their crops (also known as “social stomachs”) with the bright colors, and making different color combinations when they change droplets. Beautiful … Continue reading
Wicked Bugs
Though I try to resist picking up every “collection of insect factoid” book that gets published, I couldn’t resist grabbing Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart. Unlike most factoid-books I own … Continue reading
Wesley Fleming
A lovely discovery of Pennsylvania glass artist Wesley Fleming‘s incredible insects. Many of his creations are species-specific, and though there are plenty of beetles and damselflies, he’s not shy about celebrating the leggy beauty of phasmids, spiders and centipedes.
Ambrosia
A well-written but brief article in Wired on the fascinating and destructive bark and ambrosia beetles, important economic pests whose biology is little-known. The real wonder is in the accompanying photos, showing the beautiful and diverse beetles themselves, SEM photographs … Continue reading
