Nature
grrlscientist | May 19, 2010tags: botany, Majavankaalit, skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, Helsinki, Finland, travel, photography, image of the day
Symplocarpus foetidus (Family: Araceae) (Majavankaalit or Skunk Cabbage)
Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 15 May 2010 [larger view].
awild | May 15, 2010Natural disasters are things we see in the news. A flood in Bangladesh, earthquakes in China, wildfires in California- all reported in somber tones before the commercial break, often presented with some generic disaster clip of people sorting through rubble. These events have a defining feature: they happen to other people. Not to us, or to anyone we know.
Debby and Mike Kaspari in the box where they weathered the storm
An exception to this principle of natural disasters touched down in Oklahoma last week. The tornados that killed several people nearly took two of our own: artist/blogger…
grrlscientist | May 13, 2010tags: Orangefarben Dahlie, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Lachsfarbene Rosen.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
laelaps | May 13, 2010
Components of the newly-described Fezouata fauna. a, Demosponge Pirania auraeum b, Choiid demosponge c, Annelid worm d, Organism showing possible similarities to halkieriids e, Possible armoured lobopod f, Thelxiope-like arthropod g, Marrellomorph arthropod, probably belonging to the genus Furca h, Skaniid arthropod i, Spinose arthropod appendage
apparatus consisting of six overlapping elements. From Van Roy et al, 2010.
When the Cambrian period comes up in conversation, it is usually in reference to the evolutionary "explosion" which occurred around 530 million years ago. Animal fossils…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2010tags: Sonnenaufgang Ranunkel Blume, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Rosa Ranunkel.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | May 11, 2010tags: Sonnenaufgang Ranunkel Blume, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Sonnenaufgang Ranunkel Blume.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | May 10, 2010tags: Sonnenaufgang Ranunkel Blume, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Sonnenaufgang Ranunkel Blume.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
sciencepunk | May 10, 2010NPR reports on the discovery of a bee that builds tiny, multi-coloured nests out of flower petals. The rare solitary bee Osmia avoseta creates the cocoons out of a mixture of mud, flower petals and nectar. Each case holds a single egg.
The discovery by a group of scientists in Turkey co-incided with that of another team in Iran; the two groups published their findings together in the American Museum Novitae. More pictures and info on NPR.org.
grrlscientist | May 9, 2010tags: Orangefarben Dahlie, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Orangefarben Dahlie.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | May 8, 2010tags: Lachsfarbene Rosen, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Lachsfarbene Rosen.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
I am so surprised to see that I managed to actually capture the delicate pinkish-orange color of these beautiful roses.
grrlscientist | May 7, 2010tags: Gold, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Gold.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
The brilliant colors and the different petal structures make this a very interesting and aesthetically appealing photograph.
awild | May 7, 2010
Anthrenus sp. carpet beetle
Urbana, Illinois
Little Anthrenus beetles are one of the most common insects across the northern hemisphere. Adults can be found in flowers feasting on pollen, and the detritivorous larvae are often inhabitants of homes and buildings. If you'd like to see one of these yourself, check your window sills- there's a good chance a few will have accumulated around the edges as they try to exit.
A few years ago I attended an organizational meeting for the great Beetle Tree of Life project. A couple dozen of the world's greatest Coleopterists were crammed into a room…
grrlscientist | May 6, 2010tags: Orange Rose, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Orange Rose.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | May 5, 2010tags: Pink Ranunculus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, cities, flowers, image of the day, photography
Pink Ranunculus.
Nordwestzentrum open air market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 May 2010 [larger view]
I dragged my ailing body out of bed to venture out to the open air market in search of a few photographs to share with you. I am especially proud of this stunning photograph, which looks even more amazing than I expected it would!
awild | May 4, 2010They looked like little flowers, or miniature suction cups, but yesterday's mystery was neither. Here's a more recent view:
Arilus cristatus, a newly hatched wheel bug nymph with eggs
Ted MacRae of Beetles in the Bush picks up 6 points for guessing that they were Reduviid eggs, and MarekB gets 4 for nabbing the genus and species. Plus, one point goes to Chris Grinter who surmised that these might be hemipteran eggs.
By late summer this little buglet will have grown into a wheel bug, a massive assassin as large as my thumb:
grrlscientist | May 3, 2010tags: Sonnige Blume, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day, photography
Sonnige Blume.
Image: GrrlScientist, 20 April 2010 [larger view]
I was lured out of my sickbed so I could photograph this lovely flower, which really did brighten my day (even though I am STILL SICK!!)
grrlscientist | May 2, 2010tags: Rosenblüte, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day, photography
Rosenblüte.
Image: GrrlScientist, 20 April 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | May 1, 2010tags: Rosen, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Rosen.
Image: GrrlScientist, 20 April 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010tags: Orange Blüte, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view]
awild | April 25, 2010From "Life in the Undergrowth", perhaps the finest insect documentary ever made, a scene featuring Australia's intertidal ants:
A few years back I traveled through northern Queensland with myrmecologists Phil Ward and Gary Alpert. Having heard about the aquatic abilities of these ants, we searched for them in a mangrove forest just outside the Cairns airport while waiting for our flight. After a bit of looking, Phil found a foraging trail of large black ants going up a mangrove trunk.
We dropped a few into the water below, and sure enough- swimming ants! It's a remarkable behavior.