Last year, I did a post on macro photography that featured some detail pics of a Giant Water Bug, also called an Electric Light Bug but better known by the scientific name Belostoma flumineum. This post totally rocked the internet, and by that I mean, was just another post on just another blog, probably read by five people. My definition of “going viral” seems to be, “really really small and not moving.”
Yet, it garnered the attention of a couple of biology students who were doing a project on the species, and they asked permission to use the images therein. I’m virtually always cool with that, since it wasn’t for profit, was a good cause, and proper attribution was given. I’ve just been notified that their project website is now online, so in return, I’ll send you over there. It’s a nice collection of information on the species, certainly more than I usually impart, and if most websites were as clean and well-organized as theirs, there would be far less strife in the world. I also want to note that this is a portion of the larger site devoted to student projects from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, known as MultipleOrganisms.net (that’s organisms, don’t get excited,) also worth the visit.
I have to add in a small note: When I remarked about the snail that might have attacked me with acid a few days ago, I had spent a fair amount of time doing internet research on snail species, eventually finding the name of someone who seemed to know quite a bit about snails. I set her name aside to contact as a side project, and now realized that she’s a biology professor at the same university, even linked on that MultipleOrganisms site. Small world, but now I’m obligated to follow this up. I’ll let you know what I find.
And good luck with the project, guys!