So what did 2017 hold?

Of course, with the replacement of a small stack of bound pages with kitten pictures on our walls and the practice of crossing out the incorrect date on our checks (neither of which actually occurs anymore,) it is time to examine the previous twelve months and try to figure out what went wrong, just so we can feel better about what the next twelve months might hold. And since I’m read more

Podcast: Twps & Boros & USB


And so, at long last, another podcast… but, you know, don’t rejoice yet:

Walkabout podcast – Twps & Boros & USB

Let’s start with the good stuff: Carmen’s Deli in Bellmawr, NJ, where you can get authentic Philly-style hoagies. And other things, too, but who cares? Hoagies, man. Hoagies.

A Jersey jughandle – follow the blue arrows.


If you’re read more

Getting back to abnormal


For the past few weeks, I have had little time to chase arthropod pics, and even less time to blog about it, but I’m able to catch up a little now. Some of these images are from before that busy time, and some are ‘current.’

I haven’t been keeping up with the mantises as I did last year, but that’s partially because only two are able to be found dependably. Above, one read more

Too cool, part 30: Not even halfway yet

You know, I started wondering why I’ve never tackled this before, and then I realized it was because I never had something handy to use for the comparison.

You remember the photo from an earlier post, showing the newborn Chinese mantids (Tenodera sinensis) clustered on a twig? You know, this one:


That was taken within 24 hours of hatching, and while I have nothing to provide read more

Arthropopourri

Just a handful of collected arthropod photos from the past few weeks, specifically excluding mantids.


Above, while pinning down focus on a pollinating sweat bee, a bumblebee flew into the frame as the shutter tripped, in a pretty optimal position compositionwise. Too bad the focus was so short.

And before I get to the next image below, a brief bit of background. While out at the nearby pond one night, read more

Logistics, logistics

I said in the previous post that more would be coming “in a day or so” after I worked out some details. “Or so” apparently means “five days.” However, that’s nowhere near how long I’ve been waiting.

Back in 2010, I snagged a pair of images of a small unknown insect, one that flew away before I could do anything detailed, and this was before I had the read more

Green day

Not today – today has been rain all day. These are all from a few days back, and noticeably had the green thing going on, so…

Over at the pond nearby, a pale green assassin (Zelus luridus) like the one seen a few posts back posed in shadow on the pod of a buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis.) While I’ve been seeing them from the start of the insect season this read more

Monday color 37

Decisions, decisions…

We have an Euonymus americanus in the yard, more commonly known as a “hearts-a-bustin'” or even a strawberry bush, the latter by people with little imagination and no concept of being confusing as hell, since it has no relation to the plant that actually produces strawberries. As can be seen here, instead it has a remarkable display when the seeds read more

Happy Halloween


The weather has been spastic as all git-out, and I’ve actually postponed meetings with a couple of students because it’s been raining frequently and unpredictably, despite many meteorologist’s claims otherwise. Yesterday as the weather cleared I got out to a park that I don’t visit too often, having left early to beat the rush hour traffic, and had some time read more

1 2 3 4 5 17