Totally Buggin News

Totallybuggin monarch videos to be exhibited!

totallybuggin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:53:56 +0000

Totallybuggin monarch videos to be exhibited at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Giant Robot Spider

totallybuggin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:09:31 +0000

September 5th, 2008 A 50-foot, mechanical spider “came alive” today, reports the BBC.

Robot spider vs. bee

totallybuggin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:47:28 +0000

By Susan Milius

Science News Thursday, September 4th, 2008

A new bee-testing device mimics a close call with a dangerous camouflaged spider. A bee that ignores the yellow-on-yellow spider shape and buzzes close to sip a sugar droplet gets a remotely triggered squeeze from electronic sponges. Full article

Vegetarian Spider!

totallybuggin — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:04:12 +0000

Sience NewsBy Susan Milius

August 30th, 2008; Vol.174 #

This spider is one in what may be the first-known population of vegetarian spiders. The herbivores live on acacia trees in Mexico and steal leafy snacks, such as the tree nubbin this spider holds, from their ant neighbors. Full story.

A Study in Beauty and Butterflies

totallybuggin — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:47:30 +0000

Jerry V. Haines recently took a trip to Mexico City, and while there visited the Morelia Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. His story sounds quite amazing!

“I now know what it feels like to be inside a snow globe.

But instead of fake, swirling white snowflakes, substitute butterflies — hundreds, thousands, millions of orange-and-black monarchs — flying around like autumn leaves in a gale. Then, you can envision the scene at the Santuario de la Mariposa Monarca (Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary) near Morelia.”

Full Article

Fossil mystery solved?

totallybuggin — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:03:13 +0000

Science News October 13, 2007 Vol. 172 page 230
Sid Perkins

Paleontologists have long wondered how aquatic creatures such as water beetles end up fossilized in amber, a material derived from hardened tree sap. One exotic suggestion was that the creatures had lived in water-filled clefts in trees, says Alexander R. Schmidt, a biologist at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin. However, field tests in a swamp by Schmidt and paleobotanist David L. Dilcher of the University of Florida in Gainesville provide a simpler explanation. Within hours of resin dropping into water from a damaged pine tree, a variety of organisms—including the water beetle shown here—became stuck. The resin solidified when the swamp dried out, the researchers report in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Rare Butterfly Spotted in Starr County

totallybuggin — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:06:19 +0000

Jennifer L. Berghom
October 11, 2007 – 7:08PM

FALCON HEIGHTS — Berry Nall knew he saw something special while butterfly watching recently at Falcon State Park.

Taking pictures of the colorful winged insects at the park’s new butterfly garden, he noticed a tiny green one on a flower — a type he had never seen before.

“When I found it I had no idea what it was, so I took a picture of it,” the Falcon Heights resident said. “I tried to get as many pictures as I could, but it took off.”

Full Story

Bee Careful!

totallybuggin — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:05:20 +0000

When walking a roof, it’s always a good idea to peek down the plumbing vent stack. You never know what might be clogging that air flow.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20057325_20089679,00.html

List of U.S. State Butterflies

totallybuggin — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:14:06 +0000

Ever wonder what your state’s official butterfly is? Check out the names and photos of the official state butterfly for all fifty states at:

List of U.S. State Butterflies

Turtle Bay Exploration Park Features the Wings of Summer: Birds & Butterflies Exhibit

totallybuggin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:45:31 +0000

For those in Northern California, here are two events at Turtle Bay Exploration Park near Redding. One features butterflies:

Summer takes flight with two enchanting seasonal exhibits. View colorful exotic birds in a walk-in aviary in our new Birds! exhibition. Get closer by feeding them!

Returning for a ninth season is one of Turtle Bay’s most popular exhibitions, Butterflies! Visitors view hundreds of butterflies in a tranquil, enclosed garden.

Through October 1, 2007

http://www.turtlebay.org/