Coming Soon – Blog Action Day

 Blogosphere, General Information, Pop Culture  5 Responses »
Oct 062010
 

I’m an information addict, and blogs help feed my habit daily. I read about photography, web design, baseball, nature, video games, science, travel, and of course entomology, and each blog opens my eyes and educates me in a different way. But what if each blog took one day to discuss the same subject, from their unique point of view? That’s the idea behind Blog Action Day, an annual event geared at creating a unified conversation across the international blogosphere about a topic important to everyone. This year’s conversation begins Friday, October 15th, and will focus on water, something every living thing on Earth requires, yet which is largely taken for granted in the Western world. To date, 1,600+ blogs in 100 countries and with a combined readership of nearly 13,000,000 people have committed to dive into the discussion, and I’m sure those numbers will continue to grow this week.

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

I haven’t solidified what I’ll bring to the table yet, but I will do my part to get the world talking about water in my own, insect-centric way. I hope you’ll join me  next Friday, and I encourage you to join in the discussion, either through your comments or through your own blog.

ESO 2010 is fast approaching!

 Entomology, General Information, Student Info  7 Responses »
Sep 032010
 

One of my favourite yearly entomological events is coming up soon, and I wanted to spread the word to all those who may be interested in attending. The Entomological Society of Ontario Annual General Meeting is being held October 15-17 in Grand Bend, Ontario, and it promises to be another great meeting.

ESO 2010 Logo

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Big News for Diptera!

 Entomology, General Information, Taxonomy  4 Responses »
May 212010
 

Thought I’d pass along this golden egg, the Entomological Society of Canada has recently been given permission to scan and publish all 3 volumes of the Manual of Nearctic Diptera on their website, and it’s 100% free! The “Manual”, as it’s referred to, is as close to a Bible for North American dipterists as you can get, and includes keys to all* the genera of flies found north of Mexico! It’s been out of print for awhile now and bound copies are hard to come by (I just recently received a full like-new set this winter, and I’ve been searching for 4 years), which makes a digital (and searchable) version a real plus!

Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s in each richly illustrated volume:

Vol. 1 – Morphology and Terminology (great reference), Key to Families (adults and larvae), Keys to genera for all Nematocera (Culicidae – mosquitoes, Tipulidae – crane flies, Simuliidae – black flies, etc) and Orthorrhapha (Stratiomyidae – soldier flies, Tabanidae – deer and horse flies, Asilidae – robber flies, Bombyliidae – bee flies, Empididae – dance flies, etc)

Mosquito sitting on log in Ontario

Time to start ID'ing my Nematocerans, like this Mosquito (Culicidae)

Vol. 2 – Keys to genera for each of the following; Aschiza (Syrphidae – flower flies, Phoridae – scuttle flies, Pipunculidae – big-headed flies, etc), Calyptratae (Muscidae – house flies, Calliphoridae – blowflies, Tachinidae, Sarcophagidae – flesh flies), and most importantly the Acalyptratae (Micropezidae – stilt-legged flies, Tephritidae – fruit flies, Drosophilidae – vinegar flies, Sphaeroceridae – lesser dung flies, Ephydridae – shore flies, etc)

Soldier flies are your's to discover, like this <i>Stratiomys adelpha</i>

Soldier flies (Stratiomyidae) are your's to discover, like this Stratiomys adelpha

Vol. 3 – Phylogeny and classification of the Diptera

You can download your copy of the Manual here, and while you’re there check out some of the other titles that have been made available as well, including most of the Canadian Handbook Series, detailing some of the major insect and spider groups found in Canada! Thanks to the folks at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Spiders, and Nematodes, and the Entomological Society of Canada for making this possible!

* – all genera as of the late 1980’s that is, there have been a few changes since then, but this will still give you a great headstart

Blogs for Beginners – Find More!

 Blogosphere, General Information  1 Response »
Apr 092010
 

Yesterday you got the best of my blogroll, and now you’re ready for more? Well then, today I’ll share a couple of resources for you to find other blogs that might interest you!

Dicerca divaricata (Buprestidae) on sunny log

For a dipterist, I've been featuring a lot of beetles lately....

To start, I would go through the list of  blogs at the Nature Blog Network. You can find any nature related topic you could ever want with a multiple authors to choose from in each. Insects, photography, birding, conservation, and marine biology are only a few of the topics that you can peruse at your leisure!

Nature not your thing? A lot of mainstream topics can be found through AllTop. This is essentially a blog aggregator, but rather than you getting to choose which blogs show up, you can see a selection for a given buzz word and go from there. A little clunky at times, but none the less a lot of high profile blogs to check out, from politics to food and beyond!

Do you subscribe to monthly magazines? Why not browse some of the blog carnivals that float around the ‘net! These are essentially periodicals of related blog entries from a bunch of different authors. Some of the larger ones that I’m aware of include the Carnival of Evolution (featuring some of the best science bloggers online), An Inordinate Fondness (for all the beetley goodness), and House of Herps (snakes, turtles, frogs, crocs, and all the other reptiles and amphibians are featured here).

Still need more? Google it, and all will be revealed! Also, bloggers are full of community spirit and often link to all sorts of interesting topics, so join the community and dive in to the blogging world!

Blogs for Beginners – Be a Follower

 Blogosphere, General Information  2 Responses »
Apr 062010
 

As I sat here writing my thesis this afternoon, my mind began to wonder (as it’s apt to do when I force myself to do things for long periods of time), and I started wondering how many people are frequent blog readers. Personally, I begin everyday checking in to see if anyone has put some new information out there for me to ingest (I’m an information-addict). But how many other people do something similar? Sure, people check their Facebook to see how their friend’s date went, or check in on Twitter to find out what Ashton Kutcher is eating for breakfast, but what about starting the day learning something new and related to your work/hobby?

Wood Frog Lithobates sylvatica sitting on grass

Have spring fever but stuck inside? Blogs may be the answer!

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New Blog on the Block

 General Information  5 Responses »
Jan 122010
 

Welcome to the Biodiversity in Focus Blog!

After much deliberation and procrastination, I’ve finally gotten around to starting a blog to share my (hopeful) career in entomology and my hobby of nature photography with all (one or two) of you!

Let me start off with a little about myself:

  • I’m a Master’s student at the University of Guelph studying insect systematics (more to come on that later);
  • I began taking my nature photography seriously in 2007 as a major hobby in order to share my passion for insects and the natural world with friends and family;
  • I’m a proud Canadian,  I love to travel and be out in the field, and I believe there is always something more to learn, especially about the natural world!

Ecuador Poecilotylus Micropezidae Fly

What can you expect from me and this blog? Well, I’ll be sharing my photos and information related to the biology of my subjects and the techniques I used capturing them; I’ll be writing about my work with insects and the science of taxonomy, as well as my experiences in the field and the lab (both the good and the bad); book & equipment reviews – related to both photography and entomology – as well as anything else I can come up with that I think may be of interest to you, the reader!

I hope that you’ll join me on my adventures through grad school (aka “life”), enjoy my photos, and I encourage you to ask questions or make requests on topics you’d like to read more about!

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