A while ago I started a weekly link round up series, but unlike Ed, Chris and Malcolm, I quickly became inundated with too much good stuff and it was taking me way longer to put together each week than I felt comfortable doing, and eventually allowed it to drop.
But, there is some truly awesome work being done across the internet bringing attention to entomology and science in general, so I figure I’ll try and do a monthly recap of some of the stuff I come across and that I think should be read/watched/listened to by more people! Here’s this month’s crop of awesomeness (in chronological order).
Sometimes conservation biologists can try to save a species a little too hard, inadvertently side-lining natural selection. Ed Yong has the fascinating story of how one bird species was pulled back from the brink a little too often.
The International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature has until now been a little like the United Nations: it rules on taxonomic disagreements when they’re brought up, but they don’t really have any power to police shoddy taxonomy. Kai Burington does an excellent job explaining why it should stay that way.
Field notebooks can be a life-saver for keeping ideas & observations in order when you’re at risk of constant distraction, so why aren’t more students taught about them early in their careers? Chris Buddle shares how he and some others have incorporated these field journals into assigned coursework at his new digs at SciLogs.
Even if you look like a clown, unless you can create balloon animals and make people laugh, you’re not convincing anyone that you’re not just a creepy imposter. Chris Hassall explains why the same principle may apply to some wasp-mimicking flower flies.
Breaking Bio is still going strong, and we had the chance to talk with Dr. Jessica Light this month about lice evolution.
Scicurious has been sharing a fantastic series of articles about her transfer from academia to full-time science communicator, and while they’re all worth a read, I’d recommend this one about preparing for other career options.
In what may be the most enlightening and ass-kicking article about academic writing I’ve ever read, Dr. Isis has helped me get back into writing after a distressingly long period of literary impotence. A must read for anyone who struggles, often or occasionally, with putting their work into words.
Alex Wild highlights a really elegant study showing how form, function and family-style all influence each other in queen ants.
Smithsonian bee researcher David Roubik is in it for the long haul, and explains why it’s no use being hasty when it comes to working, dealing, and potentially preventing colony collapse disorder.
What happens when cells don’t divide perfectly early in embryonic life? You get crazy cool gynandromorphs, featuring both male and female characteristics, like the ant Michael Skvarla found and shared on his lab’s new blog.
Us placental mammals should be grateful that we’re nothing like Pyemotes mites, which have one of the most bizarrely disturbing birthing strategies I’ve ever heard of. Chris Buddle and Wayne Knee double-team the incredible biology of these mighty strange mites.
Another new entomology blog starting strong, Sarah Giers explains why perfectionism is a less ideal strategy for academics than it may sound like.
Why do many environmentally conscious people have a double standard when it comes to insects? Excellent essay by Julie Bristow about the need for more people to appreciate insects for the awesome creatures that they are.
While Rudyard Kipling wrote How The Leopard Got Its Spots, Kipling Will is more interested in the science of why a group of New World carabid beetles have spots while their Australian cousins don’t.
I don’t care what anyone else says, I would be the biggest fan of So You Think Your Roach Can Dance. Ever.
Andy Warren has started a new YouTube series, and the first episode is awesome (even if it’s exclusively about Lepidoptera). It even made me kind of want to go out and find my own Puff the Magic Caterpillar!
Now, I’m not a parent, but I think I can confidently say that I won’t allow my offspring to render Homo sapiens terribly paraphyletic, unless they have some damn good evidence for doing so, making this CBC’s This is That piece my favourite piece of satire.
Kai Burington thinks you need insect genitalia in your life on a daily basis, and I must say I agree. Follow the daily dick here, starting with one that’s close to my heart.
University field courses are, in my opinion, of the greatest course any student could ever take, especially when they include a learning module on producing & filming short nature documentaries with the help of Days Edge Productions! Check out the awesome videos the Organization for Tropical Studies graduate class in Costa Rica put together in only 3 days.
I’m still chuckling over this tweet by former Guelph Insect Lab alum and Jewel Beetle Field Guide co-author Adam Jewiss-Gaines:
Sometimes, to make a couplet, you have to break a few legs. #Entomology #Ceratopogonidae
— Adam Jewiss-Gaines (@Adam_J_G) January 30, 2014
Finally, Christopher Taylor ended the month with a sobering and thought-provoking post about locusts, pigeons and monarchs, and how population size may distract us from conservation.
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