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The Weekly Flypaper

Aug 182012

Back in April, Bug Girl found a trailer for a movie that looks amazing, “Eega”. The movie is about a man who is murdered while protecting his girlfriend from the bad guy and is reincarnated as a house fly to seek revenge! AMAZING. Well, I think that’s what the movie is about because it’s in Telugu, a language unique to southern India, and there weren’t any subtitles. I’ve added the trailer at the bottom of this post because I don’t think I shared it at the time, and honestly more people need to see it.

Then last week, Ani (of Wanderer’s Eye) sent me an email:

It is with great delight that I’m sharing this story with you. Telugu (an Indian language), and Southern India (known to make unique (read bizarre) movies, made a movie a few months ago. It is called Eega (Telugu word for House Fly). The story goes like this: A guy falls in love with a girl. But a gangster likes her too, and has the boy killed, who is then reborn as a fly (M. domestica), and seeks revenge on the villains. More on this movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eega

The first thing that came to my mind was to share this story with you. Please see the attached image.

Really, flies are taking over the world. The whole of the world looks upon other arthropods as a means of destroying the world – but not the flies! Isn’t this the most best means to spread awareness?!

And the best part? He sent a picture of the movie poster he found in Hyderabad (a city in central India)!

Eega poster in Hyderaguda – Photo by Aniruddha Dhamorikar

Thanks for sharing your find Ani! If anyone happens to find a copy of this movie with or without English subtitles, let me know because I’d love to see it!

Now, on to some linky goodness! Continue reading »

Tuesday Tunes – National Moth Week Edition

Fun Stuff, Insects, National Moth Week, Tuesday Tunes 1 Response »

Jul 242012

It’s been quite awhile since the last Tuesday Tunes, but I think it’s time I resurrect it for a bit, and I have the perfect song for (Inter)National Moth Week — Moth by Audioslave.

And as a special bonus, here’s a little taxonomic refresher that A Moth Is Not A Butterfly from Hawksley Workman.

In fact, if we’re following a strictly cladistic view, then butterflies and skippers are actually moths. I suspect this song wouldn’t be quite as poetic, so I’ll just stick to taxonomy and leave the songsmithing to the professionals.

—-

These songs are available on iTunes:

Moth – Revelations – Audio Slave
A Moth Is Not a Butterfly – Treeful of Starling (Limited Edition) – Hawksley Workman

#MonkeyFacePalm

Blogosphere, For a Good Cause, Fun Stuff, Pop Culture 8 Responses »

Jul 082012

I was going through my photos today for a project and happened across one I completely forgot I had taken:

Taken in Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica, this white-faced capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus) and its troop stumbled across our group while we were hilltopping for flies. Clearly this one thought we looked like fools swinging nets around while wearing our ridiculous field clothes. On reflection, I can’t say I really blame it, we probably did look odd.

I’ve left my usual watermark off the photo because I think everybody could use a little Monkey Face Palm from time to time. Feel free to download and use this image however you see fit, whether in blog posts, on Facebook, as a Twitter rebuttal, or printed out and given to friends/colleagues/students when they do something dumb!

I just ask that if you happen to make money from it, you ask me first and share the spoils, because I’d hate to #MonkeyFacePalm myself for missing that opportunity…

The Weekly Flypaper – Long Weekend Edition

Blogosphere, Insects, Weekly Flypaper 6 Responses »

Jun 262012

You may have noticed the Weekly Flypaper has been missing the past two weekends. I have a good reason for missing one, and a not so good reason for missing the other…

First, the good reason. I took part in the Rouge Park BioBlitz in Toronto, and along with 230+ other naturalists, taxonomists and volunteers, we scoured Rouge Park (soon to be Canada’s first urban National Park) for all signs of life, trying to identify as much as possible in 24 hours. Although the numbers are still coming in, the official species count is already nearing 1,300 species, all sighted or caught in 24 hours (and more than 800 of those were identified within the first 24 hours too)! That is an absolutely amazing number, and sets the bar very high for future BioBlitzes! The Guelph crew had a great time, and I think we contributed almost 100 insect species identifications, including 60+ flies. Lots more came home with us, and we’ll be getting names on them in the near future to be added to the list. The arthropod coordinator, Antonia Guidotti of the Royal Ontario Museum has posted an awesome synopsis of the BioBlitz over at the ROM Blog.

The other reason? I was lazy last weekend and didn’t get around to doing it. Oops.

So with 3 weeks worth of links, and major holidays upcoming in Canada & the USA, I suggest you grab a cold drink, find a comfy spot, and clear your schedule, because the Bugosphere has been busy! Continue reading »

Insect Songs for the Ages

Blogosphere, Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 7 Responses »

May 092012

Ryan Fleacrest Approves of these Insect Songs

I’ve mentioned before how useful Twitter can be, and how the #hashtag can be a real life saver for researchers and entomologists. Today however, the #hashtag reached an all new level of awesome, and provided the Twitterverse with an afternoon’s worth of free comedy.

#InsectSongs is where cheesy Saturday afternoon music anthology commercials meet entomology, with countless creative song titles scrolling down the screen. I’ve Storified some of my favourites here (grouped by taxonomic order of course), but be sure to check out the full list of Bugboard 100 hit titles!

Insect nerds are a creative lot and they put their hivemind to work coming up with some amazingly Punny #InsectSongs!

http://storify.com/BioInFocus/insect-songs-for-the-ages

Ironically there were a large number of Beatles songs included in this list…

Of course if you want to hear some actual music about insects, check out my Tuesday Tunes playlist.

Tuesday Tunes – The 17-Year Cicada – Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

Fun Stuff, Insects, Tuesday Tunes No Responses »

Apr 262011

Ryan Fleacrest The internet and the Midwest are all a tizzy over the pending emergence of this year’s 13-year cicada brood (brood XIX if you’re interested). These periodical cicadas go more than a decade living underground feeding on the sap of tree roots, only to emerge en mass to partake in a massive jam session/rave/orgy. Different years feature different broods emerging in different areas and composed of at least 1 of the 4 different 13-year cicada species (leading to some interesting questions regarding what’s a brood and what’s a species when there is hypothetically little gene transfer between broods). On top of the 13-year cicadas, there are 3 species of 17-year cicada, of which brood I is expected to emerge next year.

These insects with prime emergences serve as the undivisible subjects of a song which some might consider a little odd.

This song was actually the inspiration for the Tuesday Tunes feature and was the first song I added to my playlist. Someday I hope to witness and photograph a magicicada emergence first hand, but for now I’ll have to count on those near the epicentres to share this emergence!

This song is available on iTunes – The 17-Year Cicada – Of Natural History

Tuesday Tunes – Butterfly – Mariah Carey

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes No Responses »

Apr 122011

Ryan Fleacrest Alright, it’s time for another fluffy pop song in the Tuesday Tunes line up. I’ve managed to hold back the swarm of honeydew producing artists since Valentine’s Day, but there are a lot of entomological songs coming out of the pop industry, so they’re going to creep in once in awhile!

Butterfly was the second single off of Mariah Carey’s 1997 album of the same name. This album also featured the hit track Honey, which disappointingly doesn’t feature bees or anything else entomological.

I hear Mariah Carey is currently gravid; I wonder what host plant this butterfly is looking to deposit on? Fleacrest, out!

This song is available on iTunes – Butterfly – Butterfly

Tuesday Tunes – Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 4 Responses »

Apr 052011

It’s that time of the week again, and I’m keeping it short and sweet as I work on a couple of other posts (I promise, they’ll be out soon… seriously this time). Today’s piece has seen some love in pop culture, being featured on the TV shows such as Gossip Girl and Big Love, and on the big screen during Life As We Know It. Of course they’ve hit the real big time with a feature here on Tuesday Tunes!

Alright, they also win points for one of the most random videos featured, and that’s saying quite a bit… How come I never find tomatoes or carrots suspended from trees while I’m collecting in the summer? Wrong neck of the woods I suppose. Well, that’s it for this week, but join me next week as we continue to explore the musical landscape in search of sweet insect songs! Fleacrest, out!

This song is available on iTunes – Moth’s Wings – Manners (Bonus Track Version)

Tuesday Tunes – Cockroach – Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

Fun Stuff, Insects, Tuesday Tunes 2 Responses »

Jan 252011

Entomology is a science, and like all sciences, experimentation is the heart and soul that keeps the hemolymph cycling! Whether its a taxonomist testing their species concepts with a new specimen recovered on their latest excursion, or an IPM specialist running field trials against the latest threat to our farms, anyone who takes the time to observe an insect soon finds themselves asking questions and searching for answers.

But all in life is not science, and for as long as the curious have pursued answers, there have been those that have experimented with style, art, and of course, music. There are artists out there blurring the lines between science and art, and likewise, there are those which experiment with music, taking listeners to places they may not normally tread. Today I hope you’ll take the chance to broaden your horizons a little, and enjoy the music of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.

Besides the eccentric band name, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum started off right with the arthropod crowd by performing their first set for a banana slug! That trend is continued with Cockroach, an ode to an insect reviled by most.

It may not be for everyone, but I hope this song will spring to mind the next time you see that cockroach dash for the shadows, and maybe cause a pause before the stomp! Fleacrest, out!

This song is available for download from iTunes – Cockroach – Of Natural History

Tuesday Tunes – Fly on the Wall – Miley Cyrus

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 3 Responses »

Jan 182011

What’s the sound of POP (other than the most unfortunate of insects underfoot)? None other than the Queen of Teen, Miley Cyrus! Although the screams of adoring preteen fans may confuse passing cicadas, this week we’re sharing a song with the most noble of insects in a position that many of those preteens would love to be: Fly On The Wall.

Who wouldn’t want to have the ability to latch onto a wall with their tarsal claws and empodia like a fly? Who needs a seat at the rock show when you can attach to the stage itself, providing a unique vantage point right in the midst of the show? Of course many flies wouldn’t be able to actually hear the music (lacking a timpanic organ and all), but that’s beside the point! While I’d personally prefer not to be a fly on the wall of a Miley Cyrus concert, I salute her for bringing some Diptera love to the next generation of entomologists!

Thanks for tuning in, and if you’ve got a favourite ento-song, drop a request in the comments! Fleacrest, out!

This song is available for download from iTunes – Fly On the Wall – Breakout

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