Archive for the ‘educational’ Category

Plight of the Bumblebees: Symposium

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Tomorrow, Monday, June 22, 2009, 10am – 12:30pm at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum in Baird Auditorium: To observe National Pollinator Week, Dr. Michael Ruggiero (senior scientist for the museum's Integrated Taxonomic Information System) hosts a panel of bumblebee experts to discuss the declining numbers of these important pollinators. I'm looking forward ...

Ant installation at the Central Florida Zoo

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

On a recent trip to the Central Florida Zoo, I ventured into the Massey Insect Zoo. I can't believe I almost missed the installation of giant ants on the pipe near the high ceiling: It was really great. How big are the ants? Scroll down on this page and you can ...

Curators’ Favorites

Monday, October 8th, 2007

The Washington Post ran a special "Museums" section on October 7th, and in the featured article, "Curators' Favorites: No Cookie-Cutter Ideas Here" they asked local curators what some of their favorite objects are. This article met the definition of being phoned-in in every sense of the phrase. All ...

Antomology

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

The Audobon Naturalist Society has an upcoming program about ants: Antomology: An Introduction to the Natural History of Backyard Ants Thursday, September 13 (7:30 - 10 pm) Leader: Jill Swearingen Explore the underground world of one of our most important, ubiquitous, and overlooked families of insects. We will focus on ants found in the ...

The Bug Guy on Kojo

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

Today while we were in the car we heard the Bug Guy on Kojo's show on WAMU. The Bug Guy Do the leaves on your trees look like swiss cheese? We'll find out about the gypsy moth attack Maryland's currently suffering through -- the worst in more than a decade. And we'll ...

National Don’t Step on a Bee Day!

Monday, July 9th, 2007

From the website of decadent [tag]Alexandria[/tag] bakery/cafe/lounge Buzz: TUESDAY, JULY 10 IS [tag]NATIONAL DON'T STEP ON A BEE DAY![/tag] For the week leading up to the 10th, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of all bee-themed sweets will go toward research into the causes of and potential solutions to [tag]Colony ...

National Pollinator Week 2007

Saturday, June 30th, 2007

I didn't get a chance to attend any of the National Pollinator Week events, but I heard they were quite good. The Washington Post gives minimal coverage of Edward O. Wilson's lectures in today's Style section, "Biologist Edward O. Wilson Warns of a Bleak World Without Bugs" Exactly 250 years ...

The Ants

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

I believe I've mentioned how fascinating I found [tag]E.O. Wilson[/tag] and [tag]Bert Hoelldobler[/tag]'s Pulitzer Prize winning book [tag]The Ants[/tag]. (Um, suprise?) For those without the patience for a weighty tome about ants, there's always Ants: Nature's Secret Power, which I've realized is available on Google Video. You ...

wikipedia on ants

Tuesday, May 15th, 2007

Can't forget to post the [tag]wikipedia[/tag] entry on [tag]ants[/tag].

there are no a(n)theists in foxholes?

Friday, May 11th, 2007

I was reading a summary of research on Allomerus decemarticulatus, a tree dwelling ant from the Amazon: A crafty ant species builds a trap dotted with foxholes for surprise attacks on an insect. They stretch their victim out like a medieval criminal on a rack as more ants swarm in for ...