I’ll be at the Ecological Society of America Meeting in Milwaukee in early August–wanna party? 
I have Thursday night, August 7th, open for carousing.
Please note all participants will will be sworn to secrecy about Bug Girl’s sooper sekrit identity. There may even be a waiver you have to sign 
Also, any tips on a good spot to eat near the Convention Center appreciated.
Also, I have now officially Made It in the Blogosphere. I just got my first free book to review! w00t!
Very excited.
I am totally NOT the new supervillain in this comic, despite the (completely superficial!) resemblance in the photos. It does look like me, but really, it isn’t me!
From that post about Insect Queen:
“a villain with her own private army of bug-Borg, and the capacity to make more from infected civilians, and to clone more besides. Between her and the wide variety of soldier-types among her drones (limitless possibilities, culled from your local Entomology textbook), they’ve already shown themselves able to hurt Superman and create superpowered insectoid clones of him. And she’s got four arms!
At the very least, there’s at least two good stories with her clash against Queen Bee and her team-up with Hellgrammite. I’m pretty sure there’s more than that yet, and I for one can’t wait to see them.
In case you aren’t a comic fan, Hellgrammite is an entomologist that turned into a…um. Super insecty-villain-thingie?
He does not, alas, look anything at all like a real hellgrammite, or dobson fly.
Queen Bee has an army of drones, and occasionally hangs out with Lex Luthor. There is also a Nazi Beekeeper in the Comic universe, although he’s not mentioned here.
For those interested in the golden age of Comics, there is an insect superhero (sort of): The Blue Beetle! He’s not very entomological, though–he’s got a vague relationship to a scarab, and that’s about it.
UNESCO has just added the Monarch Reserve in Mexico to its list of World Heritage sites!
“8 July – The World Heritage Committee, meeting for its 32nd session, finished inscribing new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 8 July with the addition of 19 cultural sites and eight natural sites to the List…
So, what does this mean? From the UNESCO site:
“World Heritage designation, in the case of most protected areas, increases the associated funding potential of the site. Although this is not an official eligibility criteria for Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funds, the designation does increase the chances of securing GEF resources ” - Gonzalo Castro, Biodiversity Team Leader, The GEF Secretariat.
Hopefully this will help purchase adjoining areas to the reserve, to enlarge the area for monarchs to hibernate. Yay!
BTW, you can adopt a classroom in the region of the reserve via Monarch Watch; it provides school supplies for needy kids and under-funded teachers.
Other posts on Monarchs:
Fabulous image of the reserve from StevenMiller
It’s great to see some coverage of the International Entomology Conference in Durban. I’m pretty sure, however, that this is not a recognized order:
Seven years since the discovery of the shy “heelwalkers”, entomologists still have conflicting views about whether the stick insect is the creature’s closest relative…..
The Mantospasmodea, commonly known as “heelwalkers” because of their unique way of walking with their “toes” up in the air, were discovered in 2002.
I’m pretty sure they meant “Mantophasmatodea” 
I’ve covered some of the concern about disappearing fireflies before here at the Bug Blog. Because fireflies tend to live and breed in damp and swampy areas, they have been very affected by habitat loss as the country urbanizes. 
In general, though, we just don’t know very much about firefly history and distribution. The Boston Museum of Science is asking for volunteers to help observe and report on firefly populations in their area.
Their website is very lovely, and has many nice animations to teach you how to distinguish species by their flash pattern and colors.
There is also a “frequently asked questions” page that covers what volunteers need to know. Sign up for your account and participate in understanding (and saving) these little six-legged bits of magic in the summer!
BTW, The NSCU Insect Museum Blog covers several other Citizen science/Insect monitoring projects.
Related posts:
Lovely photo from Anita Gould
I have no idea how I missed this, but fortunately The Other 95% caught it for me.
“At Cloth and Fodder, Beth J posted a HOWTO on making a delicious spider hunting wasp cake. It’s superzesty lemon cake with wings molded from toffee.”
OMG. Want!
The recipe is super lemony–maybe if I just start out small by making each part separately, and then work up to the big production number?
This statement has been added to the side menu pages. Comments welcome.
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I get many, many emails from people. Some of these emails (and comments) say things like “I think I have a dangerous parasite” or “worms are coming out of my skin” and requesting my help in diagnosing their illness.
While I am sympathetic, I will not diagnose you over the internet.
I can suggest some potential causes, but my first advice will always be “SEE YOUR DOCTOR.”
Seriously. If you have a medical condition that is causing you enough distress to contact a random person on the internet and tell them details about your anus or other bodily orifices, it’s time to visit the doctor.
If your current doctor isn’t helping you, try a new doctor. Some are better than others.
I’m sorry to be blunt. I have eczema, and I certainly understand the difficulty of an endless itch that never goes away and never gets better. But I’m afraid I can’t tell you what might have bitten you, or what might be living under your skin.
Some helpful resources:
A slightly off-topic topic–at least the spam I’m getting lately is more creative. There seems to be a movie theme this week:
This reminded me of some other funny movie titles for Pr0n movies:
Personally, my all-time favorite funny Pr0n movie title is still “10,000 Anal Maniacs.” But that’s a band, not a movie, so doesn’t fit the theme.
I know somewhere :DataWhat: has posted a similar list, but all I could find was this hilarious article on Camel Toads. At least they aren’t poisonous when you lick them.
Since it’s a patriotic sort of weekend, thought I’d cover some recent political news:
“African dung beetles have been observed rolling dung balls that resemble U.S. presidential candidates, according to entomologists who have been studying the insects.
Dung beetles feed off undigested material in animal feces, and move their food around by rolling it up in a ball and pushing it with their hind legs. But the beetles usually stay out of U.S. presidential politics.
“It’s quite remarkable, really,” said political entomologist Ralph Bugsley of the University of Michigan. “They seem to be absolutely fascinated with John McCain. We’ve never seen African dung beetles roll so easily with any other candidate before.”
Other important insect news:
Fuel prices set to go higher on fears of a giant preying mantis attack on refineries
I spent some of the afternoon trying to pick up after the hail storm and flooding.
So depressing. While I’m pretty sure things will recover (except maybe the sweet corn), it’s hard to look at. All the developing fruits I had (zukes, peas, tomatoes) needed to be picked and tossed, they were so damaged. More photos here, if you like looking at shredded plants.
In other Bad Michigan News: the state has cut the amount of aid it gives to public universities, so not only do we have to revise our budget downward at work, tuition is going up. Again.
“From the 2003 to 2008 fiscal years, average state tax allocations nationally for higher education rose 24.1 percent, according to the annual Grapevine report compiled by Illinois State University faculty. In contrast, Michigan cut its higher education tax support by 5.1 percent during that period. Michigan was the only state with lower aid levels for universities and community colleges than five years ago….
Michigan’s public university tuition increased about 11 percent last year, compared with 6 percent at private colleges….MSU’s Board of Trustees in June approved a 6.8 percent tuition and fee increase for in-state students, which will take effect this fall.”
MSU is now expected to raise tuition a third time in less than 2 years in January, since rising energy costs and the loss of income from the state means they are coming up short. No word on what other state schools plan yet.
And don’t forget, Michigan is too broke to offer student loans anymore.
I’m too bummed out to stick to the diet. Bring on the chocolate. 
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