Pick and Mix 30 – to amuse and inform

Picture from Erica McAlister’s (@FlygirlNHM) Twitter stream –  Picture held in the NTNU University Museum, Norway

 

Eradicating invasive vertebrate predators could help save rare insects

Are you bringing something nasty back with you from your exotic holiday?

We really must stop using plastic so much – it gets everywhere ☹

Insects as a protein source

Many people’s first memories of the countryside come from visiting a National Park.

Great article by Christie Bahlai and colleagues – Open Science Isn’t Always Open to All Scientists – You can follow Christie on Twitter @cbahlai

Finding and climbing the tallest tree in the World!

A lament for declining wild bee populations

Interview with Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson about her new book Terra Insecta and the title change forced on her by her Amercian publishers

Bees seeking blood, sweat and tears is more common than you think Manu Saunders (@ManuSaunders) and Toby Smith cast a critical eye on the recent story of the eye-dwelling bees

 

Pick and mix 12 – Ten largely entomological and tree-related links

All sorts

 

Plants for bugs – making gardens insect friendly

Bugs for humans – making insects more attractive as food

Bugs for bugs – making carrion diets better for their offspring

Bugs for tourism – fireflies keeping a Mexican town alive

Dead trees for bugs – a free issue on saproxylic insect conservation

How trees can help cool cities and a link to the full report

Courtship behaviour of the Grayling butterfly via Ray Cannon

The chemistry of autumn colours – with a nice downloadable graphic

Why natural history teaching needs to be an increasing part of university education

Good news for those of us who like butter, cheese and meat 🙂

Autumn is on the way