The Atavism

Sunday Spinelessness – Vanuatu jumping spiders

David Winter • Mar 06, 2011

• arachnophilia,
• jumping spiders,
• photos,
• Salticidae,
• sci-blogs,
• vanuatu

So, last week my little old blog found itself in the middle of a national discussion abuot Ken Ring and his claimed ability to predict earthquakes. In this space of two days that post recieved a good deal more than a year's worth of The Atavism's norma... Read More

Ken Ring can’t predict earthquakes either

David Winter • Mar 01, 2011

• earthquake,
• Ken Ring,
• sci-blogs,
• Skepticism

The New Zealand media have done a remarkably good job of covering the Christchurch earthquake. TV, newspapers and radio have all struck the difficult balance between the country’s desperate need to understand what happened on the 22nd and how people ... Read More

The very error of the Moon Man

David Winter • Feb 28, 2011

• Ken Ring,
• sci-blogs,
• Skepticism

I've been very impressed with the New Zealand media's reporting of the Christchurch earthquake. They've managed to balance the need so many of us have felt to understand the terrible tragedy of the 22nd with the victims of that tragedy's right to priva... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – My second favourite spiders

David Winter • Feb 27, 2011

• citizen science,
• crab spider,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness,
• Thomisidae

I think I've already said that the jumping spiders (family Salticidae) are my absolute favourite group of spiders. As much as I like the Dictynids I've been observing in our agapanthus, if I was asked to pick the group that took the next biggest place ... Read More

A clearinghouse for #eqnz science reports

David Winter • Feb 23, 2011

• earthquake,
• sci-blogs

Like many New Zelanders, I'm struggling to understand what happened yesterday. We all know that a devestating earthquake struck Christchurch around lunchtime yesterday, killing at least 75 people and destroying much of that beautiful city. Of course, t... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Misshapen by love

David Winter • Feb 20, 2011

• harvestman,
• Opiliones,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sexual selection,
• sunday spinelessness

I'm not finished with photos of spineless life from Vanuatu just yet, but I do have to interrupt that stream of posts again thanks to goings on in our backyard. Ever since I started writing this blog I've wanted to shoehorn a quote from James Thurber, ... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Murdering my darlings

David Winter • Feb 13, 2011

• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness,
• wasp

Recently, there's been a little bit of talk among science bloggers about the need to murder your darlings. Christe, Carl and Ed are talking about excising some of your favourite passages of writing in order to let a whole post hold together, but I've b... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Hadda beetle

David Winter • Feb 06, 2011

• beetle,
• coccinellidae,
• Cook Islands,
• island biogeography,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• snails,
• sunday spinelessness,
• vanuatu

Time for another tropical beetle from Vanuatu, and what could be more charming than a ladybird*?Or its absurdy spikey larvae? This ladybird is probably a bit larger, a bit rounder and a bit oranger than the ones you are used to seeing in your gar... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Vanuatu scarab beetles

David Winter • Jan 30, 2011

• beetle,
• Cetoniinae,
• photos,
• scarab,
• Scarabaeidae,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness,
• vanuatu

As promised, it's time to add a few tropical invertebrates to the mix of more temperate bugs I usually talk about here. Let's start by redressing a bit of an imbalance in these Sunday Spinelessness posts. Up until now I've only written two posts about ... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Return of the spineless

David Winter • Jan 23, 2011

• molluscs,
• Pacific,
• sci-blogs,
• snails,
• sunday spinelessness,
• vanuatu

It seems all the cool bug bloggers have escaped to the tropics just at the time I've got back to more temperate climes. I spent a couple of weeks in Vanuatu over the Christmas and New Year break and have a couple of memory cards full of Melanesian wild... Read More