How we react and interact with bugs in our environment, what we do with them, what role they play in our lives
What does image mean in conservation? Why is conservation funding and therefore effort focussed on ‘charasmatic megafauna? what is it about insects that people dont connect with, and what can/ needs to be done about it?
The butterfly lady - creating fabrics and clothing to feed pollinators and raise awarenesss of the global pollinator crisis.
Boris and other bugs – re spiders
A larval application – the uses of and facts about fly larvae.
Bugs as food
A series on bugs as food, inspired by my postgrad entomology class at Massey University, and the TV series I recently pitched as part of another class. Lots of fun on the sense and problems arising in using bugs as food.
A collection of links on eating bugs.
Most delicious – bugs as food, feeding mealworm cookies to unsuspecting markers and other stories of delicious eats.
Eat bugs – yes lets! - more on bugs as food, a few notes on the Yukpa people who rely on bugs as a component of their diet.
Turning Japanese - insects as food in Japan – arising through need, and now delicious and varied cuisine.
Tarantula delights – eating bugs and particularly tarantulas in Cambodia.
Je suis un escargot – musings on the consumption of snails, and a challenge set.
Termites again – crispy termites. Pesky swarm or tasty snack?
Western bug eaters – people in western countries eat bugs too you know.
A larval application – the uses of and facts about fly larvae.
Tequila sunrise – The tequila worm, not a worm at all.
Why eat bugs – a sum up of the series, with a chat on the streets – what do we really think about eating bugs?
Issues
Whats happening in our environment today, and what the bug issues are
The butterfly lady - Loss of habitat/ habitat connectivity, and the pollinator crisis.
Messy Mining - what happens when we dig big holes.
Grasshoppers - NZ bugs, Mackenzie basin
Big oily mess - BP, gulf oil spill
Things about water - shots musing and links regarding water pollution/quality
From homogenous to honey - is there a global pollinator crisis?
The bug doth make the farm – NZ farming, intensification.
Biodiversity – homogenisation, extinction and a call for change.
Hands off that whitebait! - minor eco-rant about the plight of some of our native fish.
Pecha Kucha
One aspect of the people and bugs series was a Pecha Kucha presentation which I put together for my Digital design class, it and it’s related posts talked about the great ‘design’ of bugs and some of the things we can learn from them/ are learning from them. They’re all quite brief touches on a variety of topics from appearance to engineering.
Design bugs - Pecha Kucha intro
Bite me – mosquitoes
An inordinate fondness for beetles – biodiversity and beetles
The way you look tonight – looks, camouflage, mimicry, signals
Lofty inspirations – flight
Tenacity? efficiency – cockroaches, solar power, efficiency of movement
In the eye of the beeholder - bees, eyesight, optical flow
Design by bug - bugs as architects, termites and ants
On to other things – Pecha Kucha sum up
Spinning ladies - spider thread, silk production etc..
The frog tank project
I’ve always wanted to create an increadible terrarium for critters and this summer I had some froglets to care for, and a tank appeared from the neighbours (a spare apparently) so plans were made and a project begun. Sadly it still sits in my basement as an abandoned project as the froglets diddnt make it (i have a bad record with pets) but it’s on the list of things to finish (perhaps when i’ve finished my thesis 
The project I planned – and will one day finish.
The diet of froglets – fruitfiles are yummy!
Building a tank – step one in creating a terrarium.
The demise of the frogs – an explanation of my cursed history with pets.
