Circus of the Spineless #44

Welcome to the 44^th and latest edition of Circus of the Spineless, the monthly celebration of animal diversity. Although this blog is devoted to just one invertebrate species, I’m pleased to host this carnival and showcase all the other wonderful forms that invertebrates take. Please take a moment to visit the home page and have look around.

I find the biggest problem is always how to sort the posts. Sadly, I am not imaginative, so I broke it down into the nicknames that I often hear my colleagues who study invertebrates: “crunchies” (things with exoskeletons) and “squishies” (things with soft bodies).

Crunchy posts

Because this is a crustacean blog, please forgive a little double favouritism by me starting off with a post from NeuroDojo (a sibling blog that I also author). In it, I take serious ethological research on hermit crabs, and turn it into a fairy tale.

Not only do I love fairy tales, I love mysteries, too. It can be a simple mystery, like “Who’s easting the Photinias?” Jason at Xenogere takes on the case and gets photographic evidence.

Adrian at The Bug Whisperer also tries to take photos, but seems to cause a crime rather than preventing one, as a fight breaks out between his ant subjects. Models can be such divas.

Staying with ants for the moment, the Wild About Ants blog shows ants visiting extrafloral nectaries on cacti. Roberta Gibson want to know if you’ve seen ants visiting nectaries; go help her out.

At Hill-Stead’s Nature Blog, Diane Tucker features dragonflies and envies their ability to rise above it all.

Trees, Plants and More catches photos of a lynx spider among some plant leaves.

Marcia Bonta looks at charismatic invertebrates. And I guess if you’re an invertebrate and want to be charismatic, it helps to have long legs, since she focuses in on daddy long legs and stick insects.

But if you want beautiful, Ted MacRae at Beetles in the Bush reckons he’s got the most beautiful beetle on the North American continent. I took the liberty of including a picture at right; isn’t it a beauty?

Wandering’ Weeta also has a gallery of insects who take advantage of her warm home in fall.

At The DC Birding Blog, John discusses and documents several insects lured by the promise of cheap beer. I am not making this up. If that’s a little to crazy for you, just look at the nice butterflies.

Another birding blog, 10,000 Birds momentarily joins the spineless celebration with carpet moths.

Dave Ingram, writing on the modestly titled Dave Ingram’s Natural History Blog, rounds out the crunchy section of our program with some pictures and note on millipedes.

Squishy posts

Wanderin’ Weeta finds a jellyfish in a tide pool, and gets the event on camera.

Trees, Plants and More serves up a hammerhead worm in the “More” category.

While I would never claim to have saved the best for last, I do think you’ll admit this last post is worth the wait. Hill-Stead’s Nature Blog brings us... slug poetry!

Next time, on Circus of the Spineless...

That concludes this installment of Circus of the Spineless! Please join us again in about 30 days over at Greg Laden’s Blog. Email your submissions to Greg. (And come on, squishy lovers, show your colours!)