Protection, Cannibalism and Self-Sacrifice: The World of Spider Parenting

July 27, 2017

When someone mentions parental care in the animal kingdom, birds and mammals are probably the organisms than spring to most people’s minds, and it’s most likely that invertebrates and specifically spiders are not high on peoples lists of the animal kingdoms most devoted parents. It is true, the invertebrate world is neglecting in parental care … More Protection, Cannibalism and Self-Sacrifice: The World of Spider Parenting

Salticidae – The Charismatic Spiders

April 18, 2017

Jumping spiders! Salticidae is the largest family of spiders, containing approximately 5,500-6,000 species, which accounts for around 13% of all spiders. These species are divided into 600+ genera, are typically small in size and famed for their incredible jumping abilities. Along with their impressive number of species and awesome acrobatics, they also possess some of … More Salticidae – The Charismatic Spiders

Microscope Madness

April 10, 2017

If you follow any of my social media accounts you have probably noticed that I have started uploading microscope pictures. Recently, I acquired a fantastic Brunel MX7T microscope for my birthday, it comes with a rotating turret with 20x and 40x magnification (although this can be increased through additional eyepieces). My primary reason for wanting … More Microscope Madness

The Mighty Stag Beetle

March 6, 2017

Sticking with the recurring theme of brilliant British beasts, this week the mighty stag beetle (Lucanus cervus). Being a beetle they are of course an insect and belong to the order Coleoptera (the beetles) which is actually the largest of the insect orders, containing approximately 360,000 species, with more being discovered all the time. There … More The Mighty Stag Beetle

Steatoda stigma

February 20, 2017

False Widows everywhere! RUN! … No, no Stop! I am only joking, however this is the view of a great many people around the UK and this is often fueled by the media. Spring is not far around the corner, which means it won’t be long before people start venturing outside again and so it … More Steatoda stigma

Not so guilty Gulls

February 13, 2017

Gulls have adapted brilliantly to the urban landscape and the presence of humans, so much so that they’re seen virtually everywhere. This has resulted to them, in a way, becoming taken for granted, as they’re often seen as pests, an annoyance and as something of an urban irritant. However, I would have to greatly disagree … More Not so guilty Gulls