The Lazy Lizard's Tales

Ivan

WARNING: Do not continue reading this post if you are entomophobic or arachnophobic. If you do not know what these terms mean, carry on. You'll find out if you actually are.

My friend Nicky Bay is holding a couple of workshops on macro photography, and I thought it would be great to help publicise these workshops. More details are provided in his blog post.

Ivan

Ivan

Ivan

(Photo by Jörg Hempel)

It is amazing just how so many different creatures can be associated with dragons for some really spurious reasons. Take for example, the chinchillas (Chinchilla spp.), whose Chinese name of 龙猫 ('dragon cat') is due to the fact that they resemble a Japanese anime character who bears that same name in Chinese translations. Or the dragon trees (Dracaena spp.), named after their reddish sap that was extracted and marketed as the blood of mythical reptiles. And don't get me started on dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.); the only possible link with dragons I think of comes from the apparently scaly fruits and spiny succulent stems.

With the various flowers named after dragons though, the connection with the mythical fire-breathing reptiles turns even more tenuous.

Ivan

We're almost a week into the new year, and while I'm not really the sort who likes to reflect on the past year and mull over my successes and failures, Crystal Riley from Crystal and Bryan in Singapore has tagged me to take part in the Seven Links Blog Project, where I repost links to seven of my posts from different categories. Although I was tagged last year, I only found out last night, and I guess it's still not too late for me to look back on 2011.

Ivan

Male adult midge, Sungei Buloh;
(Photo by Marcus)

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them. But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.'" And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.

- Exodus 8: 20-24

Midge swarm, Utah;
(Photo by AMICHAELMURRAY)

In the previous post, I discussed some aspects of the biology and ecology of the Chironomidae, also known as non-biting midges. I briefly mentioned the tendency of many midge species to form huge swarms, which can have negative effects on human communities in the vicinity. This post will look at one such swarming event in Singapore.

Ivan

(Photo by zh3nG 正)

Most of us are familiar with mosquitoes, and public service messages constantly remind us of the fact that there are commensal species which breed in stagnant water in and around our homes. In one aspect of their life cycle, mosquitoes (F. Culicidae) are not unique; numerous other species of flies have aquatic larvae, and the adults are often referred to as midges. One family in particular, commonly known as the chironomids or non-biting midges (F. Chironomidae), is well-represented throughout the world.

Ivan

Over the last two days, as part of Timberland's contributions towards fighting desertification, we helped to prune poplars, and also planted pine saplings. Today, we bade farewell to Inner Mongolia, and embarked on the next leg of our journey, to the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province.

To find out why I'm so gleefully holding a leafy branch, read on.

Ivan

(Photo from Timberland Singapore)

During one of our briefings before this trip, Cheryl did mention how it rained unexpectedly last year, catching the Timberland Earthkeepers participants unaware and out in the open. I came here expecting to experience the scorching sun and blasting winds of the desert, only to end up cold, wet, but definitely not at all miserable here in Horqin.