Monthly Archives: December 2011

Fishing spider

Posted on December 31, 2011 by malcolm

Life colonises all environments, they say, but some habitats are more hospitable than others. Around our house, the swimming pool and its surrounding paving are actively hostile to small life – deliberately so, in a way, because we want to … Continue reading →

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Another kind of mantis

Posted on December 28, 2011 by malcolm

A month ago I wrote about finding a group of tiny just-emerged mantis nymphs. (‘Nymphs’ covers all stages of development except adults, from just-hatched to nearly fully developed.) In a footnote to that post I mentioned a larger nymph I … Continue reading →

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Sunbirds

Posted on December 26, 2011 by malcolm

Sunbirds are pretty little birds very like Australian honeyeaters or American hummingbirds is size and form, although the resemblance is due to similar lifestyles and convergent evolution, not to close family relationships. They feed on nectar, supplemented with insects and spiders. Their nests … Continue reading →

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A superfluidity of cicadas

Posted on December 22, 2011 by malcolm

If you read my title carefully you probably thought I had made a mistake but no, it was deliberate – an attempt to capture this effect: I mentioned recently that our cicada season has started. We don’t have very many … Continue reading →

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