Insect diversity @ McGill
The blog and website of the Wheeler lab and the Lyman Museum at McGill University. Posts about arthropods, natural history, taxonomy, ecology, science culture, and life (or something like it) in academia.
All content copyright Terry A. Wheeler 2011-2016, unless otherwise noted.
Twitter: @ta_wheeler
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Tag Archives: taxonomy
Open spaces: A new species of fly from the Yukon
There’s a little genus of small, rare flies that live in bird nests. They’re called Neossos, and a few years ago one of my former undergraduate students, Gregor Gilbert, pulled together what was known about the taxonomy and ecology of … Continue reading
Suburban biodiversity: surprising flies in the neighborhood
Christine Barrie, a grad student in the lab, found a fly she couldn’t put a name on. Other students in the lab had trouble too. So did I. It looked familiar, but it didn’t key out in the standard North … Continue reading
Posted in Research News
Tagged Chloropidae, Diptera, natural history, publications, taxonomy
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Why the Yukon? My love of northern entomology
I’m north of 60° again. Back in Whitehorse, Yukon for the fourth time in five years, and getting ready to head north. Beyond Dawson City, beyond the trees, up the Dempster Highway to the tundra. I’m going to collect insects. … Continue reading
Taxonomy matters. Here’s why.
March 19th is Taxonomist Appreciation Day. I don’t think any government has made official pronouncements on that. That’s OK, we’ve got something better — social media. Taxonomist Appreciation Day was the brainchild of Terry McGlynn, an ecologist who understands the … Continue reading
How many people does it take to describe a new species?
The Myth of the Solitary Taxonomist goes a bit like this: Solitary Taxonomist goes away to an exotic place, usually with at least one hazard to life and limb, usually land leeches. Collects a specimen. Recognizes it immediately as a … Continue reading
High fliers: a new paper on some new arctic flies
Many people see the arctic as a pretty barren place, with not much biological diversity. In fact, one of the most well-known patterns in ecology — the latitudinal diversity gradient — incorporates that idea. As you leave the tropics and … Continue reading
Posted in Research News
Tagged arctic, Diptera, Northern Biodiversity Program, publications, taxonomy
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Who’s that fly and WHAT is it eating? A new paper from the lab
One of the most widely used products of taxonomy is the identification key. A key allows somebody who isn’t a specialist on a particular group to put a name on an unknown species. At least, that’s how it all works … Continue reading
The flavours of loss: a tale of a moth
Loss comes in many forms. Sometimes loss is a sharp, sudden thing; sometimes it’s a slow, fading twilight, creeping in so slowly you don’t even notice when it gets there. This is a story about both those kinds of loss. … Continue reading
A moth, a fern, a feline: a species name story
As taxonomists, we give names to new species that we describe. The name is entirely up to us (within a few limits imposed by rules of grammar, and a recommendation that they not be offensive). Sometimes it’s easy to figure … Continue reading
Lyman Entomological Museum 