Rose and Weevil.

No, not the name of a be-beamed and be-horse brassed Olde English Pub. Just something I found in my garden. The last rose ('Graham Thomas' if you are interested in such details) of autumn, wafted its heavenly scent towards my nose. As I bent down to partake in its fragrant delights I noticed it was being vigorously munched upon by a single weevil.

This is one of the broad-nosed weevils. It chewed away with a slightly self-concious air while I took these photos. As I've mentioned before, I rather like weevils. They have an ungainly look to them, and their big noses make them appear diffident and unassuming. Of course that's falling into that homo-centric trap of anthropomorphising. In fact weevils are the largest animal family in the world, (about half of all the beetles), and many of them eat a great deal of the food we consider 'ours'.

In the end she became nervous of me and hid, but peeked out occasionally to see if I'd gone yet.

Beautiful

Looks like it's going to be a wettish week.

Oh Well. Never mind. Plenty of firewood, plenty of inside work to do. And thank goodness we cleaned out the gutters last week. Clearly that's why that couple have decided to wait until the weather improves for The Honeymoon.

Eye Candy Day 33

Weevils at the NHM

One of my very favourite places in the whole world is London's Natural History Museum. It has been since I first visited when I travelled with my parents back to their 'Home' when I was about ten years old. As soon as I'd saved up enough after University I was back there. And I've been back twice again since with my children.

An added bonus when I go is to enjoy the detailed and somewhat fanciful architecture, inside and out.

But of course it's the collections I really love. There are over 70 million specimens at the NHM. And I can access a vast database online too, which is marvelous. They tell me, and I believe them, that there are also over 1 million books, 20,000 scientific journals, and 500,000 works of art. (A drawing or painting was the most convenient way of establishing the existence of a specie in the pre-camera days.)

I'd so love to be able to take the tube 'up' to London (it's always up to London, even if you're coming from the North - isn't that quaint?) and spend all day looking at the Coleoptera (beetles) drawers.

For some reason I've become interested especially in the weevils.

'Why?', you ask.

I think it's because they are small yet beautifully formed. And because I think their long, trunk-like 'noses' give them a slightly ridiculous but vulnerable air. I know they are much maligned because they are often eating food we have gathered for ourselves, and we are, rightfully, indignant. They are often overlooked in favour of some of the bigger, showier beetles, and I am somewhat of a champion of the underdog.

In fact, I think I'll just go virtually and look at weevils. Right now.

Here's where I am going to start. It's somewhere I've been before: Looking at Mark Ines Russell painting weevils at the NHM.

(This is not one of his paintings)

Attribution: Sorry. I've forgotten where I got this from.

If you took this image please contact me and I'll immediately give benefit where due.

Unannounced Visitors

One of the many fun things about doing study at distance is that I can ask for library books to be sent to me.

I can go online and peruse the books in all the libraries in New Zealand (actually, they will even send away to other parts of the world for me too!) and all the academic papers, and find what I want to read.

Then, within days there are footsteps on the steps and some courier man leaves behind these delicious presents on the mat. It's rather like Christmas! They even come with their own return envelope for when I'm finished with them.

Regularly I have other unannounced visitors. Each morning I check the back of the linen cupboard. It's dark in there. I dread what I might find...

Auugh! Yes. Another one this morning. Thank goodness my son is home to cast them over the retaining wall into the long vegetation down the bank.

I just wish he'd get up a little earlier.

It's hard to do my work knowing the little grey corpse is still there.

Lego Art

Another quick post - I have deadlines looming, but I just wanted to share this.

I hope you will enjoy this wondrous contraption that reminded me a little of Fischli and Weiss's 1987 art movie Der Lauf der Dinge ('The Way Things Go')

I glanced at the length - 'this is long' I thought, 'I've too much to do to watch an eight-minute clip.' Eight minutes later...

Thanks again Flatattack.