Author Topic: Hello there!  (Read 11160 times)

Calilasseia

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #30 on: November 25, 2017, 04:23:37 PM »
That Splendid Fairywren really does live up to its name! I can think of a few people here in the UK, who would be literally exploding with joy if something like that turned up at their bird tables!
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Calilasseia

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #31 on: November 25, 2017, 04:27:44 PM »
Meanwhile, as the resident invertebrate zoologist here, I just have to share this with you all.

Apparently, there are beetles, native to Australia and Papua New Guinea, that are known as, wait for it, Smurf Weevils.

I had the fun of wading through this scientific paper on these beasties recently. If you don't understand the technical details of the relationships and how they've been reclassified, don't worry about that, just take a peek at the image featuring some species of Smurf Weevil, which in some cases have seriously eclectic colour schemes ... :)
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Les303

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #32 on: November 25, 2017, 06:05:54 PM »
Cal , did forget to add an attachment or link ?

yelnats

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #33 on: November 25, 2017, 06:37:15 PM »
Reminds me of an interesting exercise we did as part of the Diploma of Conservation & Land Management in which we had several pages of black & white drawings of beetles from 5? islands. We had to group them and give reasons. Some had different antennae, markings, size and we weren't given male/female characteristics. It was after the exam and much better than playing cards while we were waiting for results.

There was no right or wrong but the reasons for the groupings showed the range of possibilities.

I regularly complain about changes to botanical names but understand how DNA analysis has changed many original classifications.

pat

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #34 on: November 25, 2017, 06:58:18 PM »
Les, just type smurf weevil into Google. One of them looks as if it drew on the splendid fairywren for inspiration for its colouration!

Calilasseia

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #35 on: November 25, 2017, 07:49:11 PM »
Cal , did forget to add an attachment or link ?

Weird, I included the link to the paper in my post ... ???
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mkenuk

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #36 on: November 25, 2017, 07:49:46 PM »
Very pretty indeed.
I still wouldn't want to see any of them creeping out of my box of Alpen, though.

Les303

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #37 on: November 25, 2017, 08:03:01 PM »
Linda ,

Oh no !!! , you have exposed my distraction strategy.

Pat ,

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to O'reilly's which was quite a few years ago.
As I am not such an avid bird enthusiast as yourself , I had no idea about exactly what species of birds ( there were just so many , it was actually quite overwhelming ) that were sitting on my head or shoulders & competing to eat food from my hand.
What I do remember from that excursion is how my partner at the time had " control " of our one & only camera as it was continually strapped around her neck.
Though to be fair , I was allowed to use the camera when we were attending other venues such as surf carnivals or fishing charters which she was not particularly interested in.

On the drive home on Sunday afternoon , we talked about how much we had enjoyed our week at the coast , particularly our day at O'reillys & agreed that she would take the camera to the chemist to have the film developed on Monday during her lunch break from work. (why is Les suddenly breaking out in a sweat )

It was a huge mystery as to what happened to it but as  we unpacked everything , there was no camera to be found.
Apparently , due to some form of female logic , that was automatically, entirely my fault which of course I strongly denied.

As the weeks went by & she desperately contacted O'reilly's & every other venue that we had visited  in a vain hope to find this lost camera , My conscience got the better of me & i had to confess that I had managed to lose it overboard on one of my fishing trips.

I think that it took about 3 months of total pampering before I was actually forgiven.






Les303

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #38 on: November 25, 2017, 08:18:42 PM »
Cal , did forget to add an attachment or link ?

Weird, I included the link to the paper in my post ... ???


Sorry Cal , I didn't notice the change in font  for the link , my eyesight is not what it used to be.

Calilasseia

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #39 on: November 26, 2017, 01:34:21 PM »
Not to worry, I suspect when type 2 diabetes catches up with me in a serious manner, I'll start suffering from similar woes ...
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birdy

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #40 on: November 30, 2017, 05:35:47 AM »
Meanwhile, as the resident invertebrate zoologist here, I just have to share this with you all.

Apparently, there are beetles, native to Australia and Papua New Guinea, that are known as, wait for it, Smurf Weevils.

I had the fun of wading through this scientific paper on these beasties recently. If you don't understand the technical details of the relationships and how they've been reclassified, don't worry about that, just take a peek at the image featuring some species of Smurf Weevil, which in some cases have seriously eclectic colour schemes ... :)

I just had to Google "smurf beetles," partly because I wondered which came first, the beetles' name or the tv critters.  I think the explanation is included in this list of https://featuredcreature.com/7-unbeweevably-cool-weevils-that-will-make-you-say-wow/ - and they are fun to look at.

Calilasseia

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #41 on: November 30, 2017, 02:21:21 PM »
Your link is broken. You accidentally prefixed it with "ftp:", which is the protocol for file transfers via Telnet.

The working link can be followed by clicking here.
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Les303

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #42 on: December 01, 2017, 12:53:08 AM »
I cannot imagine any circumstance where I would find myself looking at pictures of Smurf Weevils other than by playing chi & participating in the forum so thanks for that , birdy , as I agree that they were fun to look at.

And thankyou Cal , for correcting the link.
How do provide the link by " clicking here '' rather than having to post the full http address ?

And Elaine , do you realise that your first ever post has generated almost 550 views & still counting.

birdy

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #43 on: December 03, 2017, 06:49:17 AM »
Your link is broken. You accidentally prefixed it with "ftp:", which is the protocol for file transfers via Telnet.

The working link can be followed by clicking here.

Whoops!  Not sure how I did that!  Thanks for the correct link.

Calilasseia

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Re: Hello there!
« Reply #44 on: December 03, 2017, 07:28:10 PM »
Here's how you embed a link.

This:

Code: [Select]
[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page]Go to Wikipedia[/url]

produces this result:

Go to Wikipedia
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