Author: Angela Telfer
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69/150: Leeches – They don’t all want to suck your blood!
Animalia: Annelida: Clitellata: Arhynchobdellida: Erpobdellidae: Erpobdella: Erpobdella obscura (Verrill, 1872) This past week Canadian Blood Services has been promoting awareness of blood donation with Blood Donor Week. We thought we’d share some info about leeches. On first mention of leeches, many people probably think of Hirudo medicinalis, the medicinal leech. But this is only one…
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43/150: It’s not the Easter bunny, it’s the Eastern cottontail!
animalia: Chordata: Mammalia: Lagomorpha: Leporidae: Sylvilagus: Sylvilagus floridanus (J. A. Allen, 1890) Hopping around a meadow (or your lawn) at night, it’s the Eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridianus)! Often associated with Easter and the Easter bunny, this rabbit is common in southern Ontario and Manitoba, Canada, and throughout the eastern United States and Mexico.
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31/150: Lady crickets like the tough guys!
animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Gryllinae: Gryllus: Gryllus veletis (Alexander, R.D. & Bigelow, 1960) The Spring Field Cricket, Gryllus veletis, is common across North America. You hear this cricket’s song in the springtime until late July. Many cultures have considered crickets lucky, associating their chirps with happiness. Male crickets chirp to attract mates, and females…
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Ontario BioBlitz at Riverwood Conservancy and the Credit River Watershed
It’s that time of the year again – Ontario BioBlitz time! This year we will be surveying the Credit River Watershed. A number of BIO staff along with researchers, students and citizen scientists are volunteering their time this weekend – June 11 and 12th, 2016 – to try to find as many species as they…
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Visiting Victoria
At the end of October, Gerry Blagoev and I flew across the country to visit the Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) in Victoria, British Columbia. We were on a quest for specimens! Identified specimens, that is. Most of the time our collections team is busy finding specimens out in the field and preparing them for…