Well, another week has passed. Perhaps you missed some neat links and stories?  Here’s a list of some interesting things I have come across from small animals to big science. Enjoy! (oh, and Happy Memorial Day to my American friends and Happy Bank Holiday to those in the UK)

• The Wandering Leg Sausage.  That’s a common name for a species of African millipede. It’s latin name is also nice (Crurifarcimen vagans), but doesn’t quite stir up the imagination in the same way (Thanks Derek Hennen for that link)

• Speaking of Latin names – Did you know that Carl Linnaeus’s birthday was on 23 May? Mark that in your calendar for next year!

• On the day BEFORE Linnaeus’s birthday, this paper came out: New cave-dwelling whipscorpion species discovered and described.  That alone is terrific – but in that paper is also some discussion of “remarkable dimorphism in male pedipalp length” – an equally interesting part of the story. Too bad many new sources called the shorttailed whipscorpions “scorpions” in the title. Nope – VERY different Orders, folks!

• More about names – how about studying species without names? Here’s a post from the Lindo soil ecology lab at Western University (yes, that is the new name for a University that is not actually in the ‘west’ of Canada).

• Awesome invertebrates of the Dominican Republic. That is the name of the video, and that title is accurate – some great coverage of odd Arachnids. (thanks to AJ for the link)

• Dreamy butterflies thanks to Dragonfly Woman.

• Ready for your weekly dose of spider beauty?  Here’s a lovely shot of a Philodromidae on a stick, from Sean McCann (thanks, Sean, for allowing me to use the photo here!)

• Two wings good:  the latest Fly Times is out! (Thanks Chris Borkent for tweeting that link)

• Entomology museums are so important, but need your help. Here’s my post on the topic, from the perspective of Arachnids. Here’s another related to how citizen science can help to digitize insect collections in California. It’s great to see there’s a potential solution to the daunting data-basing task.

• Fun with follicles: Time to meet your mites.

• The tiny insect with massive sperm. Zorapterans in the news! (As May Berenbaum points out, these critters don’t typically get much press)

• Return of the Cicadas – this is really a stunning and beautiful video.

Return of the Cicadas from motionkicker on Vimeo.

• Vintage photos with an arthropod theme… awesome.

• What’s up with all the caterpillars? If you live in some parts of Canada, you may be up to your neck in them… here’s a terrific post by Dezene Huber on the topic. (and he’s welcoming your questions!)

• More on Art, Design & Entomology from Bug Girl. (yes, those of you who are regular followers of Expiscor can see a pattern – Bug Girl is here a lot. And for good reason!)

• Worried about the Emerald Ash Borer? A natural insecticide is available (but really to target highly valued trees) – thanks Chris MacQuarrie for the link.

• Blue Frogs.  No, they are not sad. They are blue. A relative of mine asked about a blue treefrog she found in her backyard in Ontario. This got me into a fascinating discussion with my twitter pals (thanks in particular to Heidi, Germán, Rafael, and Kate!). Conclusion? Probably a rare “mutant” frog who may be missing the yellow pigment in its skin, resulting in blue colouration.  Here’s a photo in case you aren’t convinced:

• Should you worry about using WIFI? This science project may worry you… certainly affected cress (thanks Tom Allen for tweeting that link)

• The most popular drink in Medieval Europe? I assumed wine or beer… no so!

• Living in the cold: some fascinating results out about high Arctic bacterium – and lab who published this work is just one floor up from me. Congrats to the McGill team!

• Microbes of the body – a fascinating article about the bacteria within… (yes, I realize this should have been in an earlier Expiscor – but I missed it in mid-May)

• The Canadian War on Science.  Sigh. Doesn’t make me so proud to be Canadian.

• Tick Tock: Outreach activities are terrific, but do take time.  Here’s a post about finding that 25th hour in the day. (that post is part of the #reachingoutsci hashtag – worth a follow).

• Chirp Chirp: Is your state bird a stupid bird? (thanks Carly for the link)

• Fun with feathers – I visited the McGill Bird Observatory earlier this week. What a terrific resource – long-term monitoring of our winged friends is rather important and quite a suite of volunteers is helping to make this happen. A big thanks to Barbara Frei for letting me see the operations and help with a bit of data collection.

• Navel gazing: The secrets of belly button lint (an older story, but a good one!)

• Whiz, Bang, Beakers & Blankets! My wife’s business (Organic Quilt Company) has some new science / geeky fabrics in stock.  Here’s a peek: