Last week I had a terrific discussion with a twitter friend, and he suggested that many/most of the links on Expiscor are ones that were VERY frequently discussed over various social media sites – i.e., a re-distribution of commonly viewed stories. Of course, that is part of the objective of Expiscor, but I also want to be a provider of stories people haven’t heard about previously. So, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! This week my goal is to provide links to things that are so weird, and obscure that you will totally surprised. It’s the obscure edition….  Please take the poll at the end of this post to let me know if I succeeded!

• In the spirit of Halloween (last week), here’s four spooky videos of spiders weaving webs.

• Fact: Spiders are adorable….

• RECLUSE SPIDERS NOW IN CUBA! (gotcha… but you don’t need to panic … this paper describes new Loxosceles from the West Indies)

• Look if you dare… Ancient spider family album.

• A feel-good story about spiders: the “spider queen” brings tarantulas back to a wilderness area.

• Be glad you live in this century. The process of ‘de-infestation’ was not pretty.

• Aha ha.  It’s a species of Australian sphecid wasp This is a simply WONDERFUL list of curious zoological names. 

• Steampunk, clockwork Goliath Beetle.  I want this. Available from BrazenDevice (thanks, Evan, for allowing me to post the photo here. Ento-geeks will love it!)

• On the theme of amazing beetles, these beetles show there is such a thing as a free lunch. 

• History on a pin: An insect from 1702.

• Biodiversity: it’s the box that we can’t even imagine the outside of. A nifty post Pxay eyaye si ayioang fpeio.

• The Echinoblog...check out this blog description: Echinodermata! Starfish! Sea Urchins! Sea Cucumbers! Stone Lillies! Feather Stars! Blastozoans! Sea Daisies! Marine invertebrates found throughout the world’s oceans with a rich and ancient fossil legacy. Their biology and evolution includes a wide range of crazy and wonderful things. Let me share those things with YOU! ….The question is: How did I ever miss this blog. Awesome.

• Silken wonders: We talked about webspinners in my Entomology class last week. That lecture took me to this informative post. These animals are lovely.

• #SixSecondInsects. A big bug.

• A story of two bugs. Ha ha… fooled you… not the bugs you were thinking of.

• Ecosystem Services … from beyond the grave. 

• More on Halloween. Including MAGGOT ART!!

• From the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and also in the spirit of Halloween, a beautiful bat for you:

• Read here: the most amazing University Libraries. 

• Interpersonnel Botany: intersection between people, print and botany, 1700-1900. WOW!

• Of lice and men: an itchy history.

• How about lice and elephants? These are truths not lice.

• Fitting animals on Noah’s Ark. Fascinating story about a 17th century scholar.

• Tweet of the week goes to Leonard Nimoy (Ok this is NOT at all obscure, but it sure is funny):

• …if you are in love—that’s a good thing—that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Something from Steinbeck. 

• Just look at this HUGE periodic table for your wall.

• Some pretty powerful poetry, from a Canadian spoken word poet.

• Hey looks – A to Z of Entomology… featuring Simon Leather!