Author Archives: David Maddison

BotW: Sphaeroderus

Posted on 16 September 2013 by David Maddison

At last, a beetle of the week!  However, it’s been so long since the last one that I should probably rename the feature to be “beetle of the season”, or “beetle of whenever”. Here’s a beautiful Sphaeroderus from North Carolina. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beetle of the Week | Tagged , | 3 Comments

And then there were five…

Posted on 13 September 2013 by David Maddison

Earlier this week I spent three lovely days in the Bay Area with Dave Kavanaugh, and on Monday we went to collecting on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais.  There, along Cataract Creek, we found a series of small “Bembidion curtulatum” … Continue reading →

Posted in Revising Bembidiina, Taxonomic Process | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Time is the coin of your life

Posted on 7 September 2013 by David Maddison

In my wallet I have a fortune from a fortune cookie which I opened long ago (I don’t remember where or when).  It says: Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have and only … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Miscellany, Musings | Tagged | 20 Comments

Bountiful Bembidion

Posted on 6 September 2013 by David Maddison

Bembidion can be quite abundant on the shores of bodies of water, such as along the Willamette River near Corvallis, Oregon: Below are two videos showing me turning over some rocks on shore shown above.  There are four species that … Continue reading →

Posted in Fieldwork, Revising Bembidiina | Leave a comment

Chipodiversity

Posted on 3 September 2013 by David Maddison

This summer my lab has had, once a week, a “Guess the Potato Chip Flavor Day”.   It was inspired by my discovery in Vancouver, BC, of some intriguing potato chip flavors. While growing up in Canada I was exposed … Continue reading →

Posted in fun stuff | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Hiding in Plain Sight

Posted on 31 August 2013 by David Maddison

In most groups of organisms there are taxa that are very isolated phylogenetically, and are structurally so distinctive that they are easy to recognize (the Australian platypus and Welwitschia mirabilis come to mind).  Some of these isolated taxa are considered to … Continue reading →

Posted in Revising Bembidiina, Taxonomic Process | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Mirror, mirror, …

Posted on 28 August 2013 by David Maddison

… but not on the wall. This image hurts my brain.  A lot. I suspect that other folks who study Bembidion have sore brains as they look at this, too. Why?

Posted in Morphological Techniques, Revising Bembidiina | Tagged , | 8 Comments

The excitement of discovering patterns in nature

Posted on 25 August 2013 by David Maddison

When a pattern in nature emerges, suddenly revealed through new data, I get a high unlike any other.  It is this aspect of systematic and taxonomic work that I like the best, which keeps me enthralled, and which I crave … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Musings, Revising Bembidiina, Taxonomic Process | Tagged , | 1 Comment

“Local” carrots

Posted on 22 August 2013 by David Maddison

Here is a bag of carrots.  They were grown at a farm just outside of Corvallis, Oregon.  I bought them at the Farmers’ Market here in Corvallis.  I ate them in Corvallis. And while I should feel pleased to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Fieldwork, Musings | Tagged , | 2 Comments

3D printing and custom tools in entomology

Posted on 20 August 2013 by David Maddison

I am excited about 3D printing. Here’s why: That’s a pinning block, an aid to pinning insects.  It’s a custom-designed one, however, not the standard sort you can buy at an entomology supply company.  This one is specifically built for … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellany, Morphological Techniques | Tagged | 1 Comment