"Bug Eric" on Social Media

Are you active on Facebook? Twitter? If so, you might find it easier to connect with me there during the spring, summer, and fall when I am more apt to be out in the field instead of blogging. Here are links to some of my social media pages.

While I do have a private Facebook page where you can "friend" me, I post links, images, and other things entomological to my professional page here. Look for this banner image ("cover photo"), though it changes every so often.

I also started a group page on Facebook called "Arthropods Colorado". That is usually where I will first post recent images that I have taken in the field. This is also a growing community with many other wonderful people posting their images and observations of Colorado insects and arachnids. The Green Fool Grasshopper is our unofficial mascot, adorning the cover photo for the group page. Just ask to be added to the group and I will do so.

I also have a Twitter account, but rarely "tweet," so while you can follow me here, you are unlikely to get too much more than notifications of new blog posts. The banner image for my Twitter page is a pair of beewolves.

Increasingly, my LinkedIn profile is getting more looks, and it is where I update my professional activities. You can view my work history and ask to connect with me here. You will see this mug shot if you are in the right place.

Another place I frequent is perhaps not what you would call a social media website, but a page where people from all over the world post their images of fauna and flora. My account at Project Noah includes "spottings" from Colorado as well as other places where Heidi and I travel to. Yes, the majority of posts are insects or other arthropods, but I also throw in a few birds, mammals, herps (reptiles and amphibians), and wildflowers, too. Please consider joining Project Noah, as many of its "missions" as you care to, and post your own images. Once there, you can "follow" me and I can follow you.

Lastly, while I am not fond of the changes in their format, I still have a Flickr.com account here. I try and post fairly regularly, especially after a trip out of state.

I look forward to seeing you on one or more of the media platforms above; and I thank you for your patience between blog posts. Once summer ends, posts should be more frequent, and the diversity of topics will broaden as well.

Big Changes Coming Here

I can hardly believe I have been at this for three years and over 300 posts, but that is how it should be. When you enjoy what you are doing, time flies. Time has come to make some changes, though, all for the better I think.

There will be more diversity in the subjects covered here. I will likely be adding “Moth Monday,” “True Bug Tuesday,” and “Fly Day Friday” to the current “Wasp Wednesday” and “Spider Sunday.” “Orthoptera Thursday” is another possibility. You won’t get one of each every week, but you’ll probably get at least two posts each week.

Posts will probably be shorter. I need to expand my audience, and most people do not read online, they scan. They like bullet points. I will do my best to balance thoroughness and storyline with brevity.

I will be debuting a new website. I am privileged to be working with a good friend who is also a website developer to make BugEric dot com a reality, probably sometime in January or February of 2013. Blog posts will likely be moved there, and this site kept as an archive. The new site will offer me far more flexibility in what else I can do, including making products available for sale.

The most important thing I need to do, however, is to promote my name and my site to generate some kind of income. Yes, I could get a “regular job,” but then most of what you are getting would cease to be due to time constraints. Please help me to do this, if you will, through continued donations, recruitment of advertisers, and whatever other avenues you can think of. My expertise is in writing and entomology, not in internet marketing.

I thank you for your continued support through following this blog, and look forward to bringing you an even better product in the future.

Spider Sunday: Spiders 'R' Us

Yesterday, the people who brought you SpiderIdentification.org launched literally a “brand” new website, Spiders.us. The new website will have an expanded range of more traditional content, not the interactive forum of its predecessor. Not to worry, you can still post “mystery spiders” to the Facebook page for SpiderIdentification.

Spiders.us is dedicated to being your headquarters for everything “spider” in the United States and Canada. The aim is to be accurate above all else, for there exists so much misinformation, contradictory information, and downright myth, superstition and urban legend that it is no wonder so many people are fearful of spiders. We empathize and promise to put the squeamish and scared at ease as best we can.

We will also defend spiders for the important roles they play in nature, pest control, medicine, engineering and other economic and cultural realms. Here you will find:

• Help in identifying the “mystery spider,” or even its web, in your home, office, yard, or garden.
• Help in avoiding and preventing spider bites.
• The latest news on spiders from the scientific community.
• Educational resources from online articles to scientific papers.
• Articles on the positive impacts of spiders on human culture.

We also look forward to hearing from you about how we can make this website more user-friendly and comprehensive. While we see our audience as people with little or no prior knowledge of the arachnid world, you will also find material that is more sophisticated, suitable for naturalists, librarians, teachers, and even scholars.

I am personally looking forward to this new venture, creating content for the site and learning new things myself along the way. Won’t you join me?

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SpiderIdentification.org

Yet another new venture I am involved in is an educational (though still commercial) website, SpiderIdentification.org. It is the brainchild of webmaster Kyle Williams who in the course of building another website on outdoor survival discovered that a great number of people want to know which spiders are potentially dangerous.

Kyle posted a recruitment notice for spider experts on Bugguide.net and I hastily replied, along with another spider expert, Mandy Howe. The two of us have been sharing moderator duties in the Forums section of the website since March. The site now offers an FAQ (frequently asked questions) section and a glossary of terms. An image gallery will follow shortly, along with expanded information on dangerous North American spiders.

One of the more pleasant surprises to come out of this has been the rapid development of a community of spider-lovers who have been eager to share their own images and discoveries while helping solve the “mystery spiders” presented by other folks.

Another reward has been the conversion of many spider-phobic individuals into spider-tolerant people, or even new spider-lovers. Nearly everyone who has posted an image to the “Submit Your Picture” section, even if they have done so in a state of panic, has offered generous compliments to us for the work we are doing.

What is next for SpiderIdentification.org? We need your help to publicize the website as the resource for accurate identifications of spiders, essential information about them, and where empathetic staff understand squeamish and fearful reactions to arachnids and won’t admonish you for those sentiments.

The website currently generates revenue through Google Ads, though we do not explicitly endorse any product or service. Finding additional sources of income is another challenge we face.

I am very grateful to be working with such fine people on this website, for the income it is generating for me, and for the opportunity to continue learning and passing along my knowledge of the arachnid world. Special thanks to Kyle and Mandy for making it such an exciting venture.

DustMites.org

One of the reasons my blog posts were sparse for a few weeks in May was because I was working up articles for the educational website DustMites.org. Yes, I was financially compensated for my research and writing services. Yes, the website is tied to another website for a manufacturer of dust mite mattress covers and related products. I am not promoting the products here. What I do hope is that my blog followers will point out any inaccuracies in the text, and/or give me a nudge if they hear of any new research or information pertinent to updating DustMites.org.

This project, likely to be an ongoing exercise, was quite challenging. Our collective knowledge of dust mites and their allergens is in relative infancy. One of the two most abundant and important species was only named and described in 1961. We still don’t fully understand the properties of some of the allergens, or how they act on our immune system.

There is also conflicting opinion as to the best way to alleviate asthma symptoms that are aggravated chiefly by dust mite allergens. According to one person who contacted me, rhinitis (upper respiratory system inflammation) symptoms are substantially relieved by dust mite covers on mattresses and box springs, but asthma (lower respiratory system inflammation) symptoms often persist.

A personal note: This kind of work, helping people through the dissemination of scientific information, is what I most enjoy doing. I welcome more projects like this in the future, be they related to entomology or natural history in general. Thanks for your patience during those times I am thus engaged and not as prolific in my blogging.