There are those of us in the world who swat, spray, smack, and even stick those pesky buzzing insects we call flies. They love to prance on our freshly laid picnics, perch on our bare feet, and even sometimes take a bite of our tender flesh. Yet, there are a few in the world with a passion for such small creatures. Their sole job is to collect, classify, and understand the behavior of the fly. They travel the world from the jungles of Brazil to the islands of the Pacific in search of new flies. Recently, some fly guys visited Fiji and invited me to join them for a morning of fly collecting high in the mountain rainforest. The result of their visit was the identification of some 40 new fly species and one that is only found on continents, suggesting Fiji separated from a continent millions of years ago.I invite you to take a look at a moment in the life of a fly collector. As you will see it requires excellent vision, a quick hand on the fly net, and lasting patience. Sometimes though other bugs are discovered - check out this newly discovered spider.
PLAY FlyGuys Video (.mp4/12.7MB)
PLAY Spider Video (.mp4/7MB)
5 comments:
UGH! I now have an even healthier fear of spiders! If "she" had been crawling all over me stringing along fresh silk I would have passed out! (The musical selection for the spider movie, however, was perfect!) I am glad you're doing well and enjoying your adventure -- we're missing you in Ohio though!
Alas, Happy to hear from you Nicole. You know - the spiders in Ohio are furry critters compared to this fresh fiji beauty.
Well, what do you call the spider? Does it cause death or just a bad rash when it nips at someone? What's up with the white part having dints in it? Email me sometime...
wow james, those fly guys have some nerdy appeal. wouldn't happen to have their numbers would you?.....
I believe only one of the fly guys is available at the moment. He's at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii. Good Luck!
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