Post 2/n from the Shanghai Natural History Museum visit on 22 June 2024. Some butterflies from their butterfly enclosure. No species info provided, but my guess is they are the underside and upperside of an Oakleaf (Kallima), a Swallowtail (Papilio) and a Tree Nymph (Idea).
So many wonderful new queer-themed books published so far this #PrideMonth. It really is most heartening . . . but I need more hours in the day to read them all! 🏳️🌈📚
I mustn't let May go by without a nod to my 2009 article on the discovery, during the 19th century, of same-sex copulation among Maybugs (also known as Maybeetles, cockchafers, doodlebugs). Do look out for them at it in your garden! 🌈🌳
A post appreciating the weevil Liparus coronatus. Apparently this is not terribly common, but I seem to live in an area where it's locally frequent, as this is the second one I've seen in 2 months? Apparently it likes plants in the Apiaceae (which might explain why I keep finding it in arable/horticultural environments where Apiaceae commonly form part of the margin flora?). Need to learn more about its life-history and behaviour! #Weevil#Coleoptera#NaturalHistory#KentishInsects
No cute bunnies or lambs in my files, I'm afraid. I do, however, have a lot of queer chickens. This is a painting of a hen-cock (c. 1900), a prize fighter, by English artist Herbert Atkinson. 🥚🐥🐔
Lovely colour plate depicting gynandromorph specimens in the collections of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. Produced by German entomologist Friedrich Klug in 1829. 🦋 🐞
Just a reminder that, following the Royal Society event in Jan, my article 'Mendel's Closet: Genetics, Eugenics and the Exceptions of Sex in Edwardian Britain' has been made freely available until the end of Feb/LGBTQ+ History Month.