Carnivorous plants, bats, spiders and zombie insects are the subjects of a series of free spooky science webinars hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service in October. On Wednesday, Oct. 2, from noon-1 p.m., naturalist Bob Armstrong will guide participants through the world of Alaska’s carnivorous plants. A Juneau-based author and photographer […]
Recent long-term studies revealed a three-quarters reduction of insects in parts of Germany and an 80 percent decline of pollinating flies at a field site in Greenland. What’s going on with numbers of Alaska insects? Two scientists recently completed a study on the abundance and variety of insects in the spruce forests of Alaska. If […]
A few nights ago, stretched in a tent on the blue-gray gravel of the Lowe River floodplain, I woke to a series of sharp jolts. It felt like the earth was a giant halibut, and I was the fishing pole. Earthquake! The ratcheting westward lasted only a few seconds, but I felt the helplessness […]
Sluggish mosquitoes, sprung from the leaves where they overwintered. Moths and butterflies flitting the fields and south-facing slopes. Beetles skittering along in pinstripe-grooved exoskeletons. How many insects are stirring on the surface of Alaska? That’s a fun but hard-to-answer question that Derek Sikes recently pondered in response to writer and wilderness guide Michael Engelhard. I […]