Tuesday, February 12, 2008

On the Internets



Occasionally, a friend or family member will express consternation about my blogging. "But everything you write is archived and publicly available. Doesn't that frighten you?" Sure, I've written some things on HH that are embarrassing three years later, but only because of their relatively poor quality, and most of what I contribute to other, more legitimate publications is archived online, too. Such is the Internet.

And the good generally outweighs the bad.

For example, in July of 2005 I asked readers if they could identify a species of mushroom and a species of parasite I photographed while visiting friends on Long Island. Yesterday, in February of 2008, I was emailed the positive IDs...and the post is at last complete.

Moreover, I Googled the name of the fellow who contacted me with those two IDs and turned up the fascinating insect pictured above, a species of lantern fly (Pterodictya reticularis). I'd never heard of lantern flies, and the description of this insect is as curious as the photograph. Check it out here.

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