Circus of the Spineless # 66

Would you look at that title? "The Spineless". A whole world of animals, great and small, named for the one characteristic they don't possess. As if we, in our backboned state, were the norm. We're not, not by a long shot; about 99% of the life on this earth is "invertebrate" - another example of our snooty condescension.

And the term, "spineless" has such derogatory connotations! It calls to mind a lack of courage, a wimpiness, or worse. A glorious squid has to share the term with the most despised of our politicians; the adventurous ballooning spiderling with a Milquetoast. Is this justice? Is it right? No!

I hereby propose that we find a more appropriate term for the most intriguing, varied, resourceful, and durable life around us. One simple word to encompass the entire, exuberant mosaic.

Consider these examples: what characteristic do they have in common?

Some are colourful:

• The big-eyed, green-legged Hentz' red-bellied tiger beetle. From Doug Taron at Gossamer Tapestry.
• The Argiope garden spider. dressed in red and yellow, with her zippered web. From Squirrel at Squirrel's View.
• Blue, blue, blue Damselflies: bluets and yellow greents. (I think that spelling was deliberate.) Adrian Thysse, at The Bug Whisperer.
• The Emerald cockroach wasp, also known as the Jewel wasp. (Beautiful, but not for the squeamish.) Real Monstrosities.
• Nor is this:  Rover Ants and Carrion Flowers. Roberta Gibson, All About Ants.
• Since we're looking at beautiful critters, we may as well put an entire blog on our list: Notes from Dreamworlds; magnificent macro photos. This, I think, is my favourite: Shells of microscopic crustaceans. By Daniel Stoupin.

Mayfly nymph Photo by Daniel Stoupin

Some have surprising abilities:

• Missing legs not a problem for spiders. (Kevin Zelnio, at Scientific American.) They're as good at growing new ones as my crab.
• How chitons are tougher than stone: they coat their teeth with specially "tweaked" metal. David Winter at The Atavism.
• Caddisfly larva build houses of gravel. Katie, Nature ID
• Funnel-web spiders make "trampoline" webs: Splendor in the grass. Diane Tucker,  Hillstead's Nature Blog.
• Some crabs blow bubbles; urchins walk without legs or feet: Spineless of the West Coast Trail. Tim, at Think Big ... No, Even Bigger.
• Watch a Swallowtail caterpillar go from poop to pupation. Jodi, at the Contented Naturalist.
• Squid pen draws current biotech progress. Danna Staaf gets punny about electronic squid.

And some are a bit confused:

• Aussi beetles and beer bottles, It's love at first sight! (David Winter, again) and
• Squid seeking squid any sex or species. (Danna Staaf at Squid a Day.) The link in the post to the original study leads to a paywall. Go to National Geographic for the full story.
• These Sooty Dancers aren't confused, but they are confusing. Chaotic cluster. Jim Johnson at Northwest Dragonflier.
• On sorting out Dragonflies: Striped saddlebag and the value of vouchers. Julie & Darrin, Urban Dragon Hunters.

More squid goodness from Danna Staaf;

• Marketing the mystery of the giant squid

Well? Have you thought of the One Word yet? Me neither. Maybe we'll have to stick with "Spineless" for now. Reluctantly.

Before you go, there's one more thing you must see: I'm as green as the Emerald Wasp with envy!
Dragonfly Woman went to Bugshot-2011, a workshop with Alex Wild and other photographers. And, as if that weren't enough, TGIQ went, too, and came home with this amazing photo!

UPDATE: I totally forgot to mention next month's CotS. It will be hosted by Jason Robertshaw, at Cephalopodcast. Send your submissions to him, at cephalopodcast at gmail . com by the end of October.

SECOND UPDATE: A change of instructions for the next Circus; Kevin says to send submissions to him, for now. The address is kzelnio at gmail dot com.