New Blog Carnival: An Inordinate Fondness

A new blog carnival devoted to beetles is starting this month: An Inordinate Fondness. Submissions for the first edition are due by February 15th, and the first edition will appear on February 18th.

The inaugural issue of An Inordinate Fondess is only two weeks away.  We are still looking for submissions, so don’t miss out on your only chance to be a founding contributor.  Blog posts dealing with beetles in any aspect are welcome, and you don’t have to be a coleopterist (entomologist specializing in beetles) to participate.  An Inordinate Fondness is a celebration of beetles and their diversity, significance, and beauty from the perspective of serious student or casual observer alike.  Do you photograph beetles?  Share the wonders of their exquisite designs with us.  Do you study beetles?  Let us know about your research.  Are you a beetle collector?  Take us along on one of your field excursions.  Did you find a beetle that you had never seen before?  Tell us how you went about trying to identify it.

To submit a post, pick out your favorite blog post dealing with beetles and send an email with the title, link, and a brief description. You may also use this handy blog carnival submission form.  If you’re not sure if your selection meets the criteria for this carnival, send it in anyway and we’ll let you know.

The carnival's name comes from a quote attributed to biologist J.B.S. Halsane, who is said to have told English theologians that God "has an inordinate fondness for beetles." There are over 350,000 known species of beetles, which comprise nearly half of all known insect species.

Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are at a slight disadvantage since it is still winter here, but the carnival is accepting older posts for the first edition.

(Found via Seabrooke at the Nature Blog Network Blog.)