Parasites include the tachinid flies "Sturmia convergens" and "Lesperia archippivora". Caterpillars that have the "Lesperia archippivora" maggots inside them will finish their last molt. They will then hang upside down on a horizontal surface. They die before they turn into a chrysalis. At that time one white maggot comes out of the caterpillar. The maggot then forms a brown pupa on the ground.
The bacteria "Micrococcus flacidifex danai" also infects the caterpillar and causes “black death”. Just before turning into a chrysalis, the caterpillar will find a horizontal surface. They die a few hours later. The body turns black shortly after. The bacteria "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" causes infections in weakened insects. It is a common cause of death in insects that are raised in laboratories.
The monarch is the state insect of Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, and Texas. It is the state butterfly of
Vermont and West Virginia.
It was nominated in 1990 as the national insect of the United States of America. It was nominated along with the honeybee ("Apis mellifera"). However, the legislation did not pass.
Many people like to attract monarchs by growing a butterfly garden with the plant "Asclepias physocarpa". Others like raising them for fun or for educational purposes. have been made for migrating Monarchs. The sanctuaries are found at the monarch's favorite overwintering places. These migrations can create a lot of tourism revenue.
Many schools also enjoy caring for monarchs. They start with caterpillars. When the caterpillars mature into butterflies, they are then set free into the wild.
Some organizations, such as the Cape May Bird Observatory, have monarch labeling programs. Labels are placed on the wing of the butterfly. The labels have information on them. This helps scientists track the monarchs during their migration. It also helps the scientists study the paths that the monarchs take on their migration.
Adult Monarchs have been seen on a number of different nectar plants. Here is a list of some of them:
Males will also take in water and minerals from damp soil and small, wet rocks. This is known as "puddling". The Monarch has also been seen puddling at an oil stain on pavement.
Here is a list of plants that the Monarch caterpillar eats:
Naturalism (philosophy)
Naturalism is "the idea or belief that nothing exists beyond the natural world". It is the belief that "the natural world is the whole of reality". The term was first used this way in English in 1750.
It is a kind of philosophy called metaphysical, because it covers everything: "nature is all there is, and all basic truths are truths of nature".
All the things and powers which are commonly called supernatural, such as God, souls or witchcraft do not exist, according to this position.
Methodological or scientific naturalism is concerned with practical methods for acquiring knowledge.
Many scientists use the scientific method for their research. Hypotheses are be explained and tested only by reference to natural causes and events.
Explanations for observations are only useful when they are based on hypotheses of natural causes. An explanation that relies on a natural mechanism that works according to certain rules is usable. Explanations that need miracles to work are not.
Methodological naturalism is the principle underlying all of modern science. Some philosophers extend this idea, so that it applies to all of philosophy as well. Science and philosophy, according to this view, are said to form a continuum. W.V. Quine, George Santayana, and other philosophers have advocated this view.
A number of other philosophical ideas are similar to naturalism:
Heinz Sielmann
Heinz Sielmann (June 2 1917 in Rheydt, Germany – October 6 2006 in Munich) was a world famous wildlife photographer, zoologist and documentary filmmaker.
Heinz Sielmann was degree in Biology and specialized in Zoology, in 1940, at the Imperial Posen University (Poland).
His work includes award-winning movies like "Lords of the Forest" (better known in the USA under its title "Masters of the Congo Jungle" (1959), the English version narrated by Orson Welles, "Galapagos - Dream Island in the Pacific" (1962), "Vanishing Wilderness", and "The Mystery of Animal Behavior".
His series "Expeditionen ins Tierreich" ("Expeditions into the Animal Kingdom") broadcast on national German Television from 1965 to 1991, made him well known in Germany.
Green Screen
Green Screen is an international wildlife movie festival. Since 2007 it takes place every year in Eckernförde, Germany. The festival shows full-length and short movies about animals. It is the only festival of its kind in Germany.
The awarded trophy is made of natural sand.
The festival also shows classic nature documentaries.
Since 2008 a special prize for filmmakers is named after the famous filmmaker Heinz Sielmann.
Lars Petrus
Lars Petrus (born in 1960) is a speedcuber from Sweden. He invented a method of solving the Rubik's Cube very quickly. He became the Swedish national champion of speedcubing in 1982. He finished fourth overall at the first official Rubik's Cube World Championships held in Budapest. He later published his own special method, known as the Petrus method, on the internet.
Official website
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring ("Le Sacre du Printemps") is a ballet in two parts. The entire ballet was a concept developed by Igor Stravinsky. He wrote the music. The set and costumes were designed by Nicholas Roerich. The dances, which Stravinsky hated, were choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky. Stravinsky complained that Nijinsky had no understanding of the rudiments of music.
The ballet was first performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at the Theatre du Champs-Élysées in Paris on 29 May 1913. The dress rehearsal met with approval from critics and invited guests, but the premiere was greeted with tumult and riot only stilled by the performance of Marie Piltz as the sacrificial maiden. Subsequent performances were received with growing appreciation, but the ballet's great difficulties forced it to be presented only six times.
The ballet was revived in 1920 by the Ballets Russes, but the music had been performed in its entirety in concert before the revival. Nijinsky's dances had been forgotten so Leonide Massine (who had not seen the original performances) designed the dances anew. These met with Stravinsky's approval. In 1940, Walt Disney used the music to accompany a segment of the animated movie "Fantasia". This segment depicted lumbering dinosaurs and smoldering volcanoes.
The music lasts about 40 minutes, and is divided into two parts. It has the subtitle "Pictures from Pagan Russia". Stravinsky had the idea of composing music which was about country people from old times in Russia who danced a fertility rite. This means: a ceremony which is supposed to bring good luck to the next year’s harvest. In this ancient Russian dance, one young girl is chosen to dance and dance until she dies. She is the sacrifice. She is sacrificed to the god of spring.
The painter Nicholas Roerich talked with Stravinsky about the idea for this ballet in 1910. Stravinsky started writing down musical ideas while he was still working on his ballet "The Firebird". Then he worked on "Petrushka". In 1912 he was able to concentrate on "The Rite of Spring". All these ballets were composed for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. They were a very famous group of Russian dancers who worked in Europe, mostly in Paris.
"The Rite of Spring" was first performed by the Ballets Russes on 29 May 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The conductor was Pierre Monteux. The audience were shocked at the primitive kind of dancing and the irregular rhythms and strange orchestral sounds and unusual chords. Nijinsky’s choreography was so different from classical ballet. Nijinsky found it difficult to work with Stravinsky and difficult to work with the music.
Carl Van Vechten described the scene as follows: