Toadflax

Common toadflax, Linaria vulgaris, with its funnel-shaped flowers and its narrow leaves.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-08-30.

Ermine Moth

An ermine moth, probably Roeslerstammia erxlebella (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae).  The young larvae of these moths mine the leaves of lime and birch trees.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-22.

Chalcid Wasp

A chalcid wasp, possibly member of the family Torymidae (order Hymenoptera), but I'm not entirely sure of that.  [Note added 2009-09-14: I now think these are Ormyrus sp. (Hymenoptera: Ormyridae).]  It is also probably a male because it lacks the long ovipositor that most female chalcid wasps seem to possess.  Like the closely related ichneumon wasps, chalcid wasps are mostly parasitic on the larvae or eggs of other insects.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-08-22.

Update on Sun 2009-08-30 by Tristram Brelstaff

A female of the same species showing the ovipositor. In the past week I have seen one of these twice in almost exactly the same place, but I only managed to get one, rather blurry, photo.  The problem was that, whenever I went near it, the insect would drop off the leaf into the long grass.  Presumably this is a defence mechanism against predators, but it also makes things very awkward for photographers.

Photo taken in Reading University grounds on 2009-08-30.

Design Flaws in Star Trek

Writer John Scalzi has a couple of funny articles up at amctv.com on design flaws in Star Wars and Star Trek movies.

In the Star Trek article, am I the only person to notice the flaw in the BASIC program he gives?

The Alien Probe of Star Trek IV
The programming of this probe is even more simple
than that of V'Ger, and could be written in four lines in
the BASIC programming language:

  10. GOTO Earth
  20. INPUT "I can has humpback whalez?" A$
  30. IF A$="no" THEN GOTO 40
  40. DESTROY EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING

I'm pretty sure this is not optimal design.

Indeed, it is not.  But probably not in the way Scalzi intended: if you look carefully at line 30 you will see that the program will always get to line 40, no matter what answer is given to the question.

Tortoise Bug Nymph

A shieldbug nymph, probably a tortoise bug, Eurygaster testudinaria (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae).

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-19.