Two quick stories from the BBC: A fire has destroyed a collection of snakes, spiders and scorpions at the Instituto Butantan in the Brazilian city of São Paulo:

"The entire collection was lost, the biggest collection of snakes in the world," curator Francisco Franco said. "It's a loss to humanity."

Meanwhile, a $4 iPhone app called iGorilla is to be sold to support conservation work in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park.

Editor's note: The feature list looks suspiciously similar to the company's 99¢ iPuppet.

ScienceDaily reports on recently-published research at the University of Florida to create a hydrophobic surface that resembles spider hair.

The key, according to UF professor Wolfgang Sigmund, is the material's chaotic structure, which mixes long/short and curved/straight hairs.

The effect relies entirely on the material's structure. An oil-repellent version is also possible, though the relevant research is yet to be published.

Do you hate spiders? Then avoid this movie! But those of you who love humor with horror ought to take a gander at the movie Eight-Legged Freaks, coming out soon --

http://eightleggedfreaks.warnerbros.com

Just a quick read reminds me of last summer's Evolution, a movie that combined doltish humor with a strong action plot, gross monsters, and even a few genuine scares to great success. Unlike all too many monster flicks, these people aren't taking themselves seriously. This film may well turn out to be the schlock hit of the summer.

I just hope the CGI spiders don't turn out to be the most animated characters in the entire movie.

You've seen "Super Chicken". Now there is "Spider-Chicken", in Flash animation! Check it out for yourselves: http://www.my-tv.it/

We've all heard stories about insects and spiders living in people's hair, or crawling in their ears and getting stuck. And usually you can take comfort in knowing it's just a story.
But a female motorcyclist actually had a spider living in her ear, which was discovered, like in many of the fake tales, when she complained of a headache.

"Nature's Guard, Anti-Terrorist Strike Force", is the new, highly marketable, cross media tie in, Cartoon Series featuring animals that have guns and stuff. Oh, and they fight terrorists too!