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Last Saturday I posted about the photo of a wasp my father had taken. I had a chance to talk to him yesterday, and he explained that he took the photo in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia.

I guessed that it was some sort of ichneumon wasp, though I was wrong, and the strange insect was identified by the friendly people at BugGuide. It turns out that this wasp is called Pelecinus polyturator and is one of three species that are in the genus Pelecinus, which happens to also be the only extant genus in the family Pelecinidae.

Here is another photo:

Penecinus polyturator

And since we're on the topic of weird arthropods, I thought we might discuss one of my favourites. The newly discovered "Shocking Pink Dragon Millipede" (Desmoxytes purpurosea). D. purpurosea was discovered in Thailand, and was named third in the top ten species in 2008 by the International Institute of Species Exploration.
Its colour and spines are not the only thing interesting about D. purpurosea, it also smells like almonds. This is due to its ability to produce the extremely toxic substance hydrogen cyanide.