It's #WorldBeeDay and I love bees! This is a silvery leaf bee from last Invertober. Most of our beautiful (and helpful!) bees are solitary bees like this one.

We had a very impressive view of a reef squid inking right in front of the camera this morning on @coralcitycamera.bsky.social @sarahmackattack.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAno...

73% of mothers with kids under 18 are in the workforce. More than flowers or brunch, working moms need: -Paid family leave -Equal pay -Universal childcare (But get your mom flowers, too)

SO CUTE. Listen as kids explain what their scientist moms do at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum 💚 #MothersDay

The worm snake, one of those leaf litter finds that's startling before you say "oh okay" and get back to looking for centipedes. Northern Virginia.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a giant bark aphid (probably Longistigma caryae) feeding out in the open like this. They pierce right through bark into the phloem with an almost unsettling ease. Absolutely amazing creature. #Aphididae #hemiptera #Invert #macrophotography 🪲🪳🌿

In which I feel joy for the bird, followed by immediate sadness for the bug. A rollercoaster of emotions.

Here are some nice mushrooms

A Trilobite Beetle (Platerodrilus svetae) from Northern Borneo! They are part of the genus Platerodrilus and the females retain their larval form as adults (larviform females). #Invertefest #trilobitebeetle #insects #pixelart

So very hyped that @nature.com made a video about our study on microplastic in caddisfly casings! 😱🎥 Watch it preferably next to a creek... some of them might want to tune in too. 🍿🐛

Happy Earth Day, friends. Our homeworld, seen by the crew of Apollo 8 in 1968.

Earth is so pretty.

I passed this apple tree on my walk today. Two different colors of blossoms! Plant grafting, the fact you can just take two different plants and grow them on the same plant, is amazing!

SHOP IS NOW OPEN! these 4 vinyl stickers are currently up for grabs!! 🐛🐌🐟👟 ill be including little traditional doodles with my orders!! hope you enjoy!! #smallbusiness #art #stickers

My quote of the day Faith and science can be united in charity if science is put at the service of the men and women of our time, and not distorted to their detriment or even destruction. Pope Francis, June 2024

Guy 1: these flies taste funny Guy 2: how do they taste Guy 1: they taste with their feet Guy 2: wow l learned something

What a beast 💚 #invertebrate

What a great initiative. It's so important to hear the stories of silenced scientists. 🧪 ⚛️ 👩‍🔬

My NSF postdoctoral fellowship was one of the grants terminated yesterday. Devastating is an understatement. Thankful for a supportive admin with a plan to support me for now.

Maybe we should honor the women who were real astronauts. From left to right are Shannon W. Lucid, Margaret Rhea Seddon, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Judith A. Resnik, Anna L. Fisher, and Sally K. Ride. NASA selected all six women as their first female astronaut candidates in January 1978.

You're probably tired of glacier lilies but I love them and you chose to follow me so...check out this ethereal white one! I love running across weirdo individuals and populations that don't match the classic phenotypes. #nativeplants #bloomscrolling 🌿🌱

Another successful trip. Found lots of fossils including some fish bones and possible pterodactyl prints. #whitby #geology #paleontology

1. Quick—which of these shapes is different from the others?

My last #ink drawing did so well I had to post another one! Here’s a tumbling flower #beetle 🪲 they’re named after the crazy movements they make to avoid predation—first they jump, then they spin as they fall down! #sciart #scientificillustration #wildlifeart #inkart #nature #invert #insect #bugsky

YEEEEAAAAHHHHH

Today we’re talking about one of evolution’s strangest tools: the ovipositor. Hymenoptera probably began as plant-feeders in the Permian. Parasitoidism evolved once in the Late Triassic. By ~142 Ma, some ovipositors became venomous stingers. 🧪🌿 #Invertebrate #bugsky #Hymenoptera #macrophotography

Paranthrene simulans, (Grote, 1881), a Batesian mimicry MASTER! #educational #science #entomology #bugs #moth #wasp #insects #lepidoptera #batesianmimicry #nature

One of those moths that screams don’t touch me absolutely stunning in an alien critter kind of way. The caterpillar of Orgyia leucostigma flaunts bold colors and urticating hairs as a warning. Nature’s way of saying “look, but no touch” #Erebidae #macrophotography #entomology #insects #lepidoptera🌿

@entsocamerica.bsky.social is offering membership fee waivers for those affected by recent firings across the United States. They are also running a donation fund to help cover these fees. If you want to support your fellow #entomology community, donate! If you need help with a fee waiver, apply! 🧪🌿

Oncometopia from the last light trap of the season. #entomology #bugsky #hemiptera #Cicadellidae

This was pretty cool - spotted an oil beetle in a plant pot right outside the house today. It was happily munching on a daffodil. Can only think that a solitary bee must have nested in that planter last year @liamolds.bsky.social

These are some of the probationary people fired from my agency. Top insect identifiers.

Here's the plan: I'm gathering five (or more) fired entomologists, some featured in recent news, in Harrisburg, PA, for ESA's Eastern Branch Meeting. Help us highlight their stories; support for travel is appreciated! #entomology 🧪 esa.confex.com/esa/2025eb/m... www.gofundme.com/f/help-displ...

More business card art while I figure out what to do next in this #firedfed life

My first-ever photograph (and sighting) of an aquatic moth (genus Petrophila), a unique group whose caterpillars live underwater, breathing through gills (which kind of look like nematodes to me) and grazing on algae and diatoms. #entomology #leptidoptera #bugsky #insect #invertebrate

What a different world we could have.

This week's daily 5 minute drawings were stonefly nymphs. #Invertebrates #TradArt

Look at this little red-head 🥹 I've missed him and his tiny adorable people (Naphrys xerophila) #EmotionalSupportSpood

The warmer evenings are bringing the spiders out in the garden. I believe this to be Zygiella x-notata - against a nice whitewashed wall. #Spiders #Arachnids #Invertebrates #Spoofs #Macro #Insects

Looking for scientists to feature! Is your work affected by mass firings and defunding of federal science? Tell us your story! Bit.ly/faces_of_science #sciart #scicomm

I love seeing all the #standupforscience pics!!! On my end I’m working with science artists to create illustrated features of scientists affected by the federal budget cuts and mass firings. If that’s you please give us the honor of featuring you! forms.gle/r2qufNqMMgR1...

As I’ve said, there isn’t much fungi around right now (more 🌧️ coming soon so 🍄‍🟫) but I always stop and check spots where I’ve found Lichenomphalia lichen before. Yesterday I was rewarded with one adult and a baby, luckily close together. Zoomed out ⬇️ #fungifriends #fungi #mycology #naturephotography

Printing another batch of bookmarks! Lots of markets coming up quickly this spring. I am one busy bee. 🎨🐡🕷️🐝🌱

Here is your Monday Midday Mantis. This was a small, quick species, only 2-2.5 cm. long. I like the dark spot on the head, which I thought made it look 3-eyed. (Borneo) 🐙🌿👁️👁️👁️

oh yea, bug spread #bugsky #art #sketchbook

Musk’s status as a “special government employee” limits him to 130 days in the executive branch. However, despite working daily—documented by his own X posts—they claim he only works one day a week, effectively stretching his limit to 130 weeks. This needs to be brought to Congress—please share.

Friday #Flyday! Why is this pretty little fruit fly (family Tephritidae) blowing bubbles? Does it just like playing with its food? No, it's concentrating the nectar by sucking the droplet in and out to evaporate some of the water. Lots of nectar-feeding flies and bees do this. 🐙🌿📷 #insects 🫧

Tetragonisca stingless bees return to their hive. Colombia.

#HappyFriday 🤍 𝘓𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘶𝘴 / Weeping Milk Cap #fungifriends #nature #photography #northcarolina #mushrooms

Y'all making me remind you about the DEAD KID FAMILY PHOTO INDUSTRY we put out of business with vaccines. Please let's not bring that industry back. Measles is on the move AND IT SHOULDN'T BE! www.bbc.com/news/uk-engl...