Cute little (3 mm) slug caterpillar today on a buckeye leaf. Gotta look closely to appreciate all the tiny ornate spines!

Some terrific moths coming to our automated Mothbox at the NC Botanical Garden last week including the large yellow Io Moth at the bottom! #MothMonitoring2.0

Amazing the sheer feeling of insect abundance from a few loud cicadas!

Amidst all the tiny 🐛🐛 inside leaf rolls and leaf ties, two nice big ones stood out today at #PrairieRidgeEcostation Hypsoropha hormos, small necklace moth and Parallelia bistriaris, maple looper #CitizenScience #phenology #insectmonitoring

I just put together a wish list of North American Phyllocnistis leaf mines. I'm hoping for larvae from each of them for DNA barcoding, and eventually I'll need reared adult specimens to describe the ones that are new species (which is probably most of them): www.inaturalist.org/projects/lea...

Eastern dobsonfly remains at Eno River State Park. Someone got a good meal here!

What is tucked under this leafhopper nymph’s wingbud? Is that a mite or tick? Seems like this guy’s hop will be pulling to the right for a while…

I love looking for bugs on rainy days. Here are four of the many species of small creatures I found this morning, all taking refuge in flowers during the wet weather. 🌿🐙📷 #Bugsky

Two damselflies in the same patch of dappled sun, ebony jewel wing and variable dancer (purple subspecies!) @ncbg.bsky.social #NCBotanicalGarden

Two different carrion beetle species on a squirrel (?) carcass, American and Margined. Everything has its role!

She is made of but cardboard, so her time on this mortal coil will be brief, but I hope she entertains and educates many during her stay. Wish her luck, everyone. 🫡

Aaah!!!! 🥳 I have always wanted to find a warty leaf beetle in person!!!! Checking another off my bugket list! #bugsky

The power of citizen science in helping to document our local #invert biodiversity. Every observation adds to our knowledge! 🦋🐞🪲🐛🦟🐜🕷️🦂 #ausinverts #wildoz #inaturalist #bugsky #citizenscience #communityscience www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

Our new paper summarizing 68,741 Caterpillars Count! branch surveys to compare bugs on native vs non-native plants! 🐛🦋🐞🕷️🐝 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Sometimes there are more than bugs on your bug survey branch. Cope’s gray treefrog

Beetle who wants you to think it's another kind of beetle, for Reasons Bassareus croceipennis perhaps? Excellent lady beetle mimicry.

If have have a professor of rare moths in your life, give them some time to go looking for moths because today is mother's day.

Some terrific bugs on branches at Eno River State Park today! #insectmonitoring #phenology

White-marked tussock moth caterpillar (Orgyia leucostigma). Those hairs make it more difficult for parasitoid wasps to lay eggs, and the large tufts may be mimicking wasp cocoons to suggest the caterpillar has already been parasitized.

iNaturalist webinar on how to identify arthropods! A great introduction to a fascinating group. us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Another moth eclosed, so we took graduation pictures

What else have you got to do today besides learn how to monitor foliage arthropods? 🐛🐞🕷️🐜 Still a few slots available for our webinar today @ 12 pm ET Register here using the link here: caterpillarscount.unc.edu/getStarted #insects #citizenscience #phenology #bugsky

A treehopper mom guards her eggs from predators and parasites. Many treehoppers have an enlarged pronotum (the segment behind the head), in this case resembling thorns. (Alchisme sp.) El Refugio de Intag, Ecuador #Invertefest

🦋 Long-term citizen science observations can help us understand climate impacts 👉 Using 44 years of #Lepidoptera observations, models suggest that diurnal vs nocturnal species respond differently to warming, highlighting diel activity as a key factor shaping phenology. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

The forecasts are always low; I think we easily see another over 300millon flight night this evening. #birds #spring #migration #LightsOutForBirds #EarthDay

It's amazing what you can find along a little stretch of forest trail! Whether you're a curious newbie or a seasoned bug enthusiast, sign up at the link for an enjoyable community-building walk led by yours truly as part of #CityNatureChallenge2026. Saturday, April 25, 1:00–4:30pm. #iNaturalist

Still space in our Caterpillars Count! webinar tomorrow, April 21 @ 11 am ET Learn how to survey foliage arthropods 🐛🐜🦋🐞🕷️🪲 and contribute to a continental (and beyond!) scale monitoring project! #insects #phenology #CitizenScience caterpillarscount.unc.edu/getStarted

Happy Hatch Day to these Carolina Chickadee chicks! 🐣 🐣 2 out and 3 to go! #birds #phenology #CaterpillarEaters

Next week!!! Please share widely with your bug-loving friends! #insect #phenology #citizenscience

These chickadee eggs are set to hatch any day now. Parents will need 6,000-9,000 🐛🐛 in the next 2 weeks in order to raise them! #CaterpillarsCount

lol apparently those cute little japanese emperor butterfly (sasakia) caterpillars that have antlers and a :3 face have such bad breath that they scare away predatory wasps. look they're making them take breathalyzer tests. the results are in: stinky!! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

This paper is making the rounds again! Exciting update is we just got some funding to study caterpillar performance on local and nonlocal ecotypes! (Plant genotypes adapted to other ecoregions). Stay tuned for more caterpillar pictures this summer! 🐛

It's finally hear, it's Citizen Science Month!!! This April, join a global movement and help create 2.5 Million Acts of Science with @scistarter.bsky.social! #SciStarter #America250 #Semiquincentennial #nisenet #nisenetwork #museums #planetarium #InformalScience #sciencecenters #childrensmuseum

Here is the Cornell Chronicle article about our PNAS paper on the evolution of milkweed toxins (N,S-cardenolides), to which the monarch butterfly is sensitive, despite being co-evolved with milkweeds! @cornellentomology.bsky.social news.cornell.edu/stories/2026...

The things that can be found during a child’s 1hr soccer practice ….

Takes a minute to establish which end is the head of this copper underwing (Amphipyra pyramidoides) caterpillar On sourwood #insect #phenology #birdfood #bugsky

April 7th, leaves are relatively fresh, and yet many trees already have substantial herbivore damage. #VeryHungryCaterpillars

Can you imagine hatching out in the spring and having unlimited acres of fresh, undefended (as of yet) hickory leaves to eat? #phenology #insects #bugsky

April is #CitSciMonth! Learn how to participate in foliage arthropod monitoring 🐛🐜🐞🕷️🦋 thru the Caterpillars Count! Register for one of 2 free webinars at caterpillarscount.unc.edu/getStarted/ Apr 21st, Tue, @ 11 am ET Apr 29th, Wed, @ 12 pm ET Help understand #insectdeclines & #birdfood!

Luna Moth selfie! This male was hanging from a branch of invasive honeysuckle close to the forest floor. Leavenworth, Kansas, USA, April 6, 2026. #bugsky #moths #mothing

Third caterpillar of the year, dangling from a recently leafed out red maple. Can’t wait to start some branch surveys! Join us! #CaterpillarsCount caterpillars.unc.edu

April is #CitSciMonth! Learn how to participate in foliage arthropod monitoring 🐛🐜🐞🕷️🦋 thru the Caterpillars Count! Register for one of 2 free webinars at caterpillarscount.unc.edu/getStarted/ Apr 21st, Tue, @ 11 am ET Apr 29th, Wed, @ 12 pm ET Help understand #insectdeclines & #birdfood!

Really nice article and visuals in @washingtonpost.com this morning showing how spring has arrived early - very early - in much of the lower 48 states www.washingtonpost.com/weather/inte... @usa-npn.bsky.social #phenology @bennollweather.bsky.social

Eastern tent caterpillars are the first caterpillars of 2026! And boy are they moving on this warm day yesterday 🐛🐛🐛

We're celebrating #PhenologyWeek! Today, we challenge you to find a plant showing flowers and observe it in Nature's Notebook. Please share any images of your plant with us @usa-npn.bsky.social! Image credits: flowers or flower buds and open flowers by Dulcey Lima Photography.

I think I found another one 😮🐛 (from a few days ago, back in MD) #insects 🌱 #nativeplants

The prettiest camouflage you've ever seen 🦋🌱 #invert #moths #nativeplants

Spring is springing (unless you’ve got a blizzard right now), which means getting ready for the new foliage arthropod monitoring season! 🐞🐛🐜🪲🕷️🦋 Check out our first newsletter of 2026! mailchi.mp/bbd9b2066279...

A Calligrapha beetle- named of course for the beautiful inscriptions on its elytra- sits on its dogwood host plant. Texas.