A new study shows that over 90% of insect biomass declines are driven by shrinking species numbers, posing a risk to ecosystem function. www.idiv.de/majority-of-... #biodiversity

This is a perfect example as to why we need AI regulation yesterday. AI cannot be the arbiter of whether human beings can live or die. This is an excuse for insurance companies to fire human workers and make our healthcare system even more nightmarish for a quick buck.

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TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque: "This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".

now that I'm back from this conference I can finally get back to my real passion: checking inaturalist multiple times a day for new orthopteran observations in need of an ID

My first article in The Conversation! I was a co-author on this paper led by the fantastic @dr-brock-hedges.bsky.social. We used environmental DNA to detect invertebrates reliant on rock-holes as freshwater sources in Australia's arid lands. #bugsky theconversation.com/meet-the-wei...

Rhipidioides sp. This very small male Rhipidioides sp. beetle was a new visitor to our moth light this week. This is the only recorded observation in Western Australia. The larvae of this species parasitises cockroaches🪳 #ausinverts #wildoz #beetle #coleoptera #inaturalist

I will never tidepool at night without a uv light again 🌊🌿🦀🐙🦑

CEO of KillCorp: “If you’re not willing to work for slave wages, you should be ground up for meat and served to subhumans who are” Normal_Guy: “Oh man, it’s not good for society to have people in charge who think like this. I hope something happens to him” [Normal_Guy’s account has been suspended]

I’ve seen so many of these weirdly shaped flyers on trees advertising this band and finally met the frontman 🔊 clicking ambertail cicada, Yoyetta robertsonae #bugsky

And for #ArtAdventCalendar day 2, some fishing lures 😅 Variations on this design have trended on social media for a while. I used creme polishes for the bases, some with gradients, and topped them all with a sheer holographic magnetic polish. Then I added details using more creme polishes.

Having to identify oneself as disabled to access accommodations is, on its own, a huge barrier to getting many disabled people the accommodations they need.

photo from September of me sticking my hand into the water underneath a concrete tunnel while looking for shrimps and the swimmy beetles literally eating me alive (very slowly)

Welcome back to #TrilobiteTuesday Here is the positive and negative impressions of Bathyuriscus fimbriatus. This specimen comes from the Middle Cambrian (Drumian) Marjum Formation in House Range, Utah. The Marjum is age equivalent to the Wheeler Shale but with slightly better preservation.

sorry I literally cannot stop talking about bugs and getting upset about injustice and then getting even more upset at how injustice will affect bugs, who cannot post

the duality of amphipods

it finally rained, so the yard is filled with funny guys again

“COAT BATH” “MASTER R6SKN”

This is a squat lobster, one of the most confusing names because they are not lobsters. They are also not crabs. Welcome to Anomura, the false crabs (also includes: hermit crabs, king crabs, porcelain crabs, mole crabs) #Crustmas

false killer whales are basically the alien from alien but without any limbs

Right now I'm doing this big writing project on rare species in Florida and thinking about how much they might suffer because of this AI grift, especially the poor freshwater crustaceans, already loved by almost no one, now trapped under Orlando during a water crisis. I hope they get to live.

actual image of me describing new species and naming them after pokemon

...I would want this tho

thrips

#Wisdom is back! The world’s oldest known living banded bird, Mōlī (Laysan albatross) queen, has returned to Kuailhelani (Midway Atoll). #Birds

The right seeks to cast gender identity not as something you are, but as something dangerous that you believe.

So... seems like Meta's AI has gone rogue flagging accounts for suspension. No idea what I did to trigger this. Can't access Messenger and all of my recent messages in group chats have been deleted. Appealed, but have heard it can take months to reverse, if ever. Has this happened to anyone else?

That's more than 1,100 jobs lost at the CSIRO over the last two years. "Combined, the staff association estimates that equates to cutting the agency’s size by a third." This is more cuts to the CSIRO than was attempted by the Abbott government. www.smh.com.au/national/csi...

Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on. (Please repost to reach a broad audience.)

Ashley Bui of UCR is giving a great talk on eucharitid phylogeny, but most importantly she tells us what the giant scutal spines are for: handles for grabbing by suspicious ants (their hosts)

across all wikipedias in all languages, vietnamese wikipedia's "game boy" article is the only place that uses the public domain shots of hillary clinton as a tetris addict taken on air force one

We are our best when we collaborate. 🧪🦠🔬🧬🌍🍄 This mural about the invisible #soil #biodiversity in Moers(🇩🇪) resulted from the collaboration between my friend Dr. Arne Schwelm, the people from sci:moers and the Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung under the artistic direction of #cokyone.

Just in time for #Halloween 👻, a #NewSpecies of trapdoor spider discovered!!! 🕷️ www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

Sorry spider haters, but this was just the most beautiful beast & I knew (nearly everyone) would need to see it 😉. It sat frozen, up on its toes, on the edge of Leeman (WA) salt lake while I took pics. Unfortunately it was too big (body length 1.4cm) for my lens. #spider #Lycosidae #Tetralycosa

Anyone who has offered to help me financially, please instead help out PRI / Paleontological Research Institution. They run a wonderful small museum in Ithaca at risk of foreclosure. They offer special sensory-friendly days, fully-masked days, fossil IDs, and an online gift shop. www.priweb.org

Isopods!! 🧡

North American Hoverflies! 🪰

Hoof fungus #fungi

3 and a half years of isopod rolling down big hills! Isopod is finally coming out tomorrow! store.steampowered.com/app/2053910/...

The wood cricket Triaenogryllacris triaena is found in Western South America. To blend in with its surroundings, the species has three colour morphs: yellow, green, and (hot) pink. The pink one is definitely my favourite. #EverydayEnsifera #bugsky 📸: Juan José Caicedo

Biomechanics remains the queen of sciences losing it at the researcher clapping to induce locomotory behavior, which in slo-mo looks like a standing ovation for 3-legged chariots of fire over here

woke katydid... call that wokedid thank u soggy for help, even tho ur barely there @thesoggiest.bsky.social

Museum artefact discovered at work

Rest in Power Miss Major. We all owe you so much. Thank you for everything.

Schizodactylus monstrosus uses its strong, spiky legs to create sand dune burrows in the deserts of southern Asia. Although those curled wings look fancy, they're not functional and these guys can't fly. Maybe for the best since they're predatory! #EverydayEnsifera #bugsky 📸: mruga (iNaturalist)

today I learned there are THREE officially non-binary characters in the wiggles... excellent news

Little Phidippus cardinalis man paused in his busy day to peer at Bugfriend for awhile 🥹 #EmotionalSupportSpood #Arachtober