Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).

Only one predator species chooses its prey based on what it senses the prey has eaten. Specifically, it wants prey full of human (or other vertebrate) blood! Meet Evarcha culicivora, the spider that prefers blood-fed mosquitoes. Called the vampire spider, but this is misleading: it EATS vampires.

The hosts, wood-boring beetle larvae, are typically found within trees. The female Rhyssella uses her long ovipositor to bore into the wood and deposit her eggs. When the wasp larvae hatch, they feed on and kill the host larvae. The black "tube" in front of the middle leg is the ovipositor.

If it bleeds, it leads they say.

Improving plant DNA #metabarcoding accuracy with ecological filters and #Angiosperms353: Field and pollen microscopy validation New in #AppsPlantSci by Benkendorf, @sophietaddeo.bsky.social, Fant et al bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #botany #PlantScience #herbaria #ecology

Arthropod Photo of the Week: October 1, 2025 Tailed cellar spider Crossopriza lyoni Araneae: Pholcidae By Rodolfo Vega Littlewood (rvlfoto.weebly.com), Sonora, Mexico #arthropodPOTW

Arthropod Photo of the Week: September 17, 2025 Katydid Species unknown Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae By Tomás Oliveira, Minas Gerais, Brazil #arthropodPOTW

A first for our back garden. A Migrant Hawker, posing for us this morning 💚 #Dragonfly #UrbanGarden #Limerick

Weekend reading in the Journal of Insect Science: August 16 is #NationalHoneyBeeDay! 🐝 Learn more about these vital insect pollinators in this #OA special collection all about honey bee health, sociobiology, and management @oxfordacademic.bsky.social academic.oup.com/jinsectscien...

Happy Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus! May you find God in all things!

Long-Legged Fly (Condylostylus comatus). She's about 4mm long. North Haven, CT, USA, June 26, 2025. 🧪🌿🌎 #sciart #wildlife #scicomm #sciviz #sciphotography #sciphoto #scientificillustration #naturephoto #naturephotography #visualscicomm #sciviz #scicomm #insects #flies

#theBeeAt3 Basic bee facts every day at 3pm. # 143 On leaving the nest for the first time female #bumblebee workers thoroughly survey the surrounding landscape on long looping exploratory flights; stopping often to ‘sample’ #flowers until they discover a favourite patch. #bees #nature 🐝🌍

Harpalus affinis on a local common. Unusual for a ground beetle, this one stayed perfectly still for around a minute, giving me a photo opportunity. #beetles #ento #UKwildlife

Arthropod Photo of the Week: June 11, 2025 Fly Species unknown Diptera: Family Unknown Joseph Ferraro (@josephferraro.bsky.social), Michigan, USA #arthropodPOTW

Actually, yes, this and a fantastic set of encyclopedias

ESA continues to track recent news about the New World screwworm—a species of parasitic fly kept out of the U.S. since the 1950s but which has reappeared here this year. (1/2)

Hover flies, not a wasp!

"The Usual Suspects" Let's call this a pelican-scape for #EastCoastKin #scape day? 😁 #photography #birds #pelicans #ocean

Arthropod Photo of the Week: May 21, 2025 Green lynx spider Peucetia viridans Araneae: Oxyopidae By Alfred Daniel Johnson, Tennessee, USA #arthropodPOTW

Hover Flies (Diptera, Syrphidae) eats pests as maggots and pollinate as adults. Amazing group of insects.

We're at the very end of the dry season here in this part of Costa Rica and there are #butterflies everywhere at @tapirvalley.bsky.social This is a Deep-Blue Eyed-Metalmark, a less-common and beautiful butterfly here. #costarica #bugsky 🌿

Slava Ukraini

Springtime

A fern just starting to unfurl

Look at this magnificent creature of the night! This is the Pseudanthracia Moth, Pseudanthracia coracias. #Fujifilm X-S10, #Laowa 65mm #Macro #MacroPhotography #Photography #invertebrates #insects #Moths #Invertefest

Arthropod Photo of the Week: April 16, 2025 Eggplant horned planthopper Leptocentrus taurus Hemiptera: Membracidae By Vijin Varghese, Kerala, India #arthropodPOTW

Lilac flowers

Spanish bluebell

Forget-me-not flowers after a shower of rain

Variegated lemon balm

Booker: "This isn't just about Mr. Garcia. This is about every American understanding that this president is making an assault on the due process rights that are afforded to people in our country ... you cannot disappear people off American streets."

A simple dandelion

Cicindelidia hemorrhagica tiger beetles in Yellowstone National Park are seemingly unbothered by hot springs temperatures over 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Entomologists studying (and marveling) at these unusual beetles are starting to unravel how and why they thrive in such extreme conditions.

One is made a national story every single week and the other is shhhhh.....

Colourful cherry blossom

Pollution, climate change, unsustainable resource use, and land conversion are driving the biodiversity crisis—even in areas with little human impact. Remote ecosystems have just 33% of viable plant species, showing how far-reaching our effects on the biosphere are, says @julianschrader.bsky.social

Magnolia #KensingtonGardens

Petals painted in soft delight, Like rainbows kissed by the blush of spring… #Photography #Flowers #Spring

Colourful cherry blossom

Arthropod Photo of the Week: April 2, 2025 Thick-headed flies Zodion sp. Diptera: Conopidae By Rick Malad (@rickmalad.bsky.social), Indiana, USA #arthropodPOTW

Current status of 4 maples in central PA: red maple, silver maple, sugar maple, Norway maple. #phenology #iamabotanist #acer #trees

Red maple just starting in northern NJ.

Good morning, Bluesky 💛

I've no idea what variety of Daff these are. They're the only survivors from a free packet of mixed Narcissus received a few years ago #GardensHour 🌱