Reposting and pinging @tdikow.bsky.social ... ...any chance you can point me in the right direction for an ID? 😬 😀

Perfect. Predaceous. Puppy. Bycatch* collected this summer in Arizona. (*bycatch because it was caught during Bee Course and bees were the primary target, I guess) #Asilidae #FlyFriday #FlydayFriday #FocusStacking #NaturalHistoryCollections

Even the lowly aspirator (or for those who prefer, pooter) hasn't escaped my attention! Along with the 3D printed top, there's an attachment for the business end and a mouthpiece to make it easier to hold in one's mouth while in use. #CuratorsCorner #3DPrinting #NaturalHistoryCollections

I wanted to see if I could design and 3D print an insert for Le Parfait bail jars that makes it easier to see the contents and labels in the smaller vials. What do you think? #CuratorsCorner #NaturalHistoryCollections #3DPrinting #SpiritCollections #WetCollections

📢 GRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES for HYMENOPTERISTS 📌Check out these PhD positions in Systematics, Phylogenetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and more, offered by American Universities! 📌More information in the new section on our website! 🔗Scan the QR code above or access the link in bio!

My two cents' worth...

🇬🇧 📢 THE 11TH CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF HYMENOPTERISTS WILL BE IN MEXICO CITY IN 2026! 🇪🇸 📢 EL XI CONGRESO DE LA SOCIEDAD INTERNACIONAL DE HIMENOPTERISTAS SE CELEBRARÁ EN LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO EN 2026!

He is not wrong.

I'll never not be amazed at how transformative 3D printing has been for insect collecting & curation. I can make just about anything (that fits inside the printer) out of virtually nothing (i.e., a spool of inexpensive thermoplastic). #NaturalHistoryCollections #MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf

I mean... #NaturalHistoryCollections #CurationSunday #Madagascar #Buprestidae

Sure, let's burn down the planet using AI to generate fantastical imaginary creatures ...because the natural world isn't fantastic enough? #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #NoAIUsedHere #Tanzania #JewelBeetle #Buprestidae

For labeling a diverse group of insects... #NaturalHistoryCollections #3DPrinting

For labeling a diverse group of insects... #NaturalHistoryCollections #3DPrinting

me: Do you have any preferences for color or material? them: Any color will work for me Alrighty then.... 😂 #NaturalHistoryCollections #3DPrinting #MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf

Hey Hymenoptera students! Here’s your chance to win a great book by presenting during #Hymathon2025! Talk about awesome wasps and have the chance to win a book…what could be better?!

The 2025 Bee Course wrapped up on Sunday after 10 amazing days of lab & field work in the Chiricahua Mountains in AZ. We collected bees representing about 42 genera of bees! This is Holcopasites (prob. H. minimus) I collected during the course. 🐝 👀 ♥️ #Apidae #Nomadinae #NaturalHistoryCollections

I got nuthin' new to offer anyone today so I'm reposting this composite image of a velvet-ant and a true ant (or, as I like to call them, false velvet-ants... 😀 ). I like the convergent metallic color pattern. #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Mutillidae #Formicidae #Australia

Sweet!!!

When three rows of seating still isn't enough... [Grab of Ggl street view while researching a road trip] #GoogleFail

Nightmare fuel for insect collection curators. #NaturalHistoryCollections #ItTakesAllKinds #HappyWeekend

Gynecaptera bimaculata (Bradynobaenidae)

Every so often during the past couple of years, I would come across this springtail in my Malaise trap samples and think "I should really try to image this". Well, my friends, today was the day. #Collembola #FocusStacking #NaturalHistoryCollections #NotAI #SpottyMcSpotface

Little. Long-horned. Lepidoptera. #Adelidae #NorthernItaly #NaturalHistoryCollections

Post a bug that looks like AI but is actually real. #Strepsiptera #NaturalHistoryCollections #BugSky #Inverts

I made a thing. #NaturalHistoryCollections #3DPrintingFTW #Education&Outreach @entcollnet.bsky.social @entsocamerica.bsky.social

Solitary solifugid. #TexasHillCountry #ArachnidsOfHersheyRanch

Coreid circlet. #HersheyRanchInsects #TexasHillCountry

Pinging @tdikow.bsky.social for this mydid from central Texas...can it be IDed from this (less than stellar) image? It is the first mydid fly I've ever collected in a Malaise trap! I think it's in Mydas...but that's about as far as I can get. 🤓 #NaturalHistoryCollections #Taxonomy #MydidMonday

Calling all those interested in bees, wasps, sawflies, and ants!!! The International Society of Hymenopterists (@hymenopterists.bsky.social) is putting out a survey to both non-members and members to find out what you would like to see from the society: forms.office.com/e/ekULRH4Tdt Please share! 🫶

Batnado 🦇🌪️👀❤️ #TakeABreath

If you see this, post the most recent photo of yourself from your camera roll. Texas Hill Country after an event that included a presentation by wild bird rehabilitators.

[O]Puntia Party! I very much appreciate the opportunity to be in the field, collecting insects, particularly during these…interesting times. #NaturalHistoryCollections #HersheyRanchInsects

Dramatic range extension from original introduction in the PNW, or a 2nd introduction into the U.S.?! This image was taken in the upper Midwest, and I am certain this is an Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia. #NaturalHistoryCollections #StayHydrated #WaspLove #fieldwork #BugSky

Well, this certainly was a choice. #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #CurationFail #Eulophidae #BugSky

If you see this, skeet or quote reskeet a tree 🌴

. . . . . Taming tiny tigers: take two. Donated (Cal Acad. style) drawer of specimens, as received. The specimens were transferred to (USNM) trays; labels were rotated & trimmed as needed. One donated drawer down, 331 to go... 😬 #Curation . . . . .

. Today's task: Taming tiny tigers. . #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #Carabidae or #Cicindellidae ? #Curation #BugSky

. Today's task: Taming tiny tigers. . #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #Carabidae or #Cicindellidae ? #Curation #BugSky

Happy Valentine's Day! 🌹❤️ Here's my requisite heart-shaped-structure-or-color-on-arthropod pic. Very nice species. #Cerambycidae: #Saperda tridentata North Carolina, USA

. Happy Dasymutilla sicheliana day to those who celebrate. . #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #Mutillidae #IHeartYou

. Sometimes, one uses whatever is on hand to curate specimens. This sphinx moth is begging to be included in a series of posts on this subject... a thread, if you will. #NaturalHistoryCollections #ThriftyThursday #SewManyPuns .

For fresh, minty curation on the go. #NaturalHistoryCollections #ReduceReuseRecycle #3DPrinting #BetterThanDoomScrolling

The fly on the left is one of two species of stalk-eyed flies in North America. They do not see eye to eye with their more recognizable relatives from around the world. #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #Diopsidae #FlydayFriday #FlyFriday #FlyDay #BugSky

The in-person branch meetings are great, and so is our virtual International Branch meeting (Apr. 7-9)! Attendance costs $0 and you do not have to be an ESA member to participate. Poster and paper registration fees are also quite reasonable. Looking forward to seeing lots of cool research!

#WaspWednesday #WeevilWednesday 🤝 #Taxonomy #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #WaspLove #Aulacidae #Attelabidae

Scale in sheep's clothing 🐑 Baaaaaaa!!! #ensignscaleinsect #Ortheziidae: #Orthezia solidaginis North Carolina, USA

If you see this quote with flowers from your gallery.

Does this ovipositor make my rear end look big? #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #Macroteleia #Scelionidae #HaveANiceWeekend

Soldier on. #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #FlyDayFriday #FlyFriday #FlyDay

The short video in the previous post cycles through the individual images that were captured during the initial #FocusStacking capture step. The picture below is the final output image creating by the stacking software. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #WaspWednesday #Mutillidae