went springtail hunting this morning after a rainy night. Here's a portrait of a beautiful yellow "short-legged springtail" of the family Neaunuridae. Note the "pointed mouthcone" as Frans would always point out 😭

ooh! iNat shows I've observed 100 bird species so far in 2025 🥳 some exciting moments: 1 American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) on thistle - Oklahoma 2 Potoo (Nyctibius sp), cryptic on a broken branch - Costa Rica 3 Barred Owl (Strix varia) looking back in my yard - OK 4 RWBB (Agelaius phoeniceus) -OK

2025, in snake portraits: 1 Lampropeltis holbrooki "Speckled Kingsnake"✨ - Oklahoma 2 Pantherophis obsoletus "Western Ratsnake"🐀 - Oklahoma 3 Bothriechis nigroadspersus "Central American Eyelash-Viper"🐍 - Costa Rica 4 Thamnophis proximus "Western Ribbon Snake"🎀 - Oklahoma

🧡 a few late season butters enjoying the backyard a couple of weeks ago - Burnsius, Euptoieta, Anthanassa, Phyciodes 🤎

Some local (NE Oklahoma) symphylans to illustrate a difference between the two families - Scolopendrellidae has sharp pointed tergites (pics 1 and 2) ...while Scutigerellidae has more rounded/lobed tergites (pics 3 and 4)

intimidating stare of a female Platycryptus undatus 🙇 #arachtober #jumpingspiders #salticidae in situ, fuji, laowa 65mm

It’s not #arachtober without Phidippus mystaceus 😮‍💨 Was lucky enough to photograph some super handsome P mystaceus males on a recent trip to Texas! Scanning fences and railing beneath trees paid off! in situ, fuji, laowa 65mm

🍊Video's up! Here's 15 minutes of Paraphidippus aurantius footage, thoughts, and questions: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRByaUcKSgU featuring courtship behavior, silk production, possible mate-guarding, cannibalism and more! #arachtober

Getting close to wrapping up a big Paraphidippus aurantius 🍊video featuring courtship behavior, silk production, possible mate-guarding, cannibalism and more 🫡 here's a big female w/ a lot of orange scales - July, 2021, NE Oklahoma

Beautiful, spooky wings of the "Halloween Pennant" dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) 🎃 seen near water - June, July - NE OK

💗some pink macro scenes for your Friday💘 1 pink (usually green) grasshopper w/ erythrism (2005!, Oklahoma) 2 metallic sparkling rose-gold abdomen of Habronattus decorus (2021, OK) 3 fluffy Sosxetra grata moth (2014, Belize) 4 cute Pelegrina galathea jumper peaking out from my zinnias (2024, OK)

I don't know anything about this pink worm-like millipede other than its name (Rhinotus purpureus) and that is has a tiny head with two cute black ocelli (simple eyes). Under a log, in situ, Costa Rica, Jun 2025

Strange snouted millipede found in Costa Rica while rooting through a wet decomposing log. Siphonophoridae, I believe - note the elongate beak-like rostrum... and those little spots on antennae may be sensory bits.

Hentzia palmarum also has an orange cap and white face - but with bald protruding chelicerae and dark forelegs. Here's a male (on oak) feeding on a caterpillar. NE OK, April 2024

portrait of a male Hentzia mitrata or "White-jawed Jumping Spider" found beneath oak, NE Oklahoma, April 2025

the flattened thallus of a liverwort reaches across a pad of moss on rock, shaded area among large boulders, in woods, NE Oklahoma, July 2025

Microstylum morosum or the "Giant Prairie Robber Fly" living up to their name - what a HUGE fly! 🫡 NE Oklahoma, iphone video (wish it would've locked the color balance while filming!)

Sarota acantus! 😍 Extremely cute butterfly we spotted one afternoon in Costa Rica - a male (note reduced front legs) metalmark butterfly (family Riodinidae) - one of several fluttering about a plant at chest height - a pleasure to photograph!

🧡Laetiporus drop!😮‍💨 Some of my most exciting finds so far (all NE Oklahoma) Share your chicken of the woods photos if you've got any memorable ones!🧡 #fungi #mushrooms #chickenofthewoods #laetiporus

Beautiful Peucetia viridans AKA the "Green Lynx Spider" in my backyard

🕷️🍽️🕷️SALTICIDS EATING SALTICIDS🕷️🍽️🕷️ 1 Phidippus eating Platycryptus 2 Hentzia eating Pelegrina 3 Eris eating Admestina 4 Colonus eating young Phidippus(?)

Ummidia sp seen on a hike recently - first non-spiderling trapdoor spider! 🫡 NE Oklahoma, in situ, fuji + laowa 65mm

John, I *really* like when leafhoppers have super saturated colors with similar values but opposing hues 🤩 🌈 1 Spangbergiella vulnerata, Oklahoma, 2009 2 Graphocephala coccinea, Oklahoma 2024 3 Sibovia youngi, Colombia, 2023 4 Unidentified cicadellid nymph, Peru, 2016 💚❤️

even MORE unidentified Costa Rican jumping spiders 🤩 iNat links have more pics: 1 HOT orange little dendryphantine(?) tinyurl.com/yc37v8s9 2 Parnaenus-esque dendryphantine tinyurl.com/4s2wjucr 3 Sidusa? Cobanus? tinyurl.com/5e9bspyb 4 little ant-mimic eating a springtail tinyurl.com/5d2wypkt

🔎🕷️Costa Rican salticid mysteries - little brown/gray jumpers I've yet to identify (any ID suggestions greatly appreciated!!) iNat links: 1 marpissine... Balmaceda? Platycryptus? tinyurl.com/342vt478 2 unsure tinyurl.com/ywy9scnv 3 Leptofreya? tinyurl.com/ycxf8jrs 4 no idea: tinyurl.com/k6csnzxz

Photographed a LOT of handsome salticids in Costa Rica, but these Anasaitis canalis males were the fanciest! ✨💙 Very difficult to shoot - not just tiny - but super skittish too! In situ, stack (3 shots?), Pentax, Laowa 25mm Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica - ground level, shaded areas w/ tree cover

Portrait of Edessa rufomarginata aka the "Red-bordered Stink Bug" Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica In situ, Fuji+65mm laowa, diffused flash

Happily back and processing photos from a BugShot trip to the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica! Knocking out non-macros first, here are some monkeys(!) 1 Alouatta palliata - Howler Monkey 2 Cebus imitator - Capuchin 3 Ateles geoffroyi - Spider Monkey 4 Saimiri oerstedii - Squirrel Monkey

Shirt samples from Fourthwall arrived and look great! Get the new gar shirt and my old designs here: thomas-shahan-shop.fourthwall.com (I've left Spring, which is apparently now a scam - they just stopped sending out shirts and haven't paid me in months!)

A wonderful video by @tshahan.bsky.social - featuring beautiful native sunfish. Some cool gar make an appearance (that I think @solomonrdavid.bsky.social would like), and Thomas has a link for his awesome T-shirt designs if you want to support a real artist! #sciart 🐟📷🍃🌿 youtu.be/S_zUY60yQyI?...

Some close-ups of the BEAUTIFUL Compsus auricephalus, or "Golden-headed Weevil" - a common local weevil here in NE Oklahoma during the spring. First shot is a ~40image stack at 20x of one I found dead on the forest floor - and shots 2 & 3 are in situ of live beetles 💗💚

been dreaming of a gar shirt - color or no color? speak now or forever hold your peace 🫡

🕷️Close-up view of the eyes of a little "Oklahoma Brown Tarantula" (Aphonopelma hentzi) found beneath a stone in the woods. Apparently females can live up to ~20 years, and males ~5-10!

Ant-mimicking treehopper - Cyphonia clavata, shot in situ, Colombia, 2023 This bug is easily one of the wildest mimics I’ve ever seen! An amazing modified pronotum resembles an ant (backwards?), while the green abdomen and wings blend into the plant almost unseen

Dermacentor variabilis "American Dog Tick" at left, Amblyomma americanum "Lone Star Tick" at right Both are male, I believe - neat to see them both on the same bit of grass 🤩 in situ, NE Oklahoma - fujifilm, Laowa 65mm, diffused flash

After years of hoping, I finally saw a painted bunting (Passerina ciris) yesterday! 🙏🌈

Heavy rains brought this turtle into the woods (Trachemys scripta, "Pond Slider") and they were a cooperative subject for a focus stack. Such beautiful markings 🙇

As someone who often speculates on the model of a salticid's mimicry - it's SO satisfying to come across a scene like this: (Peckhamia sp ant-mimicking jumping spider among Crematogaster sp ants on a picnic table in woods, NE OK)

a few recent springtime mites: 1 - a little dark Galumnid passes behind a larger Euptyctima (both oribatids) 😘 2 - Penthaleid "earth mite" w/ a perfect crystal ball of fluid exuded from its dorsal anus 🤩 3 - hypersaturated Trombidiid red velvet mite ❤️ 4 - wonderfully wrinkled Bryobia spider mite 🧓

on my hands and knees looking for springtails, I noticed these tiny mating rove beetles on rocks in a small stream. April, 2022 the ever-helpful borisb on iNat suggests Stenus alacer and notes the male's more slender (one on the right then?)

Kinda bland from a distance - just blending into muddy edge of a pond... ...but upon a closer look - brilliant metallic green punctures! Larger depressions of blue?! So beautiful, so weird 🫡 Elaphrus sp marsh ground beetle, March 22, 2023, Oklahoma

a massive Paraphidippus aurantius jumping spider feeds on a caterpillar, August 6th, 2021 my most observed species on iNaturalist - lucky to be in an area so rich with beautiful salticids 🙇

I've just uploaded a 30+min youtube video about this trip to Colombia in 2023 - featuring this amazing blue weevil - and other beetles, bugs, and birds found during the trip: youtu.be/UUEdzRxucms

Ant-mimicking treehopper - Cyphonia clavata, shot in situ, Colombia, 2023 This bug is easily one of the wildest mimics I’ve ever seen! An amazing modified pronotum resembles an ant (backwards?), while the green abdomen and wings blend into the plant almost unseen

All spiders are beautiful, but some are just exceptionally beautiful 💛🕷️ male Phidippus mystaceus jumping spider shot in situ on a red painted gate - Nov 3, 2020, NE Oklahoma

🧡Laetiporus drop!😮‍💨 Some of my most exciting finds so far (all NE Oklahoma) Share your chicken of the woods photos if you've got any memorable ones!🧡 #fungi #mushrooms #chickenofthewoods #laetiporus

(1/2) Not all little red mites are created equal 🙏 (they're ALL super cute tho) To illustrate some of the diversity of trombidiform mites - here are representatives from four different families: 1 Calyptostomatidae ❤️ 2 Trombiculidae 🧡 3 Trombidiidae 🔴 4 Microtrombidiidae 🍷

💗some pink macro scenes for your Friday💘 1 pink (usually green) grasshopper w/ erythrism (2005!, Oklahoma) 2 metallic sparkling rose-gold abdomen of Habronattus decorus (2021, OK) 3 fluffy Sosxetra grata moth (2014, Belize) 4 cute Pelegrina galathea jumper peaking out from my zinnias (2024, OK)

💙a metallic blue rove beetle for your Monday morning💙 fantastic Plochionocerus sp seen during a 2019 trip to Ecuador - which produced some of the wildest Staphylinids I've seen 🙇 www.inaturalist.org/observations...

A collection of handsome tortoise beetles (Cassidinae) 🐢🪲 1 Ischnocodia annulus "Ringed Tortoise Beetle", Belize, 2015 2 Aspidimorpha sp golden tortoise beetle, Mozambique, 2018 3 unknown metallic green tortoise beetle, Colombia, 2023 4 Deloyala guttata "Mottled Tortoise Beetle", Oklahoma, 2020