Camponotus with another ant's head still clamped to her left antenna. Second time I've seen this with this species (Camponotus pennsylvanicus?) this spring! Wild how the mandibles can still be locked so tightly even after the attacker was decapitated!

Not the most colorful Habronattus out there but very handsome in an understated way - Habronattus borealis. One of the more common Habros I'll see around here (NE OK) on rocky shores of creeks and lakes in the summer.

some bee diversity for #wordbeeday ! #savethebees

I see Peckhamia a lot and occasionally think "ooh this one looks a little different" but don't ID them to species because they're apparently difficult to tell apart and the genus needs revision love that they're still kind of a mystery🙇

low posterior angle passes the "looks like an ant" test too ✅

from the side... bold patches of white setae break up the silhouette + create the illusion of a more tucked waist, additional body segment(s?) - maybe even a more isolated, ant-like head? and a darker color around the rear eyes (~where an ants are) makes them look bigger! lateral angle disguise ✅

bit better anterior angle - focused on the "antennae" - v anty 🐜 squinting eyes (and looking at the image small), taking in just values, u can def see the silhouette of an ant like head capsule too anterior angle disguise ✅

Peckhamia sp ant-mimicking jumping spider showing off their odd second pair of legs - thin and dark - help up and out like the geniculate antennae of an ant Woods, NE Oklahoma, in situ, 5-14-26

Thanks for the feedback/suggestions on the spider anatomy design!🙏 Was going to update it today but went on a hike instead - here are some handsome jumpers I found: Hentzia mitrata, Habronattus coecatus, Paraphidippus aurantius, and Habronattus decorus - all in situ w/in about the same 1 acre area!

Salticid anatomy design I've been whittling away at too long - started as an idea for a t-shirt but may be too feature-bloated now... Tear it apart! I need criticism/corrections! What don't you like? What doesn't read well? Anything misleading/mislabeled? Fonts/labels/pointers can all be changed...

grateful for a herp-heavy spring so far! 🙇 1 Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus) 2 Mississippi Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis) 3 Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum) 4 Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis) in situ, NE OK

Sooo... who's going to #Bugshot Guyana this July? (Or wants to join? I hear there are a few spots left!) 🕷️🪲🪳🦋🐜🐝🐞🪰🦟🐛🦂🪱 I may have just impulse-registered myself* & @ibycter.bsky.social! So exciting!!!!!!!! *strictly as a bug-pointer-outer and enjoyer www.bugshot.net/bugshot-guyana

was photographing a turtle yesterday when a Habronattus decorus male hopped on top the turtle and searched around a bit #salticidae #jumpingspiders #arachnology #herpetology

!!! initially thought they were an oribatid beetle mite... then freaked out upon taking a few photos - realizing they were BAEUS - a *tiny* (~600µm) parasitic wasp! Lost them after trying to stop lens down for a bit more depth of field! Underneath a log, NE Oklahoma

name that butt!

squinting my eyes, blurring my vision, just looking at coarse silhouettes and values... comparing Synemosyna formica's 🕷️ first leg to Camponotus subbarbatus' 🐜antennae... both seen around 1PM 4/9/26 woods NE Oklahoma (unsure of plant ID - maybe young Verbesina?)

if you don't fly away, i WILL go to 2x and open up the aperture a little so I can crop 😤

☀️went out looking for Cicindela scutellaris, and found Cicindela scutellaris🙇 🏖️here's a pair on sand, near a river🪲

🕷️four Argiope species🕸️ Argiope flavipalpis(?) (A. levii?), Mozambique Argiope trifasciata, the "Banded Garden Spider", Oklahoma Argiope florida, the "Florida Garden Spider", Florida Argiope aurantia, the "Yellow Garden Spider", Oklahoma

some myriapod portraits with snake vibes 🐍

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!)

Portrait of a fancy globular springtail from a hunt yesterday morning - Ptenothrix marmorata! NE OK, in situ, Fuji xt3 + Laowa 25mm @ 5x f/5.6(?), diffused flash, handheld stack of 12 shots (w/ gaps!), stacked in Zerene Stacker, cropped in Photoshop...

Sesiidae, the "Clearwing Moth" family, might be one of my favorite lep families I've only seen 5 species so far, but they've all been BEAUTIFUL👏 1 Euryphrissa sp, Colombia 2 Synanthedon scitula, Oklahoma 3 Synanthedon chrysidipennis, Montana 4 Vitacea scepsiformis, Oklahoma

Check out "Revision of the comose flame moths of the genus Sosxetra Walker (Noctuidae, Dyopsinae), with descriptions of a new genus and three new species" (Martinez et al., 2026) zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1382... These fluffy pink moths were a highlight of the Belize BugShot workshops 💗

💩🥬this is why I can't pass up little turds on leaves - they could be frass mimics! 😰 mating Exema sp "warty leaf beetles", Oklahoma Publilia reticulata treehopper, OK Bolbonota sp treehoppers, Costa Rica Beata sp jumping spider, Peru

...a few more to illustrate the morphological diversity of staphyliniform beetles 🤩 🐜ant-like stone beetle, Scydmaenus, under log, Oklahoma 🫓flipped Eurylister carolinus, a flattened hister beetle, OK ✨sleek scaphidiine "Shining Fungus Beetle", OK 🤏TINY Ptinella sp feather-winged beetle, OK

some beautiful rove beetles for your Monday! 🤎Mycetoporine on grass, Oklahoma 💙brilliant metallic blue Plochionocerus sp, Ecuador 🖤coupled Stenus alacer in small creek, Oklahoma 🌈unbelievable Phanolinus sp, cloud forest, Ecuador

Registration is open for this year’s domestic BugShot macro photography workshop. I’ve attended a bunch of them, (both domestic and international versions) and have enjoyed every one. The instructors are awesome and I’ve made many friends among fellow attendees. www.bugshot.net/bugshot-new-...

🙏📯a few non-spider arachnid orders🎺 🙇 Amblypygi - (w/ young!) feeding on a cricket, in cave, Belize Solifugae - under rock(?), Anza-Borrego, California Pseudoscorpiones - forest floor, Oklahoma Schizomida - under log, forest floor, Costa Rica

found these moth people I drew back in 2022 while searching an old hard drive for hoverfly videos🙏

the people NEED roach pix 😤 Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru

it’s amazing how diverse ants are 🙇🐜

Enjoy a lovely walk through a Colombian mountain-top forest with @tshahan.bsky.social! We suggest watching the whole video (youtu.be/sgGlXNOct9I?...), but if you want to skip to the flies 🪰 you can click here: youtu.be/sgGlXNOct9I?... Amazing!

my modest collection of flies with WIDE heads 🙇 a hammer-headed Richardia (Ecuador), a stalk-eyed Chaetodiopsis (Mozambique), a pointy-eyed Ophthalmoptera (Colombia), and an antlered Richardia (Colombia) why though? male-male competition? sexual selection? chime-in if you know!

Been having good luck finding Symphylans recently! Here are some scolopendrellid close-ups - maybe in the genus Symphylella? Those white spots behind the antennae are Tömösváry organs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_o...

mileage rolled to this just as I parked for a bird-hike this morning 🫡

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

🪲some fine tortoise beetles found during the Colombia trip: 1 HOT red Spaethiella sublaevis 2 unknown metallic green cassidine 3 wonderfully smooth blue n bream Imatidium thoracicum (PS sorry about not posting more here - can barely make myself post to twitter - and keep forgetting about bsky)

For all the Diabrotica fans out there - 4 species I've seen in this large genus of leaf beetles : 1 Diabrotica limitata, Colombia 2 Diabrotica sp(?), Colombia 3 Diabrotica trifasciata, Costa Rica 4 Diabrotica undecimpunctata, the "Spotted Cucumber Beetle", a major agricultural pest 🤩, Oklahoma, USA

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)