just a little baby child (from @mosquitolab.bsky.social's pitfall samples; I can see how this one got sorted into the beetle pile)

Holy shit: it's an RFP for the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Hello old friend www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Baby Ogre; perfect child, proper web technique (always) 🤎

If you are a student whose NSF GRFP application was returned without review for vague 'eligibility' reasons: 1) Let your department chair & Graduate School know. Encourage them to contact NSF & congress 2) Write to your congressional reps. 3) Write to [email protected] to request re-consideration;

So fierce

🕸️ The #silk of this gorgeous little cribellator is not your standard silk - read @evoimec.bsky.social new study here: doi.org/10.1073/pnas... 🕸️

Oh shit BoW might really be goated for this. My guy @eliotmiller.bsky.social changed the damn game. This thing is fcking incredible. Hats off to the whole damn team. 👏 For those not in the know- BoW is worth the price of admission, now more than ever.

Today for #Cheliceratime, a bit of etymology! We are used to certain names, but what did they mean in the first place? If you want to learn more, read bellow! ⬇️ #Spider #Arachnid #Arthropod #bugsky #science #etymology 1/3

I could give you a great summary of our new warbler diet paper… but if a picture says a thousand words, this awesome graphical abstract by @rushstudio.bsky.social tells the whole story. 🦉🧪 academic.oup.com/auk/article/...

Newly emerged mantidfly with her old clothes nearby, wings dried, in my yard 🤎

Our international journal Arachnology is freely available to our members (see britishspiders.org.uk/join) and we are also very pleased that it is made available to a much wider audience via BioOne.

Creeping over the edge waiting for the cricket… I love this #spider, it’s so colourful and active #tarantula #Chromatopelmacyaneopubescens

This seems like a really great initiative! If you know any Trans scientists who might be interested in joining a broader community, please pass along! transscientistcollective.carrd.co

Still working to get 100 plants for the Botany & Dragons Bestiary! Submit your favorite plant today! #iamabotanist

A curious tropical Pacific brittle star called Ophioteichus with a thick, crenulate edge! I love that word! CRENULATE! #echinoday

I'm gearing up to teach a non-majors "Evolution and Society" class for the first time. One unit will be on debunking myths and misconceptions about evolution. Which ones do I absolutely have to include?

What time is it ? It’s #Cheliceratime ! For the first entry of cheliceratime, let’s start with a classic : Misumena vatia, aka the goldenrod crab spider! #spider #arachnid #chelicerate #arthropod All the basic infos are here but if you want to lean more there’s more below !⬇️

A longshot, but I've a common British money-spider (Oedothorax fuscus) with two mites (Acari) attached to its abdomen; I assume phoresy. Anyone that IDs British mites interested in receiving specimen? @britishspiders.bsky.social @arnoldtortoise.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social

JOBS IN BIOLOGY: I'm giving a lecture on careers in biology next week for our students. I'd love to hear your perspective on the 3 most important things that you think impress potential employers? #biologyjobs #careers

Please take some time to look through some of the discoveries photographed in 2025. It should interest some invertebrate enthusiasts. yes? yes? bit.ly/nickybay2025

Marine creatures inspired by the Year of the Horse in the Japanese zodiac. 🦀

The irreverence of taxonomists sometimes...

New postdoctoral fellowship opportunity! Please pass along. Excited to announce the launch of the Tom Lovejoy Fellowship Program at the University of Arizona for innovative research to protect species, sustain ecosystems, and promote a thriving planet lovejoycenter.arizona.edu/lovejoy-fell... 🧪🌐🌾

Day 15 #InsectAdvent And even the flies are getting festive. Sporting massive antlers akin to Moose or Reindeer, Phytalmia sp (Tephritidae) males, will use them to fight for their right.......to PARTY (with the opposite sex...) @royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social

A cubed flat top for this southern Alabama boy.

December is halfway over, but we’re still looking for sea stars! 🌊⭐ Scroll to see incredible sea stars observed across the California Coast & uploaded to the iNaturalist app. Find low tide information at bit.ly/tide-finder and details about the Solstice Sea Star Search at bit.ly/SeaStar25.

By this point we have lots of regulars who participated in most, if not all of the previous art books. But I also like seeing new names because they keep things fresh. If you know other artists working with invertebrate subjects, please encourage them to submit something!

I don't know where Schubart got off calling this species Stylodesmus horridus, because this little millipede looks cool as HECK. Specimen is from Mt. Nimba in South Africa (millibase.org/aphia.php?p=...).

For no particular reason, here's an unexpected guest that checked into my backyard insect hotel a few years ago. It's a beetle larva that initially tunnels into a wasp larva to feed, then pops out to finish development as an ectoparasite, which we see here. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Day 7 of our #spider #AdventCalendar (don't open the door⚠️) brings a winter darkling...

I'm recruiting a Ph.D. student for Fall 2026. Interested in comparative studies and trait evolution in fishes? Send me an email with a CV and research interests. Please take a look at my website (jcorush.github.io ) for more information about my research. #hybridization #minnows #mudskippers

Check out our new paper! Not only do we describe a cool spider (new genus) from Madagascar, related to an Australian one, but we also make a deep dive into orb weaver morphology to better understand family relationships and synapomorhpies. Proud of this one!

What are the most pressing questions about the status of #insects? Our survey is available here in multiple languages: bit.ly/insectquestions! #insect #entomology #biodiversity

We're excited to announce the finalists of the #RSPPhotoComp 2025! 🎉 Starting with #microimaging and overall winner, 'Mesmerizing spider threads' by Dr Martin Ramirez, capturing two exceptional silk threads of the Australian net-caster spider (sample obtained by Dr Jonas Wolff @evoimec.bsky.social).

This is a wild story. These clams increased arsenic levels in the water.

This is the Sunburst Candy Spider from Thailand. Not AI (sucks to have to declare this). Very real and had been on my wish list for a long time. The taxonomic placement is unclear, so we are leaving it at Cyrtarachninae.

Chilean Recluse (Loxosceles laeta)

Here comes Carolina's first paper on the effects of winter temperatures on survival, physiology and gene expression in wasp spiders. Thanks go to all coauthors for their various contribution that made this work possible!🧪🕷 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #climatechange

I know I'm spamming you all with the world's largest flower this week but look at THIS! A rare glimpse inside Rafflesia arnoldi!

Mainstream palaeoart often seems lily-white in terms of the diversity of its contributors. But pieces of palaeoart that rank among the -MOST SEEN- works in the entire field were examples of black craftsmanship. This week came news on the passing of Garfield G. Minott (1966-2025)... cont

For the first time, scientists have documented an unusual defense: Some species of arachnids build giant doppelgängers on their webs, creating a frightening deception that scares off would-be killers. https://scim.ag/487Myn0

Thanks Darwin Biological for including us in your book of practicals! Our hands-on session helps students to investigate how many different species of plants and animals might be lurking in their local area. Check out the whole booklet... buff.ly/YleVbXf

Poem, "Jumping Spiders Can See the Moon" (c) constance lee menefee

Tarantula foot-pad. Who knew they could be so pretty?

Meet bob the red velvet mite

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 🎃👻 Is that a pumpkin or a spider butt? The marbled #orbweaver is all decked out for fall and the spooky season (though, really, this lovely lady was very shy and harmless)! #Araneidae: #Araneus marmoreus #Arachtober

📣 @asab.org grants BOOSTED! 📣 We've increased most of our research-related grants by 50%, effective from the next deadline of 1st Feb 2026. Check out what we offer here: www.asab.org/grant-overview

Quite pleased with this shot of an Urosigalphus braconid wasp I got in central Austin today. I suspect the wasps are emerging from live oak acorns, having parasitized the grubs acorn weevils. Not many live photos exist of this genus, it seems.

Exciting times ahead - I'm beyond delighted to be joining @bristolbiosci.bsky.social in 2026! 🎉🕷️🎉🐌🎉 I'm also looking for a PhD student to join @multipleye-lab.bsky.social in our new home! Come and study the effects of light pollution on the evolution and development of spider eyes with us 🌃🕷️👀 👇