It’s hard work changing your outfit when you’re a #spider🕷️ Caught this Knobbled Orbweaver (Socca pustulosa) in the process of moulting today. It hunkered down and took a well deserved rest after this #ausinverts #wildoz #arachnids

In a new publication, we focused on the little-known African spider Megaraneus gabonensis, in which females are 4x larger than males. We provide an overdue taxonomic description, phylogenetic placement, and reconstruct the evolution of sexual size dimorphism. www.ezlab.si/post/taxonom...

Hi! We need lice for our diversity and adaptation project. Specifically, we need lice from zebras, camelids (camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, guanacos) & aardvarks. If you or someone you know might have lice, I'm happy to discuss our inclusive collaboration plans! sites.google.com/nhm.org/anop...

let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ?? here she is at her burrow entrance.

Reminder! The deadline for our infographic competition is the 18th of October. The last day of #biologyweek You can find out more information here www.asab.org/education-news There are three age categories: 7-10 years old, 11-14 years old and 15-21 years old.

this is cheese phenetics and I won't stand for it

It's #Invertefest, it's Saturday night, so... here's a couple of nudibranchs who are having a very good Saturday night indeed! Chaimberlain's nembrotha (Nembrotha chamberlaini), Anilao #MarineLife 🌿

Out in the CNMI here, where I currently am, the best answer I know of is the local Golden Huntsman, Olios sp. Relatively abundant among the spiders here, but undescribed regardless. #InverteFest #spiders 🌏🧪

Ok #InverteFest, what's common in your area but likely new to science? This slug moth caterpillar comes in the hundreds in my backyard, their poop accumulates on leaves. When the wind rustles, the poop comes pouring down and sounds like rain. Its identity is currently unknown beyond "Scopelodes".

Greetings, chordate comrades. #InverteFest is upon us. tl;dr: Over the last 7 days every April, August, and December, we invite you to show the internet your coolest bugs & slugs. Go find critters, post your art, write wikipedia pages, do whatever you like to celebrate invertebrates with us!

enoshima aquarium in fujisawa is currently exhibiting a live chiroteuthis

The 2025-26 Eco-Evo job list is out. Good luck to those applying! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

This video is from a guest on my tour this week. I was busy taking stills. This is very much a wait for it video because the cutest part is at the end. It was absolutely magical to be able to watch these polar bear cubs and their mom just going about their day on the tundra in the rain. 🌿🦊🐻‍❄️

a globally rare blind harvester (Speleonychia) moves slowly through the perpetual darkness of a shallow but lengthy lava tube, far southern Washington

This August, we're aiming for the ambitious number of 100 artists in the art book. Submit now while the form is still open! docs.google.com/forms/d/1KaR...

Illustration of a ghost ant (Tapinoma melanocephalum) for Menagerie board game by @moosegames.bsky.social 🐜 - #ant #scientificillustration #zoology #biology #insect #animal #boardgame #insectarium #menagerie #cardgameart

Scientists! @skypeascientist.bsky.social matches scientists with classrooms, libraries, & more for virtual Q&As! It's easy and fun! We are looking for 750 more volunteers by 8/15 If you're down to chat with 1-5 classrooms this semester, sign up here www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

New newer. I think we’ve added four or five since I posted this in June.

Ahh! The paperback of The Game Changers just arrived! Out at the end of this month. If you like boardgames, card games or roleplaying games or you're just interested in how games shaped culture throughout history (& continue to do so today) I think you will dig it.

Here is your Sunday Spider, Sporting Socks. I think it's Ancylometes sp. (per iNat, A. bogotensis). As of 2025 it's in a brand new spider family, Ancylometidae. It was big (1.5"+ body length). I saw it by a stream; these spiders are semi-aquatic and can stay underwater for an hour. (Costa Rica) 🐙🌿🕷️

1/ Invasional meltdown is a popular but nebulous concept in invasion ecology. It involves multiple direct & indirect mechanisms, yet it is rarely studied beyond simple pairwise facilitations. In a new paper, we expand the concept & offer testable hypotheses: redpath-staff.mcgill.ca/ricciardi/Ri...

Abachrysa eureka, a lovely lacewing native only to the southeast US - and a creature I had not seen before. Please come again to the Black Light Café 🩵

Our arachno-colleague, Dr. Peter Jaeger, has the ambitious goal of running an inclusive and low-budget scientific conference: the Asian Conference of Arachnology (ACA) 2025. All donations will cover travel and conference expenses for students and ECR from low-income regions in Asia. #arachnology

It's that time of year here when the cross orb weavers are emerging, both spiderlings just hatching to begin their lives and older juveniles from last fall who have overwintered at least once. Love these spiders. #Pentax K-5ii, 100mm Macro WR, flash

Child on the hunt in the rain 🥹 (owlfly baby, newly-hatched and ready to eat)

Even if iNat seems dispensable to you due to your abundance of local resources, it's the only thing people like me have. They're now taking feedback from the community so this is our chance to steer them in a better direction. I don't want the platform to die, I want it to do better.

I get that people are deeply annoyed by iNat right now, but despite its deep flaws, I hope people can see that a better iNat, both the site functionality and the community, is worth fighting for. Here's my personal perspective.

the new developments on inat inspired me to make a diagnostic thread for every insect order because there's only like 30something of them. going to try and avoid exceptions and extremely technical characteristics when possible. 🧵

Happy Pride from California Native Plants!

Public servants 📢 : We’ve launched an emergency loan program to help eligible former federal employees with financial hardship following job loss because of federal layoffs, relocations, or closures. We said we’d be there for our public servants, and we meant it. mocoshow.com/2025/06/08/m...

🏳️‍🌈 For #PrideMonth2025 I’m posting one queer skeet a day. 6/10: 500 Queer Scientists works to ensure that queer STEM kids have LGBTQ+ role models, community, and visibility within STEM. 🌈 I love them. Follow and, if you are queer in STEM 🧪, drop your bio: @500qs.bsky.social 500queerscientists.com

I recently gave an interview for the SNSF magazine about the fascinating world of black widow spiders. Here it is! 🕷️🕸️🦗 www.horizons-mag.ch/2025/06/05/h...

The tides are calling, and they’re saying it’s time for Snapshot Cal Coast! 🌊⭐🪸🦭

Hello Everyone! We are back for the 2025 edition of the #EvoBioCC 🥳💚✨ Register to our free online course on Evolutionary Biology, focused on supporting the dreams of Global South students hoping to build their careers in the field! Here is the link: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

wow. the tight zooms on these really brings out their character! #Wormwednesday #onychophora www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Is this an okay place to drop some peripatus fan art? I am their # 1☝️😍 and always believed they could do it #bugoftheyear

If you ever wondered how spiders are beneficial to humans and ecosystems, you may be interested in our newest review of "Ecosystem services provided by spiders", led by @cardosopmb.bsky.social! 🕷️🕸️

🕷️🌍🕸️ Spiders aren't creepy crawlies—they're ecosystem heroes! From pest control to biotech inspiration to key figures in our collective culture, a new review reveals the many services spiders provide: 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/brv.... (drawing by @jmalumbresolarte.bsky.social)

Check out this brand new fellowship from the Simon’s Foundation in Ecology and Evolution. Incoming grad students this year are eligible to apply. No citizenship restrictions. www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

🌈 happy pride babes 🏳️‍🌈 #art

However, many of these cases remain undescribed and are still hidden away in cabinets, drawers and literature. Unknown field observations 📷, papers 📄, books 📖, museum specimens... Everything helps! Spread the word of these ant(agonistic) interactions! 🐜💥

Time for some fun away from the computer. More than a decade ago, I created a set of sixty leaflets with instructions to play ancient, medieval and early modern board games. You can download the PDFs here: www.cyningstan.com/downloads/52... #boardgames

A captive colony of Myrmecocystus mexicanus honeypot ants at a California Academy of Science's ant exhibit from a few years ago.

These amazing spiders evolved to survive underwater by sealing their homes shut & breathing the limited air inside slowly — a much slower respiratory rate than other spiders their size. They venture out during low tide to hunt small sea creatures like amphipods & marine isopods.

After a bit of a gap thanks to travelling, here is another #FossilFriday. This time, a spider.. And a bit of a unit too! This is Mongolarachne, a ~160 million year old, ~10 cm long animal found in China. We have fossils of both males and females of this species, which is super neat. ⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky

Hi everyone, I am launching a community science scheme "Spider Spies" where we are asking you, to send us pictures and if you're keen and able samples of Misumena vatia, the Flower Crab Spider to investigate their interactions with their host flowers and the invertebrate community around them.

Hey you have TWO DAYS to leave a public comment on whether the government should make Covid vaccines widely available this year www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...

A little late for mother's day but...!