Some exciting life news... I am now a lecturer in Entomology and Ecology at Lincoln University in NZ! We took the Entomology students on a fieldtrip over the weekend, and saw some of my favourite invertebrates: Velvet worms and giant springtails! Always a treat to see these! #SoilBiodiversity 🧪

If you go down to the woods today, you might see a GIANT EARTHWORM! 🪱 In New Zealand it’s fieldwork time for the second round of @soilbon.bsky.social, and some incredible native earthworms turned up yesterday during soil sampling! #SoilBiodiversity #WormWednesday @barnesecodiv.bsky.social 🧪

New Zealand bug of the year: moth named Avatar after mining threat crowned winner www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f... Great photos, @frankashwood.bsky.social!

"We have such mites to show you" Today is the last day to vote in the 2026 Bug of the Year contest! Vote now for the Hellraiser Mite: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... P.S. There is also a giant earthworm worthy of your love (you get 3 votes) 🪱 #BugOfTheYear #BugOfTheYear2026 🧪

Soil Critters: Illuminating a Hidden World Have you visited Frank Ashwood's website? We are obsessed with these photos! 🐜🐞https://www.frankashwood.com/macrophotography @frankashwood.bsky.social Can you ID this species in the comments? Send us your own photos to feature in our newsletter.

For the next couple of weeks, I'm championing noke waiū, the North Auckland Worm, for the Bug of the Year competition. Thanks to Toby Morris for this great little cartoon, which shows one reason I think you should give it your vote: it can grow up to 1.4 metres long!

Today is my final day of book writing, then it's off for copyediting and out of my hands! It's been a true labour of love, and I'm feeling bittersweet. How better to cross the finish line than with coffee in this mite-y good mug by @fminifera.bsky.social #SoilBiodiversity #TheWorldBeneathOurFeet 🧪

📢 Calling all earthworm enthusiasts! 🪱✨ One week to submit your abstract for the Earthworm Symposium happening 23–28 August 2026/Wageningen. 🗓️ Deadline: 31 January You love the 😍 earthworm photography by @frankashwood.bsky.social? Then come 🤩! More info and abstract submission: lnkd.in/ehGwc3ze

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42 and post the second sentence. This is from my own book, as I nervously make final edits before the imminent copyediting deadline: "The trigonotarbid is distractedly devouring its prey, unaware that it too is being hunted."

New paper with many smart people, led by Nico Eisenhauer & Marie Sünemann @eisenhauerlab.bsky.social, surveying the state of literature on the effects of soil biodiversity on ecosystem functioning www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Meet the springtails: little-known fantastic beasts that live everywhere on Earth theconversation.com/meet-the-spr... Ping @frankashwood.bsky.social

Steven Hammer, one of our regular collection users, co-developed a new #insect pinning block, with staff and volunteers from the museum. It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself: cults3d.com/en/3d-model/... #ECN2025

Has world news got you thinking an eternity with Pinhead and the Cenobites actually sounds quite pleasant? Then why not go support the Hellraiser mite in this year's NZ Bug of The Year competition! You get 3 votes, and there's also a GIANT earthworm... 🧪🪱 bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...

Only one month left to finish my edits, and then the book is off for copy editing and out of my hands… if I fall off the radar over the next few weeks, this is why! 🧪 The US publication date has been announced as 1st Sep '26, available for preorder here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/779567...

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday. May the festive velvet worm crawl into all of your houses tonight and boop your sleeping snoots with its many adorable feet, as is tradition. A sincere thanks for all the support throughout this year. I'm looking forward to my new book hit the shelves in 2026!

🪱 📢 Great news! The abstract submission deadline for ISEE13 has been extended - now January 31st, 2026. You can enjoy relaxed holidays 🎄✨ and return in the new year with fresh energy and even more enthusiasm for earthworms 🪱. We look forward to your contributions! event.wur.nl/isee13/home-...

Mite harvesters (Cyphophthalmi) are super interesting from a biogeography perspective - the six families have distributions which reflect plate tectonics of ancient landmasses. The family here in New Zealand can be traced to Gondwana breaking from Laurasia some 200ish MYA! #TheWorldBeneatOurFeet 🧪

There are few soil animals as adorable as the 'podgy' springtails! This Platunurida sp. is a cousin of the famous 'giant' springtails in New Zealand. Instead of colourful spines, it has a flattened body, enabling it to squeeze into cracks in decaying logs where it lives. #TheWorldBeneathOurFeet 🧪📸

Oops reposting with the tag! One of my students earlier this year was an absolute springtail stan. This is for you, Riley. #InsertAnInvert2024 in 2025

Happy 5th December, World Soils Day!! Please take a moment to think about your local patch of soil - whether it's your garden, a local park or even a nearby forest. Is the soil is being looked after well there? If not, what can you do to protect it for future generations? 🧪🪱 #Soil #WorldSoilDay

🚨 One month away from the end of the early-bird! Register now: globalsoilbiodiversity2026.org/registration/

⏰Don't miss this chance to showcase your research and chat with an incredible group of soil experts! Late-breaking poster submissions for #GSBC2026 are due on January 30, 2026! Submit your abstract here: globalsoilbiodiversity2026.org/abstract/

🌃 Night lights don’t just brighten the sky—they reshape earthworm communities and soil structure. Evidence shows that tailored management of artificial light at night, tuned to illuminance and spectrum can safeguard earthworm diversity and soil function 🪱 🌍 Read more: buff.ly/nu5sf87

🚨 Do you have a manuscript to submit? Please let us know by Nov 30.

The cover art is finished for my new book and I LOVE IT! This safari tour of the life in soil and what is means to us, is now available for pre-order as ebook, soft and hardcover in the UK and Commonwealth. Published in August next year (US date soon), I hope it'll entice everyone to love soil! 🧪🪱

Love soil? Great with communications? Join us as a communications representative - apply by 17 Nov!

We are happy to introduce the Soil Ecology SIG @britishecologicalsociety.org! Our aim is to connect soil ecology researchers across career stages, facilitating knowledge exchange and collaboration. Check out www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/plan... and feel free to get in touch!

It's week 3 of fatherhood, and today I was granted special dispensation from shopping, housework, nappies & feeding, to do some macrophotography! The highlight was this Oribatid mite (N. spinulosa) sporting long defensive spines, which I've nicknamed the Hellraiser mite! #SoilBiodiversity 🧪

Today, I had a lot of fun at my daugther's elementary school, where I talked about the importance of healthy soils and the beauty of soil organisms (which is easy if one has the fantastic photos of @frankashwood.bsky.social). Next generation of soil scientists is secured I hope 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬

🎉 EXCITING BABY NEWS 🎉 I'm delighted to announce that I'm now a dad 🥰 We had a beautiful baby girl last Friday, named Elowyn. Mum and baby all doing really well, despite lack of sleep. Instead of her photo (privacy), here's a cute baby springtail 😊 #Macrophotography #SoilBiodiversity #Parenthood

Pleased to be part of this important letter led by @cmarin.bsky.social @thegsbi.bsky.social, calling for greater global action to protect soil biodiversity! A timely publication also because today is #WorldEarthwormDay 🌍🪱

This tiny jumping spider refused to surrender its hard-earned meal when faced with a camera lens, impressive! I finally managed to get out with the camera, now I'm on parental leave. We're still waiting for the little one to grace us with her presence, it could be any day now! #Macrophotography 🧪

My (slightly late) offering for day ten of #invertober (common earthworm) 🪱 Did you know earthworms have a special lip-like first head segment called a prostomium (meaning 'before the mouth')? They use it to sense and manipulate food, and move through soil! #SoilBiodiversity #Macrophotography 🧪

Day ten of #invertober Common Earthworm So cute, so cute! I have loved earthworms since I was a kid

#invertober day 10: common earth worm 🪱 (To be seen and adored) #art #collage #worm

A new special issue on soil & litter invertebrates is calling for submissions at NZ J Zool under this fabulous editorial team. See below for details!

Are you researching the conservation, ecology or taxonomy of soil & litter invertebrates? Submit your paper to this Special Issue of NZ Journal of Zoology, edited by me, @carlosbarreto.bsky.social & @barnesecodiv.bsky.social! More info: www.royalsociety.org.nz/news/nzjz-so... #SoilBiodiversity 🧪

📢 New publication out today in NZJE! Vegetation-environment relationships in the regenerating shrubland of Remus Hill, Cass, in the eastern South Island high country 🌱 Lead author: Sarah Wyse (University of Canterbury) @frankashwood.bsky.social newzealandecology.org/nzje/3613

I've been largely absent from social media lately, as I've got lot on at the moment... a draft book manuscript due in 2 weeks (Eeek!), and research work to complete before a brand new baby Ashwood arrives in 5 weeks (even more Eeek)! Time is rather scarce right now! 🧪 #SoilBiodiversity #Fatherhood

An alien creature traversing a distant world, or baby mite navigating the micro-fungi strewn surface of a decaying log? Arguably it's both! Take a closer look at the life beneath your feet, and you'll discover a whole new world of dazzling complexity. #SoilBiodiversity #Macrophotography 🧪

They vary widely

These are the beautiful spore-producing structures of plasmodial slime molds. Which is your favourite colour? Originally considered Fungi, they are now classed as Ameobozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely! #SoilBiodiversity 🧪

This festival of waxy lumps is a baby biting midge, AKA a Forcipomyia larvae. Before they grow into bloodsuckers, they're surprisingly cute. My good friend @mesofauna.bsky.social has a whole webpage dedicated to them - so go check that out! www.chaosofdelight.org/forcipomyia #SoilBiodiversity 🧪

Send me records: I am excited to be taking on the role of national springtail recorder. I have huge shoes to fill, but I hope to continue the progress Peter Shaw made in understanding the taxonomy and biology of the UK's #springtails. www.brc.ac.uk/scheme/colle...

This coming Tuesday lunchtime! I’m looking forward to talking springtails, speciation, and cryptic diversity. Sign up! ⬇️

Yesterday we had earthworm cocoons, today I bring you springtail spermatophores! Springtails, like many soil invertebrates, reproduce by a male leaving these structures (sperm-rich fluid on a stalk), which the female will sniff out and collect to fertilise her eggs. Romantic! #SoilBiodiversity 🧪

Did someone bury a tiny lemon? Nope, this is an earthworm cocoon! After mating, both earthworms will produce small cocoons like this, each containing a fertilised egg. Inside, a baby earthworm will grow, before hatching out the end like a tiny pink noodle! #SoilBiodiversity #Macrophotography 🧪

Predatory flatworms are found in damp habitats, such as under logs. They have eversible tube-like throats, which externally digest their prey alive! Here's one feeding on a land-hopper, a type of exclusively terrestrial shrimp found in the Southern Hemisphere. #SoilBiodiversity #Macrophotography🧪

I'm currently writing a book chapter about deep soil life, and I'm fully entranced by the diversity and adaptability of soil microfauna. If you've got any amazing facts, which you think MUST be included - about things like bdelloids, nematodes, tardigrades etc., drop them in the comments below! 🧪

Like all arthropods, springtails need to shed their exoskeletons to grow - a process called 'ecdysis'. I recently got very lucky to find a giant springtail that had just moulted! I don't know if anyone's ever photographed this before! #SoilBiodiversity #Macrophotography #Invertebrate 🧪📸