Colin Purrington
@colinpurrington.bsky.social
📤 2485
📥 498
📝 2069
Nature pics and science. Swarthmore, PA, USA.
https://colinpurrington.com
reposted by
Colin Purrington
Matt Bertone
4 days ago
Don't let this delicate little muppet fly fool you - larvae are voracious predators of armored scale insects! A member of the "gall" midge family, it has abandoned plant feeding for a meat-based diet (like many others).
#Cecidomyiidae
:
#Dentifibula
viburni Host = white prunicola scale;
#Diaspididae
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Isa Betancourt
5 days ago
New year, new life! Happy 2026. A Ceraunas Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) lays an egg on the budding flowers of a plant in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. The mountains have been so green & full of butterflies this year thanks to the many rains. Last year was the opposite - dry and brown. ⛰️🦋🌿
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Jen Cross
6 days ago
Today's
#BirdOfTheDay
theme is birds
#GoodLight
so here is an Equatorial Antpitta in lovely soft light. These birds are found in the central Andes Mountains of Colombia throughout Ecuador into northern Peru. Zuroloma Birding, Parroquia Nono, Ecuador
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Zoltán Sylvester
7 days ago
One of the best things that happened to me in 2025 was that we got a permit to visit The Wave in Arizona. Here are some photos from last Friday; needless to say, photos do not do justice to this place
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Nicky Bay
9 days ago
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
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Macro Highlights – The Best of 2025 - Macro Photography by Nicky Bay
After years of trudging through forests and peering into the hidden lives of tiny creatures, the number of lifers I get should rightfully decline but 2025 proved to be remarkably defiant. This year de...
https://bit.ly/nickybay2025
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Alex Wild
8 days ago
My best photographs of 2025, a short thread. A tobacco hornworm on one of its favorite foods, a garden tomato plant (Texas, May 2025). This one makes the cut because it is more aesthetically pleasing than I was aiming for, somehow.
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Jeff, Stopping by Woods
10 days ago
Another brainy Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca
#lichen
. NWT, Canada.
#fungi
#fungifriends
. Lichen is about 3cm wide.
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Fungi First
17 days ago
Found some Scarlet Waxcrust (Phlebia coccineofulva) on an American hornbeam stem! 😍
#Mushrooms
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Thomas Shahan
17 days ago
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!
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Alex Wild
17 days ago
Finally got some photos of Australia’s “blue ant”, Diamma bicolor, which is not an ant at all but a shockingly large metallic blue thynnid wasp, wingless and solitary, that hunts mole crickets. Been meaning to shoot this thing for years.
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Can anyone provide an ID? Some sort of insect found inside a well-travelled grand piano.
#insects
#entomology
#piano
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
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Insects (Class Insecta)
Insects from Truro, NS, Canada on December 20, 2025 at 05:54 PM by Paul Manning. Sharing for a friend who is *very* committed to understanding the life of his grand piano: 'Th...
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/331466635
18 days ago
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Matt Bertone
19 days ago
Oh, just a couple cute little ladybugs with blue eyes 🥰
#Coccinellidae
:
#Hyperaspsis
bigeminata North Carolina, USA
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Colin Purrington
Jeff, Stopping by Woods
19 days ago
Chocolate tube slime mold (Stemonitis sp). Northwest Territories, Canada.
#myxo
#slimemould
#fungifriends
. Specimen is about 3cm wide x 2cm high.
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DocHackenbush Must Be Destroyed
20 days ago
Fleas Navidad.
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Jeff, Stopping by Woods
20 days ago
Mosses love to decorate with slime molds. Northwest Territories, Canada.
#slime
#fungifriends
#myxo
#moss
#bryophyte
#botany
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Paul D. Taylor
21 days ago
#FossilFriday
Stack of opalised vertebrae from an Early Cretaceous ichthyosaur. Another remarkable fossil on display in the South Australia Museum, Adelaide.
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Erica
29 days ago
I do believe I might be Sheffield's leading maker of copper jellyfish bookmarks. 🤣 I can't compete against factory made goods so all I can do is relax into my weird space and hope I can find other strange people.
#findyourniche
#coppersmithing
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Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
21 days ago
“So this exciting fossil discovery of bees nesting in bone cavities, and in caves, serves as a good reminder that when it comes to evolution, bees will keep on being the bees they need to be.” Happy that
@cnn.com
Science used my quote about this amazing fossil find.
www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/s...
🧪🐝🪹🦴🪨
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Discovery of ancient bee nests in fossils points to a never-before-seen behavior | CNN
In a Caribbean cave, researchers discovered hundreds of fossils with bee nests within them. It is the first time this behavior has been recorded, a new study finds.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/science/ancient-bee-nests-fossils-cave
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Colin Purrington
NullPointer 🍄
21 days ago
Snakeskin liverwort (Conocephalum conicum). You can see why.
#liverwort
#moss
#madeira
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Colin Purrington
British Arachnological Society
22 days ago
The silk 'stockings' (AKA 'dirty socks!) of Britain's only (mini & benign) tarantula relative, the Purseweb Spider Atypus affinis trail on the ground and descend to line a burrow to 5cm deep. The spiders grab prey through the stocking wall and emerge only as adult males seeking mates in autumn.
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Mindy Weisberger
22 days ago
I love hearing about fossils that hold more than meets the eye, especially when they hint at how different species interacted millions of years ago! In this article by
@jack-tamisiea.bsky.social
, scientists found fossil evidence that ancient bees nested in tooth cavities of dead rodents' skulls 🧪🐝💀
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When the Bones Were Good, These Bees Buried Their Babies
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/science/bees-bones-nests.html
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Colin Purrington
The Associated Press
23 days ago
A wildlife photographer stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest known collections of dinosaur footprints, dating back about 210 million years to the Triassic Period, high in an Italian national park near the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic venue of Bormio.
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A photographer finds thousands of dinosaur footprints near Italian Winter Olympic venue
A wildlife photographer has discovered one of the oldest and largest collections of dinosaur footprints in an Italian national park.
https://bit.ly/48WkVN3
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Marsh's Library
22 days ago
A break from Christmas content to enjoy this capybara eating a banana. From François Froger's 'A relation of a voyage ...' (London, 1698).
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Colin Purrington
Miranda Keeling
22 days ago
Man answering his phone on the train: Yes? Correct, I’m not at work (pause) I’m not going to answer that because I am not at work today. No, you’re going to have to ask someone who is. Goodbye.
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@macro_action
22 days ago
Never skipped a leg day! Love the legs on these Pantaloon bees. Most people think they are massive pollen sacks but they are in fact double use legs for burrowing and collecting extra pollen. Taken with Canon Eos R5 and Sigma 150mm macro SS1/2000 F8 ISO8000 😮 (not bad eh?)
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Colin Purrington
Dr swift parrot
24 days ago
Check out this gorgeous little gang gang cockatoo 😍
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Jeff, Stopping by Woods
23 days ago
Microstoma protractum, stalked scarlet cup
#fungus
. One of my favourites, while living in the Northwest Territories, Canada.
#fungi
#fungifriends
#mushroom
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Colin Purrington
Nick Volpe
24 days ago
MEET MR. MOSSY WEEVIL! 😍👋 This is the most ADORABLE little beetle strutting its mossy stuff around the Amazon! 🌳 LOOK at those adorable little antennas! 🥹💚 Measuring in at one centimetre long, I believe it is in the genus Ulocerus and it is another little GEM found at Manu Biological Station! 🪲💎
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Jeff, Stopping by Woods
24 days ago
Happy, even on a Monday! Puc of a Porpidia lichen taken a few years back in the Northwest Territories, Canada.
#lichen
#happy
#smile
#fungi
#fungifriends
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If you miss seeing insects during the winter you can attract them with festive strings of Cheerios and cranberries, apparently. Found this while cross-country skiing in a local park a few years ago.
#diptera
#insects
#trichocera
#cranefly
#flies
24 days ago
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"City dwellers looking to add a touch of nature to their homes are often the ones interested in the nests." Gift link.
#wasps
#hymenoptera
#dolichovespula
#vespidae
#insects
#nature
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/r...
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There’s a Wasp Nest in the Living Room. On Purpose.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/realestate/luxury-wasp-nest.html?unlocked_article_code=1.808.KNh9.vIRI9TLralYo&smid=url-share
24 days ago
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Colin Purrington
Alison Fisk
25 days ago
Gold octopus-shaped ornaments from Bronze Age Mycenae, Grave IV, Grave Circle A. The curled tips of the arms create eyelets for stitching the ornaments onto a garment or shroud some 3,500 years ago. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. 📷 by me
#Archaeology
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Derek Hennen, Ph.D.
25 days ago
Is there anybody in Alabama looking for a quest? I'm seeing some soil centipedes on iNat that may be a species I would LOVE to have a specimen of, and has only been reported a few times. 100+ legs, reported from Tuscaloosa and now maybe Fort Payne & Guntersville.
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
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Genus Strigamia
Strigamia from Fort Payne, AL, USA on February 23, 2020 at 11:55 AM by Larry Beane
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96845143
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Found a wingless moth chilling in the snow.
#lepidoptera
#inaturalist
#moth
#insects
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
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Fall Cankerworm Moth (Alsophila pometaria)
Fall Cankerworm Moth from Swarthmore, PA 19081, USA on December 14, 2025 at 01:32 PM by Colin Purrington
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/330752001
25 days ago
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David Clark
6 months ago
I love fossils that tell a story. This little horn coral, Heliophyllum halli, from the Hungry Hollow Mb. of Ontario shows rebudding. The main coral head was damaged or buried and grew 2 new buds. It found a way to survive.
#FossilFriday
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Heading out to look for snow flies. Very hard to find but still gotta try.
#diptera
#snow
25 days ago
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It's always fascinating to see how people paint banana bunches. Detail from Henri Rousseau's 1908 "Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo," currently at the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia. Actual bananas from Longwood Gardens.
#bananas
#botany
#art
#philadelphia
#musa
#rousseau
25 days ago
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Colin Purrington
Artologica aka Michele Banks
25 days ago
Worth it
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Lalanne Hippo Bar Sells For Record-Smashing $31.4 Million
A 1976 Hippopotamus Bar by François-Xavier Lalanne greatly exceeded presale expectations to sell for the whopping sum of $31.4 million.
https://news.artnet.com/market/lalanne-hippopotamus-bar-31-million-record-2727425
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If you are in the Philadelphia area you might want to knock the snow off of any shrubs and small trees you care about. Branches are pretty near the breaking point.
#snow
#philadelphia
#delco
#weather
#gardening
#trees
#shrubs
25 days ago
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Jeff, Stopping by Woods
25 days ago
Eyelash fungus (Scutellinia sp). NWT, Canada.
#fungi
#fungifriends
#mushroom
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@pasenatorcappelletti.com
Thank you so much for your efforts to ban balloon releases in Pennsylvania. I just started following the proposed bill.
#balloons
#nature
#littering
#trash
#wildlife
#pennsylvania
🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/sb879
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https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/sb879
26 days ago
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If anyone knows how to identify planthopper parasite moths (Fulgoraecia exigua), could you please help me out on this iNaturalist observation?
#inaturalist
#moths
#lepidoptera
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
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Insects (Class Insecta)
Insects from Swarthmore, PA 19081, USA on July 30, 2024 at 11:41 AM by Colin Purrington
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/240373330
26 days ago
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Can anyone suggest a wireless, weatherproof microphone + speaker set that could transmit bird feeder noises indoors? Galena is happy to just watch but I'd love to provide her with audio.
#cat
#cats
#caturday
#birds
#birding
#birdfeeder
#mourningdove
26 days ago
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Colin Purrington
Nimblenewt
27 days ago
New moss fairy ring! It developed on my greenhouse retaining wall during the past week's sequential atmospheric river deluges. Impressive how fast this wide white mycelium ring grew, and now it made a mushroom already! A new atm river arrives tomorrow, I hope the fungus doesn't eat ALL the moss.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Colin Purrington
Frank Ashwood
26 days ago
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
🧪
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Colin Purrington
Gil Wizen
27 days ago
The bulky Brontostoma basalis from Ecuador - incredibly strong and its venom packs a punch! When I took it out of the vial it immediately grabbed my finger and bit it. Was it painful? Yes, for a hot minute. But as always with assassin bugs it is more the speed of action that surprises me the most.
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Mike Shanahan
about 1 month ago
Looking for gift ideas? My book takes readers on a journey to rainforests, volcanoes and ancient temples to discover the mind-blowing story of the strangler figs and their kin, which have shaped our world and our species in many extraordinary ways. 🧪🌏
planetficus.substack.com/p/the-book
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Jeff, Stopping by Woods
27 days ago
Sphagnum moss spore capsules/sporophytes. NWT, Canada.
#moss
#bryophyte
#fungifriends
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Colin Purrington
Jeff, Stopping by Woods
27 days ago
Lichen Psora globifera, wet (green) and dry (brown). I’ve always been amazed at the dramatic colour change in lichens as they transition between wet and dry.
#lichen
#fungi
#fungifriends
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Alison Fisk
28 days ago
Wow, “French marine archaeologists have discovered a massive undersea wall off the coast of Brittany, dating from around 5,000 BC”.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Huge undersea wall dating from 5000 BC found in France
The 120 metre wall was either a fish-trap or a dyke for protection against rising sea-levels, archeologists believe.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crk7lg1j146o
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