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willow catkin #wildflowerhour

Houdini fly (Cacoxenus indagator) lurking near Osmia nests at my insect hotel. This introduced species has made it down to Salem, Oregon, on the west coast and D.C. on the east coast. Please report on iNaturalist if you see them. 🌿 #diptera #flies #insects www.inaturalist.org/observations...

The first wasp to emerge from my cache of eastern redbud seeds I collected in 2025 was a male chalcid, possibly Eupelmus pulchriceps. 🌿 #inaturalist #insects #wasp #chalcidoidea #cercis #entomology www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Managed to get temperature readings of my cat without her seeing the laser and going berserk.

quick, look at an Andrena vs Colletes comparison before it becomes irrelevant, until like July. Colletes are big spring guys and only show up rarely later in the year.

Mornings in the #bog. It's like its own little utopia. It's hard to imagine a more cool place to be. The pitcher plant bogs of North Florida are otherworldly. From a recent foggy morning. #photography #landscape #ECK #bogs #pitcherplants #Sarracenia #fog #bogplants

I’m flying home from Phoenix today after spending a few days in northern Mexico. Here’s a sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) observed in the light of morning at El Pinacate and Gran Altar Desert Natl Park. These are sandy habitat specialists as the photo suggests. #herps #snakes 🌿

Just a lil guy defending his mushroom. We found a log covered in mushrooms and spotted some small hammerhead flies on it. Turns out these are feisty fruit flies and the males are serious about defending their patch. One of our coolest finds so far! #invert (Zygothrica sp.) Intag Refugio, Ecuador

The Total Solar Eclipse from Artemis II This image sequence was captured by a modified GoPro on the solar array of the Orion spacecraft while the Artemis II mission flew around the farside of the moon. Credit: NASA/Simeon Schmauß 🔭🧪 #Artemis

Most surprising find @ bee aggregation '26 were lots of thick-headed #flies emerging! They're parasitoids of adult bees, grabbing them mid-air to inject eggs into the abdomen. Eww but cool! (I guess not if you're a bee 😂) Here's one on a flower: flic.kr/p/2ocMhfV #Conopidae: #Zodion NC, USA

!!! 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

Larvae can also detect each other's light and synchronize their glow with neighbors, turning a cave ceiling into one coordinated trap. Nature always finds a way ... and sometimes that way is very, very pretty.

Behold Arachnocampa luminosa, aka the New Zealand glowworm. The larval forms use their blue-green bioluminescence to lure prey into silk snares (meanwhile, the adults take the form of tiny gnats).

We found this amazing earwig at a bug light last night. This one is a male, they typically have larger pincers. There is not much info available about the genus so I'm not sure why he has those strange protrusions from his abdomen. (Ancistrogaster sp.) Intag Refugio, Ecuador

If you tried Tougher Than Tom's Mosquito TNT and were denied a refund, I highly recommend leaving a review on Trustpilot. People who complain on the site tend to get their money back. Tougher Than Tom is based in Austin, Texas. #psa #scam #mosquitoes #austin #texas www.trustpilot.com/review/tough...

First, one of the #bee spp. making burrows: a mining bee! These cuties have a long depression on each side of the face lined w/hair ("facial fovea"). There were also cellophane bees (Colletidae) & sweat bees (Halictidae). All are not aggressive & quite shy. #Andrenidae: #Andrena North Carolina, USA

I block on sight any account posting AI pictures as if they are real. I may start blocking folks who repost those kinds of posts, particularly if a bunch of people in the replies have already pointed it out. Space pictures are amazing. They don’t fucking need AI.

this Synemosyna was LOVING these little yellow flies - even got one while it was mating! two more showed up while I was shooting… 🪰ID help appreciated - I’ve got them at an unconfident “Nematocera” on iNat: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

always always repost ✨ONYCHOPHORA✨

New today: Bees That Come Out of the Ground?! youtu.be/jje1LPrsHbc

The beautiful Myrmecia fulvipes, from Victoria, Australia.

@stephenbheard.bsky.social How does birch syrup compare to maple syrup? I haven’t tried the former but I am curious.

a female Hairy-footed Flower Bee visiting Oxfordshire’s county flower - the Snake’s Head Fritillary 🐍

Artemis ii

Norellisoma flavicorne, the Grey Mantis Dung Fly...a small, Meadowsweet-associated dung fly with impressive raptorial bristles on the forelegs. A common species on beds of Meadowsweet around the @ldvnnr.bsky.social . @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @ynuorg.bsky.social

@ibycter.bsky.social Am curious, why do mosquitoes sometimes die during oviposition if they are in dense colonies? Stumbled onto that observation via a BugGuide pic of yours from 2005. www.bugguide.net/node/view/38...

Fun fact: you can tell male from female Blue-footed Boobies by the size of their pupils. The male has a pinpoint pupil while the female’s pupil is larger with an irregular edge. Here a male tries to woo a lady by bringing her a small stick and showing her his feet. 🪶

„Die dicke Katze passt nicht durch die kleine Tür.“ A little gem from the folks at Seedlang. #language #german #deutsch #katzen #cats

Ascodipteron euryale is a newly described species of wingless, endoparasitic fly. The female fly burrows into the base of the ears on a bat and form a cyst where she will spend the rest of her life. 🧪 zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1835...

I love it when a native pollinator garden comes together! A visitor to our lantana this evening, the lined sphinx Hyles lineata.

If you notice a pesticide company making false claims, you can submit details, photos, and MP4s of online ads to the EPA using this form. I've learned from FOIA dumps that EPA lawyers do, indeed, collect these complaints for possible enforcement action. #pesticides #epa echo.epa.gov/report-envir...

Instructions for making mosquito-killing buckets. Cheap, effective, and won't harm butterflies, fireflies, pets, or birds like pyrethroid sprays do. Spring is a great time to set them out. #mosquitoes colinpurrington.com/2024/08/bti-...

Phazaca interrupta - the Plain Roll-moth A new moth for our Perth Hills garden last night and definitely one of the more unusual ones we’ve seen. This moth concertinas its wings while at rest, giving it this unusual resting posture. #teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera #inaturalist

It's small but very beautiful. The plumed bagworm (male) Epichnopterix plumella.

I've been trying to persuade local residents to adopt mosquito-control measures that don't involve fogging yards with pyrethroids, so I did a photo shoot of some of the devices I use: 4 autocidal gravid ovitraps (kills pregnant females), 2 containers with Mosquito Dunks (kills larvae). #mosquitoes

Seed-feeding chalcids are always a favorite to rear out; getting a whole adult wasp out of a tiny seed is nearly magical! This tiny rose seed chalcid (Megastigmus nigrovariegatus) emerged this week from a wild rose seed (Rosa acicularis) collected last month. 😍 🧪 #chalcidoidea #entomology #Alaska

Whenever I'm at my desk this little bundle of joy jumps up and pins down my right hand. Very difficult to use the mouse and keyboard but I just can't tell her to move. And if I stop petting her with my free hand she looks up at me wondering why. Productivity way down. #cat #cats #caturday

Can confirm: the metal bristles on grill brushes break off and can lodge on food. #psa #grilling #health www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026...

Action shot of me clearing my gutters yesterday. One year I was lazy and didn't get to it until June and discovered thousands of mosquito larvae. It's an ideal habitat for them. #mosquitoes

I made carbonnade flamande yesterday so had a few tall cans of Belgian beer sitting around. Loved the label so am using them to hold stems for tunnel-nesting bees and wasps. Can't wait to spam everyone with photographs of the visitors. #bees #wasps #beer

New at my insect hotel this spring are rose canes, offered vertically and protected from rain by the eave of the garage. Hoping to attract bees and wasps that excavate nesting tunnels in pithy stems. #bees #wasps #hymenoptera #roses #insects

Why there was a shovel stuck in the mud offshore I do not know, but this spotted sandpiper took good advantage to catch the rising midges (flies? mosquitoes? what am I, a biologist?). I didn't know what was going on until I looked at the photos. Everglades NP, FL. #birds #wildlifephotography

Antlion (I think Brachynemurus sp.), Anza-Borrego Desert, CA. These lovely insects resemble dragonflies/damselflies, but are in another order, Neuroptera, with lacewings & owlflies. Larvae & adults are predators. Larvae of this genus live in sand, but don't make the little pitfall traps. #BugSky 🌿🐙

Titanus giganteus is the world's largest beetle! They can grow up to 7 inches long and are native to tropical forests in South America.

Tiny but one of a kind — scalepod (Idahoa scapigera) is the sole species in its genus, standing barely 10 cm tall. Easy to walk right past, hard to forget once you spot it. 📷 grant-bowler on iNaturalist 📍 Canada 🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations... #ObservationOfTheDay

Black oil beetle depositing up to a thousand eggs in each of two or three burrows.

A moth having a good drink at the water bowl. Water = Life ❤️ Overall, very quiet in the garden overnight. Warmer temps again this week, up in the 80's F again.

1. 344 hummingbird pics just this morning - you've been *warned* 2. Rufous ARE amazing, but y'all! LOOK AT THIS MR. ANNA'S 👀 #birds #becurious 🪶