Being stumped by a staphylinid is nothing new for me but this 2mm long intertidal beast appears to have a tarsal formula of 2-2-2! And now I am more confused. Any recognize it or have guesses? From coastal British Columbia.

JOB OPENING: Curator of Birds: Curator of Birds $78,047 - $122,654 per year -- Royal Ontario Museum

🚨🪲 COOL JOB ALERT 🪲🚨 3-year position at the Western Australian Museum working on an awesome beetle phylogenetics project, starting at $105k dollarydoos per annum: search.jobs.wa.gov.au/page.php?pag...

Today I sat in a river all day looking for and counting an endangered snail called a Shortface Lanx. A great team and despite a couple of hours of finding nothing we eventually had success. With two more days of surveys I’m hoping we continue to have success.

Does anyone have access to The Canadian Entomologist? I'm looking for Mank EW (1939b) Scotochroa and a closely allied new genus Scotochroides, (Coleoptera, Melandryidae). The Canadian Entomologist 71: 181–183. I have a Scotochroa from an unexpected location I want to know more about.

Late night fly confusion… what the hell is this? #Yukon Bioblitz calcareous bog oddities.

Please help us spread the word! Please amplify! We are searching for an associate or full professor (Canada Excellence Research Chair) in Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph! 🐟🌿🦠🐜🐸🐝 Applications are due October 6 2025. careers.uoguelph.ca/job/Guelph-C... #AcademicJobs #EvoBio

A Sagebrush Sheep Moth (Hemileuca hera) on Mount Kobau in the Okanagan. What a great place to be for bugs! #Lepidoptera #Moth #iNaturalist

Some sleeping bees on a foggy morning at the beach. Coelioxys up top and Ammophila below them. #Hymenoptera #Macrophotography #Macro

The summer newsletter is now available biologicalsurvey.ca/publications...

I just found Fasciosminthurus quinquefasciatus in my backyard. Oh so small!

The predator becomes the prey. Hudsonian Whiteface captured by a Great Sundew.

I was shocked when I opened my moth trap this morning as I did not know what this was. Turns out the Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor) was introduced to Vancouver. This is the first record I can find of it on Vancouver Island.

Does anyone have a pdf of Beal RS Jr. (1967) A revisionary study of the North American dermestid beetles formerly included in the genus Perimegatoma (Coleoptera). Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 5: 281–312.

A great radio interview with Eric Larson on the newly named Okanagan Crayfish www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Some of the Nivicolous slime moulds my son and I found today.

Cleaning my office and found out I have the first three printings of @robcannings.bsky.social fantastic Introducing the Dragonflies of British Columbia and the Yukon. I remember picking up a spare copy… but I clearly did that twice!

Ahh, sorry what?

I had a rather horrendous travel day yesterday. 3:30am wake up for an early fight expecting to be home before lunch. Flight cancelled just before boarding. New itinerary put us home 12 hours later than expected! All for a 14 minute flight to the island. We got to Vancouver, pulled out bags and 1/3

Checking in to a flight at Nanaimo Airport in British Columbia I was pleased to see this display on pollinators. I just had to share it.

Ooh, new pub just dropped. This was a fun project to play a part in. mapress.com/zt/article/v...

A successful nivicolus slimemold hunt with my son today and yesterday. Once you get your eye in these are everywhere as the snow retreats.

Oh, how I wish someone would rear this unknown Agromyza species on ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor). Now is the time to look for larvae. You can find them anywhere from British Columbia to New Mexico. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

I set up my UV light last night for the first time this year and was rewarded by two Sphinx (Smerinthus ophthalmica) and one Pheosia californica.

Seeking contributions for the upcoming issue of the Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (biologicalsurvey.ca/publications...). e.g.s include articles on aspects of Canada's biodiversity, collecting trips, photos, announcements, etc. Please send items to giberson(at)upei(dot)ca by 19 May

Call for nominations to the Board of the Biological Survey of Canada. To run, you should be a member of the BSC. Send a brief bio including your background in Canadian Biodiversity studies to [email protected] by mid-May. The slate of candidates will be voted on at the AGM in late June.

A little crawling water beetle (Haliplidae) fun from my weekend. Haliplus immaculicollis, Haliplus fulvus and Peltodytes callosus all from a tiny pond near my house.

A little Monday night collection management led to this combination. Criorhina bubulcus is a beast if a fly. Seen next to an Okanagana cicada.

I just transported part of a bed on the roof of my car for about 130km. I noticed the insect build up when I checked how secure it was mid drive. I only noticed the awesome lady beetle (Hyperaspis postica) when I carefully check at home. I think I need to make a small net for the roof of my car!

16,500-year-old robber fly from permafrost-frozen ground squirrel burrow in the Klondike Goldfields! Cool new paper just out in the #CanadianEntomologist by Scott Cocker, Rob Cannings, and Tristan McKnight. Photo by Hugh McIntosh, Royal BC Museum. #Beringia #Asilidae doi.org/10.4039/tce....

A day with Lamprey… it was worth to early ferry to get to the Beaty Museum.

I got into the ferry line up at 5:20am this morning. I function okay in the morning just not that well before 6:30! With the ferry crossing and drive across Vancouver I’ll park and get to the museum about 9:30. Then the fun begins!

Sleeping Coelioxys bees. I was first introduced to these bees and their sleeping behaviour by @ibycter.bsky.social at a local beach here on Vancouver Island #bee #Hymenoptera #macrophotography

I always find things to buy at the twice yearly Rotary used book sale. Of course I already own two of these but I am sure my son will claim them or I’ll find another young biologist who can put them to be good use.

An alien-like Western Tiger Beetle larva (Cicindela oregona) waiting at the entrance of its burrow for prey. One of my favourite photos I have taken! #iNaturalist #Coleoptera #TigerBeetle #macrophotography

New book: A checklist to identify all known species of flies in Canada! doi.org/10.3897/ab.e... "This checklist is a fundamental piece of work that will guide the assessment of the conservation status of those species." @bioinfocus.bsky.social

Horns are known from several beetle families, but click beetles rarely come to mind. Nevertheless, some species like this Semiotus from Ecuador have horn-like projections, two on the head and two "shoulder" horns on the pronotum. What are they used for? That's another mystery!

Someone was getting rid of this for free and thankfully my neighbour new I could use it and let me know about it. I have just doubled my drawer capacity!

🇨🇦🇺🇸 Love this 🇺🇸🇨🇦

I never thought I would scan an unpublished chapter of my PhD thesis so my daughter could read and reference it in an assignment at university. I must be getting old.

Does anyone know of a study that looked at insect diversity that falls into lakes/ ponds/ swimming pools?

Three brothers in biology: bugs, birds, books, conservation, and politics doi.org/10.4039/tce.... #NewInCanEnt

JOB: Executive Director, Stanley Park Ecological Society * Vancouver, BC (hybrid) * Full time * Salary $90k-100k/yr + benefits * Apply soon stanleyparkecology.ca/2025/01/22/h... #ConservationJobs

I tried @ichsofna.bxky.social ichsofna.org subfamily classifier. One got a strong hit to subfamily Banchinae and it sure looks similar to Banchus species shows at www.zoology.ubc.ca/entomology/m... pectinate tarsal claws, scutellum with an apical spine pointing backwards and cool to look at!

Omus audouini with a decapitated ant head latched on to its antenna. This beetle is quite rare and extremely range-restricted in BC. I was thrilled at the opportunity to find and photograph some last summer. #Coleoptera #Beetle #macrophotography

Another successful rare bird chase. A Green-tailed Towhee that has been hanging out on souther Vancouver Island

Funding opportunity for Natural History research in western North America! $2500 (x5) offered by the Western North American Naturalist: scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/grant_i...

I stumbled on my first Hairy Spider Weevil (Ptinus villiger) while I was away from home with no microscope! I didn’t even have a hand lens and had to wait for days to finally get a closer look and work out which Ptinus it was.

The latest BSC newsletter is now available at biologicalsurvey.ca/publications...