Is there an actual decline in the Spotted Lanternfly in NYC or has the "novelty" aspect worn off now? [Raw observations for each year (1 January to 31 December) since it was first recorded from NYC on @inaturalist.bsky.social in 2020 (52 observations, by 20 observers; 2025 numbers to date.]

A tight cluster of Striped Shielbugs (Graphosoma italicum), plus a 7-spot Ladybird, on a Hemlock stem in Abbey Gardens, Waltham Abbey yesterday. A total of 19 adults and five nymphs counted on this one plant. #EssexWildlife #UKBugs

SLNHS Public Lecture #6 / 2025  Mass Blooming of Nelu in Horton Plains: A Magical 12 Year Phenomenon Returns in 2025 Dr. Nilanthi Rajapakse Tue, 14 October 2025 6:00 PM (🇱🇰) Biology Lecture Theatre 2, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Colombo Zoom: Meeting ID: 867 2801 9061 Passcode: 269031

Found many dead Oryzaephilus beetles in a bag of long-forgotten semolina. They are tiny, so I’ll need to take a closer look at higher magnification 🔬 to decide if they are O. mercator or O. surinamensis, using this handy publication 👉 publications.gc.ca/collections/...

oh WOW, a review like I couldn't even have dreamed for Liam O'Brien's new book from Heyday, "Butterflies of the Bay Area and (Slightly) Beyond: An Illustrated Guide." Liam charmed me from the minute we met -- now you all get to experience his art and effervescence too!! www.kqed.org/arts/1398161...

A hummingbird visited Mrs W's Impatiens flowers in our backyard today. #NatureNYC

Do Cepaea nemoralis snails smell like female Spotted Lanternflies? Why else are these male Spotted Lanternflies apparently trying to court a snail?

Took a walk on the wild side. Saw many female Spotted Lanternflies accompanied by one to many males. (I didn’t see any pairs actually “in copula”, however.)

Female Spotted Lanternflies looking very gravid these days.

Saw a copy of Tim Birkhead’s The Wonderful Mr Willughby (2018) at @strandbookstore.bsky.social yesterday & am reading a digital version of book borrowed from the New York Public Library. Here’s a review of the book by Ian Carter via @markavery.bsky.social ‘s website: markavery.info/2018/04/29/s...

I was of two minds about this book yesterday at @strandbookstore.bsky.social. I first saw a copy at @foylesforbooks.bsky.social in London in 1983, when it was newly published, but didn’t feel the need to acquire a copy then, so it’s odd to get this 40 years later. 1/n

Unexpected. From Matthew Wills’ blog. (Spoiler alert: it’s about an ichneumonid wasp that emerged from the pupa of a Polyphemus Moth.) #NatureNYC matthewwills.com/2025/09/24/7...

Found a copy of A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon by G M Henry (2nd edition, 1971) at @strandbookstore.bsky.social today.(A paperback version of this book was sold in Sri Lanka when it was published.) A digital copy is viewable at @archive.org: archive.org/details/guid...

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.

I am a little obsessed with Tumble Windmill Grass, Chloris verticillata. I first came across the species in my part of Brooklyn about 10 or more years ago, in the grassy areas around the Belt Pkwy/Flatbush Ave crossing. It seems to have become much more common now, but still mostly in the same area.

Mud-dauber. From Matthew Wills’ blog. #NatureNYC matthewwills.com/2025/09/21/m...

A question for NYC naturalists! You see those dark smudges on this sidewalk? What causes them, what do they indicate? (I know the answer, just curious if it’s common knowledge among urban naturalists! 🤓)

Mugwort Mystery Solved. From Matthew Wills’ blog. #NatureNYC matthewwills.com/2025/09/20/7...

How to use @inaturalist.bsky.social's search URLs www.inaturalist.org/pages/search...

Friday evening sky over Gerritsen Creek & Marine Park, Brooklyn. #NatureNYC

Evolution and Development of Land Plants: A Focus on Ferns @nybg.bsky.social Wednesday, October 1 5 p.m. | Online www.nybg.org/event/evolut...

Whenever I pass the derelict elevated rail tracks that cross Skillman Avenue I am tempted to climb the steps that lead up from the street to explore. Would I be trespassing? Do people go up to the tracks? Perhaps the folks at @smilinghogshead.bsky.social nearby would know?

“Falling through the Cracks: @inaturalist.bsky.social Invertebrate Records in the UK” - Recording of talk by @josscarr.bsky.social via @biologicalrecording.co.uk . Having attended the Zoom talk in real time earlier today I can recommend this to all iN users, not only in 🇬🇧. youtu.be/4QfjH-_e8hw?...

Enjoyed @josscarr.bsky.social's talk about UK @inaturalist.bsky.social records of invertebrates, much in talk that's relevant for iN use elsewhere (e.g. see this slide). Be sure to catch the recording of Joss's talk on @inaturalist.bsky.social's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@biologicalr...

Yesterday a friend showed me this New York Mycological Society T-shirt she had & I thought this is brilliant as the next topic in my General Biology II class is Fungi! #mycology #Fungi

The first illustrated linear key to annelid families, with family-level descriptions and diagnoses: doi.org/10.3897/zook... #annelids #taxonomy #Annelida

Grasses are not everyone’s favorite plant group but they practically demand attention! 😃 This is Chloris verticllata, Tumble Windmill Grass. An American species but not native to our area, well established in the urban “meadows” of Brooklyn, around the Belt Pkwy / Flatbush Ave crossing.

A pretty little moth with perhaps not the prettiest name: Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva aurea). “Webworm” of course refers to the caterpillar (larva), and here’s a bunch of these caterpillars on their web. #NatureNYC

Naturalists in the Northeast including New York City have been noting a distinctive type of stem gall on Common Mugwort. Thanks to a recent paper by Carol Mapes & others we now know these mugwort stem galls are caused by the early stages of Pseudomordellina hattorii (Coleoptera: Mordellidae).

Monk Parakeets. #NatureNYC

Ruby-throated Hummingbird nesting in Brooklyn. Great photos. From Matthew Wills’ blog. #NatureNYC matthewwills.com/2025/09/14/j...

🌿🐦 New Research Highlight: “Successful Home Garden Model for Biodiversity Conservation in Sri Lanka” 📚 Our recent work published in Loris shows that home gardens are key players in conserving biodiversity AND delivering climate, social, and economic benefits.

Archipelago New York: The City of Islands & Wildlife #NatureNYC youtu.be/EqO4iRWV3lc

We are thrilled to present our first completed topical collection, "Entomological Outreach Collections and Community Engagement." Read all about it here! blog.pensoft.net/2025/09/12/b...

First Record of a Gall-Inducing Mordellid in North America: Pseudomordellina hattorii (Coleoptera: Mordellidae) Induces Galls on Common Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris in the Northeastern United States August 2025 Trans of the American Entomol Soc 151(2) www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Sad to hear about the passing of the great paleontologist Mark Norell - who I knew during my postdoc at the American Museum of Natural History. I once asked him to sign this mammoth 🦣 tooth because we both thought it would be funny. It is still funny but a little less so with his passing. RIP Mark.

Visited a pet/pet food store to get some mealworms for Mrs W’s high school students. Though the store is close to us I’ve been there only a few times before. Amazed by some of the stuff they have, like these springtails, “clean-up crew bug for bioactive habitats”, Folsomia candida.

This adventurous lady had gotten into a classroom & decided to have a drink at my expense, so of course I had to take a closer look at her! Really, Aedes albopictus is everywhere!

Dead warbler on pavement at foot of Optimum (formerly Citicorp) building at Court Square, Long Island City.

Brooklyn downs! If we could only have some 🐑🐑🐑 grazing here this could look almost like the downlands of southern England! 😃 (The grassy “meadows” along major roads & highway crossings & exits are some of the most accessible places for exploring plants in New York City.) #NatureNYC

Two-spotted Scoliid. From Matthew Wills’ blog. #NatureNYC (I saw many Scolia dubia wasps for the first time this year only yesterday, flying low over grassy areas at the Belt Parkway & Flatbush Avenue crossing.) matthewwills.com/2025/09/06/t...

I started a blog and my first post is online! The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think! weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...

The Aedes albopictus situation in our neighborhood is pretty bad. Mrs W & I have been driven indoors by the persistent biting by these handsome bloodsuckers.

I'm doing an online talk on 16/09 about my MSc thesis, which was all about iNaturalist data for invertebrates in the UK, and the alarmingly high proportion of it which 'falls through the cracks' due to data quality concerns. Please join if interested! Link: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/falling-th...

Is this the first record of Feather Finger Grass (Chloris virgata) from New York City, perhaps New York State. Seems so, at least on @inaturalist.bsky.social . #NatureNYC www.inaturalist.org/observations...

“Ailanthus Webworm”, caterpillar of Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva aurea). The web makes it hard for enemies of the caterpillar (e.g. predatory or parasitic wasps) to reach it & it can evade such enemies with a smooth “scooting” action, forward or in reverse.

Monk Parakeets at their communal stick nest on top of a utility pole. Flatbush Avenue opposite Marine Park Golf Course. #NatureNYC

Horseshoe-crabs, like arachnids such as scorpions & spiders, are chelicerates, one of the major groups of the great phylum of arthropods. Check out those chelicerae on this dead Limulus polyphemus (Atlantic Horseshoe-crab)! #InverteFest #NatureNYC

Antlion (Myrmeleon immaculatus) fished out of a pit trap at Strack Pond in Forest Park, Queens

"From Streams to Tree Crowns: Grasshopper Systematics and Diversity in South Asia, Emphasizing Sri Lanka" Friday, 29th September 2025, 10-11 AM Dr Dhaneesh Bhaskar, Regional Vice Chair for Asia, IUCN SSC Grasshopper Specialist Group IUCN Sri Lanka Country Office, Pelawatta, Battaramulla