Honestly shocked at the lack of outrage from the scientific community at the murder of Iranian nuclear scientists. Aside from the fact that these killings are absolutely atrocious and unjustifiable, we also live in a time where we desperately need MORE nuclear scientists, not less!

A new ceraphronid wasp species is described in a review of the subgenus Larsoceraphron. Find out more about it here: doi.org/10.3897/jhr.... #taxonomy #wasps #Hymenoptera @leibnizlib.bsky.social

The humanitarian ship Freedom Flotilla is braving danger to deliver urgent aid to Gaza. Those aboard the ship are braver than any one of us here in the west. 🔴 I demand safe passage for the ship 🔴 I demand an end to the blockade and justice for Gaza #FreedomFlotilla #SafePassageNow #BreakTheSiege

New article on Sapygidae finally splits the common and widely distributed species Sapyga quinquepunctata into three (possibly four) distinct species, based on morphological and molecular data. doi.org/10.1080/0939...

What happens when you put a dryinid wasp and a leafhopper together in a collecting tube? Well, let's just say it doesn't end very well for the leafhopper

We had an assignment at our practical today and it was honestly pretty depressing to see how many students would blindly rely on ChatGPT to answer the questions, despite the fact that it was (very obviously!) feeding them wrong information.

#NewSpecies! New wasp from #thailand just stung us: Chelonastichus hanssoni Treatment: treatment.plazi.org/id/06098C96-... Publication: doi.org/10.3897/jhr.... #JournalOfHymenopteraResearch #ChelonastichusHanssoni #FAIRdata #biology #ecology #biodiversity #nature #conservation #entomology #wasps

"Но ни одна планета не ждет нас так, как эта, планета дорогая по имени Земля." "But not one of the planets is waiting for us, as this precious planet named the Earth." From the Soviet space song "14 Minutes Until Start".

Unexpected passenger in the train today. Fortunately I never leave home without my collecting tubes!

Chrysis germari, a widely distributed European species but very rare in the Netherlands, restricted only to South Limburg. The host is probably Miscophus bicolor, though the very large vespid wasp Euodynerus dantici has also been reported as a possible host.

Jumping bristletails (order Archaeognatha) are small, wingless insects, covered in fine scales, like butterfly wings. They often live in damp places, but also in the desert, usually under rocks. Most are tan or grey, often with subtle metallic colors - but this is the most beautiful one I've seen.

Anachrysis arabica, a cuckoo wasp from the Arabian Peninsula. I described this beautiful wasp in 2023, together with Prof. Ahmed Soliman. Specimen deposited in the collection of Naturalis.

Pleasantly surprised to have found Microterys nederlandicus, a species described from the Netherlands in 2022, in a park close to where I live! So far, this species is known only from three collecting localities, all within the Netherlands.

I've been on Bluesky for a while now, but this is my first post! Here's an image of an uncommon family of wasps from South America, Plumariidae. This is a Plumaris malaris male. Science knows NOTHING about the biology of this group and only a few females have ever been found!

I was featured in the documentary "Natuurlijk Kapitaal - Drinkwater", a film which discusses the duality of the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen as part of the water purification process and as a nature reserve. I had the opportunity to show some of the cool wasps in the area!

Not only did @jilloberski.bsky.social correctly guess mutillid, she provided a link to an image of the species! Here's an image of my specimen. It is a male of the aptly named Psammotherma flabellata, collected in South Africa. #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #MutillidMonday

Another devastating wildfire is raging, this time in the US. What will be the response from the Western governments? More subsidies for fossil fuels, of course!

Was feeling very tired yesterday and went to bed early, at 8 PM, thinking I could get a good night's rest. ...so anyway I woke up at 2:30 AM and could not get any sleep after that.

Found a flat wasp (presumably Laelius pedatus) in the home we are staying at during Christmas. I was very eager to see if I could rear it, but unfortunately it managed to escape the cup I temporarily put it in within minutes :(.

Cuckoo wasp (family Chrysididae), Mojave Desert. These small (this one was 7-9 mm) wasps don't sting, and parasitize ground-nesting bees or wasps. If they're caught invading a burrow, they curl up like pillbugs; the host's sting can't pierce their armor, so they get thrown out and fly off safely. 🐙🌿

Ocelli (simple eyes) of a small wasp (approx. 2-2.5mm) probably from the family Pteromalidae, a superfamily of chalcid wasps. In many flying insects, the ocelli are usually located between the two compound eyes.

Reached 40.000 identifications on iNaturalist before the year's end 🥳

Had a great time at the first session of this year's Hymathon! Lot's of interesting talks and fun activities, thank you very much @parasitoidrex.bsky.social for hosting! I look forward to attending some of the upcoming sessions.

My latest paper has been published in Zootaxa! I describe a new genus and species of Sapygidae from Borneo and provide a key to genera of Sapyginae of the Old World. You can see the article here: doi.org/10.11646/zoo...

He loves to lay flat on his belly when my laptop gets warm 🥰

Two-toned pinchy wasp lass -with wings! The vast majority of the pincer wasp (Dryinidae) females I see have no wings. I have not seen this species before (I have no idea which species this is). She's very cute though. Pincer wasps are basically the mantids of Hymenopterans. I love them of course.

Below freezing at noon today in East Yorkshire, so a good excuse (like one is needed!) to revisit the Snow Fleas (Boreus hyemalis). ❄️ Photo nicely shows the male's vestigial wings, which he hooks over the female's front legs when mating (she is on top). #Mecoptera #ento #ukwildlife #Boreus

Wie durft er te raden waarom we deze een 'tangwesp' noemen? (post only works in Dutch, sorry

Some of what I do as an entomology curator is Chrysis management.

Heya! It is Monday. Again. Here's a male mutillid from Australia...and they call chrysidids the jewel wasps! Pah. #WaspLove #MutillidMonday #FeelingBlue

we don't have a honeybee shortage; we have a pollinator shortage. honeybees are invasive to Turtle Island & native pollinators are being pushed out BY HONEYBEES. much like most of the us-based agriculture, this is colonialism with a green lens. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

One thing I noticed is that, sometimes, the wasp amputates the mid- and hindlegs of the beetle larva (right), while other times the legs are retained (left). Interestingly, ovipositing never took place on a larva with amputated legs, which to me indicates that some larvae are used solely for the 1/3

Well, looks like Trunp has won another term, congratulations to Harris for running one of the worst campaigns in history. I sincerely hope Americans will finally start to realize that simply voting Democrat is not going to save them from fascism.

Last spring, I managed to rear two bethylid wasps (Epyris brevipennis) from beetle larvae. The cocoon has an interesting shape, as the wasp larva seems to create a funnel near the very top of the cocoon, from where the adult wasp will emerge. #wasps #insects #cocoon #entomology #photography

Sifting through leaf litter is a great way of finding all sorts of cryptic critters that you'd otherwise not see. Below are some of the highlights of the day ⬇️ #bugs #insects #arthropods #entomology

A female of Hybrizon buccatus, which I collected while it was searching for its host, larval ants. She will wait patiently along an ant trail and stikes when she encounters a worker ant carrying a larva. A daring strategy, but absolutely worth the risk if she succeeds! #wasps #insects #photography

For reference, this is how large it is compared to my finger.

For small wasps, it might be difficult to reach a host that resides deep in a subtrate. This little platygastrid wasp (Inostemma sp.) has an ace up its sleeve however: it has a very long ovipositor that can be retracted all the way in the horn like structure of T1. #wasps #insects #bugs #photography

Another awesome wasp in my collection is this wingless dryinid wasp (Gonatopus striatus). Look at those bizarre articulate pincers on the foretarsus! They are used to immobilize their hosts, leafhopper nymphs. The larvae are ectobiont parasitoids. #wasps #insects #entomology #photography

Perhaps one of the most bizarre yet adorable looking wasps, this is an eucharitid wasp (Schizaspidia sp.), found during the #AsiaNatureChallenge mothing event. What’s also weird is they are one of the very few animals to parasitize ant colonies! #inverts #bugsky

First post on Bluesky! This peculiar looking wasp is an ensign wasp, named after its flag-shaped metasoma. They are parasitoids of cockroach ootheca. The species seen here, Brachygaster minutus, is the only species native to Northwestern Europe, but barcoding suggests there may be a second species!