#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 430): The tooth-footed bycid, Plectromerus dentipes, is a cerambycid beetle reared from dead wood of a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) in Miami/Dade County, Florida, USA. #biodiversity (📸:Martin E. Rice)

#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 429): Colaspis floridana, a chrysomelid leaf beetle, found on leaves of a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) in Alachua County, Florida. #biodiversity 📸:Jeff Eickwort

One of my favourite beetle groups, even if I have never had the opportunity to work with them . . .

A troupe of tiger beetles.🪲

For the first time, scientists have documented an unusual defense: Some species of arachnids build giant doppelgängers on their webs, creating a frightening deception that scares off would-be killers. https://scim.ag/487Myn0

Why are other insects commonly found on oak galls? The gall wasp not only manipulates the physical growth, but some can manipulate the vascular system to emit a sugary liquid, attracting other insects to feed, and defend, the baby wasp inside. #biodiversity #mutualism

“The rate at which new species are formally described is an essential but relatively understudied aspect of biodiversity.” The past and future of known biodiversity: Rates, patterns, and projections of new species over time | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Never miss leg day. (Even when you’re 2mm tall.) 💪

I am recruiting a MS student in Biology at New Mexico Tech with an anticipated start date of Fall 2026 to work on the applied evolutionary genetics of wild populations with conservation or management concerns (butterflies, bighorn sheep). Please see the attached advertisement for more info.

Our annual trip to cut down the family Christmas tree!🎄🎅

Downy woodpecker feeding on wasp larvae within stem galls on southern live oaks. (📸:Christa Denning) #predation #biodiversity

All I want for Christmas is tiger beetles. 🧪

#TigerBeetles — the #Christmas lights of the #insect world! #biodiversity (Fig. 1 from Duran et al. 2020) doi.org/10.3390/genes1…

The #E4initiative in the School of Natural Sciences is happy to announce the recipients of the inaugural E4 Cooper Family Endowment Seed Grants! Thanks to generous philanthropic support, we funded 6 innovative research projects led by our faculty, postdocs & grad students! (1/n)

Butterfly populations across the U.S. are in alarming decline, a Science study finds, with total abundance falling by 22% in just 20 years. Such widespread losses emphasize the urgent need for conservation action. https://scim.ag/4ombGv3 #WildlifeConservationDay

MicroCT scan of crypt galls induced by the cynipid wasp Bassettia pallida in branches of the southern live oak, Quercus virginiana. Hiding in the crypts are a second parasitoid wasp, the crypt-keeper - Euderus set! @sternarchella.bsky.social #biodiversity

2025 Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Graduate program at #RiceUniversity! 🦋🐝🐞🐜🦗🦟🪰🪲🪳🕷️🦇🌻🌿🌱🌵🧫🔬🐟🐠🐀🐬🐘🦌🦔🦒🐗🦘🦓🦏🦨🐋🧬

#A_day_in_the_life of a live #oak (day 428): Female Pine warbler (Setophaga pinus) foraging on a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) near Houston, Texas. #biodiversity (📸:Christa Denning)

Exciting #E4initiative meeting last week! David Abraham and Kristianna Bowles presented on opportunities to feature #RiceUniversity environmental and sustainability scholarship next year, when Houston hosts games for the World Cup! ⚽️🌱

In the year of our Lord two-thousand-twenty-five, there are still shockingly diagnosable, legit never-before-seen-by-scientists new bird species out there to be discovered

NSF is open again! A few comments: *Please be patient. During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails. *Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th. *POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.

A bug of many hats – The red-shouldered soapberry bug as a pollinating seed-predator Summary & Analysis by Pooja Nathan of “A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma” by Comerford et al. Read here! www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

Nifty Natural History Note in @asn-amnat.bsky.social: these frogs can change color from green to brown to hide against different-colored backgrounds (Image: Hugo Claessen, Wikimedia) 🌿 buff.ly/uAr9LnZ

Belonocnema gall harvest this week at #RiceUniversity! @maryamrfaghihi.bsky.social #biodiversity

Two rainforest butterflies have evolved to look more alike, likely to confuse shared predators. But why don’t they get confused themselves? To avoid mating with the wrong species, they’ve cleverly evolved distinct scents. buff.ly/fxVrlCI

#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 427): The flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) perched on a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) near Houston, Texas #biodiversity 📸:Christa Denning

#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 426): Red paper wasps (Polistes carolina) busy foraging at the top of the canopy of the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) near Houston, Texas #biodiversity 📸:Christa Denning

Ten mile run before 10am. 👟 San Jacinto River, Humble, TX.

Wonderful description by @pothebug.bsky.social about our #NaturalHistory paper in @asn-amnat.bsky.social! www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

New biology: stink bugs inoculate their eggs with a fungus that protects them from parasitoids www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...

(Part2) Biodiversity isn’t a quality only to describe far-off lands — it’s right here in our own backyards!

Monarch butterfly on its 1000 mile migration to Mexico, resting on a live oak in Texas! (📸: Christa Denning)

Agreed! Though my backyard is on an arguably far-off land (which, nevertheless, does share some fauna/flora with less far-off lands).

Biodiversity isn’t a quality only to describe far-off lands — it’s right here in our own backyards!

Of COURSE it's from Florida 🤣

The talented Devon Henderson just posted a new cartoon for Euderus set, see the original here: www.facebook.com/share/1PC6ng...

Happy Halloween 🎃👻💀 from the crypt-keeper wasp, who lays its eggs into a crypt created by its host, then manipulates the host’s behavior for its own benefit, before devouring it from the inside out and emerging through its face! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...

Just in time for #Halloween 👻, a #NewSpecies of trapdoor spider discovered!!! 🕷️ www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

As a Center for Teaching Excellence Fellow, I cohosted a lunch discussion at #RiceUniversity on how to incorporate environment and sustainability topics into our teaching, and how to handle AI in the classroom! Great discussions! I learned a lot!

Caterpillar crosswalk at #RiceUniversity 🐛

The Ocellated Tiger Beetle (Cicindelidia ocellata) hunting on the shore of Spring Creek, near Houston, TX. #biodiversity

Getting ready for my next trip to Mexico to visit colleagues and sample galls wasps! 🇲🇽

Lab members @maryamrfaghihi.bsky.social and Skylar Godwin participated in the Rice Natural Sciences Scientific Image contest.

RIP Jane Goodall. You were an inspiration to so many, including me.

Come join us at Rice!

The new #NSF #GRFP application now excludes 1000’s of students, including those who were told they could apply this year, or who planned to apply next year. We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

The thing about entomology is, there are always weirder bugs than anything you could imagine on your own. Here's Cysteodemus wislizeni, a blister beetle from west Texas.

Somedays, I feel like the snake; somedays, I feel like the frog.