Our new paper “On the nomenclature of Bombus flavifrons Smith, 1866 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombini)” @paulwilliamsnhm.bsky.social jhr.pensoft.net/article/1632...

A handsome male Trybliographa gracilicornis wasp of the Eucoilidae, Figitidae found under pine trees in Brede High Woods. #UKWildlife #wasps #Figitidae #Eucoilidae #HighWeald

I love these tiny chalcid wasps! They’re so cute and shiny! #insects

There's still silly mopey wasps roaming the leaf litter and grass, in October. 🖤 Ms Eupelmus here with her booty feather is looking for some quarry or another in dry pine needles.

#theBeeAt3 Basic bee facts every day at 3pm. # 186 Nectar guides on #flowers don’t lessen the time spent ‘on flower’ by #bees locating #nectar compared to ‘unpatterned’ flowers, but rather improve foraging efficiency by improving landing position and guiding bees to take-off! #nature #science 🐝🌍

A beautiful female Encarsia citrina wasp of the Aphelinidae found under pines in Brede High Woods this morning. #UKWildlife #wasps #Aphelinidae #HighWeald

Happy Banned Books Week! 🗃️ For more information on Book Bans, check out this recent report from @penamerica.bsky.social pen.org/report/the-n...

A textbook image I did a few years ago showing a trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus rixosus) with her mandibles held open and trigger hairs forward, and then in the closed position. The snapping shut of the trap is one of the fastest measured animal movements.

Precious moment in the fleeting Wivenhoe sun this morning of a pair of German Wasps snatching an intimate moment... Really brought home the size difference. This is peak wasp mating time, with the male destined to die soon; the newly mated queens being the only ones to overwinter #criticalmoment

We always knew that Labour cares about little else other than keeping private developers happy. But here's proof showing off to JP Morgan despite destruction of some of the "rarest creatures in our country." Let's make that description Labour votes. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#ScotlandsRainforest grows in a zone with high rainfall right through the year. But with Wildfire Warnings becoming more common in Scotland’s springs and summers, how much of a threat do fires pose to this already vulnerable habitat? buff.ly/zlUM1Fh 📷 Samuel Lindsay

Our DNA library is made possible thanks to the support of our funding partners. Today’s featured specimen is a parasitic wasp from the Nixoniidae family, collected in Limpopo, South Africa. This record was made possible through funding from the New Frontiers in Research Fund.

Very preliminary but below should be a #newspecies and the first record of the #ichneumonid genus Patroclus in the US! This newly collected singleton specimen is from central Utah but Patroclus is neotropical, getting as far north as Mexico. #taxonomy #insects #wasps #Hymenoptera #parasitoid

New paper in Royal Society Open Science using @gbif.org mediated data: Morphological constraints in hymenopteran forewings limit flight efficiency optimization #CiteTheDOI: ❌ https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.250224

Trying to blend in? 😶‍🌫️ Bots stand out! 🤖 We have introduced a "challenge page" to protect GBIF services (like occurrence pages) from data scraping that may cause unreasonable loads on our systems. No action is required, but if you see a page that's bare-ly there, 🐻 now you know why!

How an insect might change how surgeons operate on the human body www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

Back in June, we hosted a team from #GardenersWorld to share how we’ve been improving the grounds of the National Museums Collection Centre for biodiversity. 🎬 🐞🪰🌿🌼 Catch it here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... #NMCCbiodiversity

I've had inquiries about this evening's "Surveying for Pollinators" webinar, from people who can't make the live event. If you register you'll have access to the recording & reading list after it finishes. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/surveying-... #bees #pollinators #ecology #biodiversity

Hello, I am Myrmoteras and I will be your disembowler this evening.

#Flowers that mimic the smell of injured #ants to attract #kleptoparasites as #pollinators! Go home evolution you’re drunk! www.cell.com/current-biol...

Trump's energy policies are laughable. This ad proves it. [from: @canarymedia.com]

A larger than normal female Anaphes fuscipennis parasitoid wasp of the Mymaridae found under pine trees in Brede High Woods earlier this year. #UKWildlife #wasps #Mymaridae #HighWeald

Every specimen tells a story! Join #WeDigBio Oct 9–12 to help transcribe collections that power biodiversity science. Register today if you are hosting an event: wedigbio.org/content/regi... ✨ Sign up by Sept 24 to get fun swag! Registration continues if no swag required!

This is just such an improbable pink color for a wasp. Digonogastra, from west Texas, specimen in the UT insect collection.

This Perennial Sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis) was flowering this week for #wildflowerhour, but far more exciting were the weird purplish bumps on its leaves. These are the galls of a tiny midge species called Cystiphora sonchi - according to NBN just the 5th time it has been recorded in Scotland 🥰

Bee for bedtime. See you Saturday morning.

Wasps enjoying themselves before the first frosts feeding on a dead vole in the garden. #Hymenoptera #wasps

A female Alaptus pallidicornis wasp of the Mymaridae found in the garden birch tree this morning. #UKWildlife #wasps #Mymaridae

One of the few small projects I did as a visiting scientist at Sichuan University last year: A new species of bramble gall wasp, first record of the genus for China. The real diversity is likely much higher given the richness of Rubus in the area. www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...

A beautiful female Trybliographa rapae wasp of the Figitidae, Eucoilidae, found this morning in the old meadow at Great Dixter. #UKWildlife #wasps #Figitidae #Eucoilidae #HighWeald

"Why do queen bumblebees emerge from hibernation during weekends?" I love this framing about bias in hobbyist-collected data.

🐝 Études sur la famille des vespides / Paris: V. Masson ;1852-1858. [Source]

5/ Some wings have evolved strategies to help reduce damage resulting from collisions. For example, we learned a few years ago that wasp wings have a flexible joint that acts like a reversible crumple zone, allowing the wing tip to easily bend out of the way when it hits things...

Morning Cuckoo #Wasp in my #Philly #garden. 🌤️ #BlueTue #CyanTue #=EastCoastKin #macro #photography #macroPhotography #insect #dailyphoto

Europese hoornaar | Hornet (Vespa crabro), werkster | worker wasp #meijendel #wesp #wasp #hymenoptera #insectphotography #ElkeDagEenInsect

Here is your Wednesday Wasp. I think she's an Ichneumonid, but that narrows it down about as much as describing a grain of sand on the beach as small and tan. She was searching the face of a rock wall near a waterfall in Montana. A little less than half an inch long. 🐙🌿

I found a tiny little wasp (~2-3 mm) under a wet leaf on the lawn this morning (was looking for springtails actually). #WaspLove #Staffs #macro #photography

iPhone pic: check out this skinny wasp that just watched me move rocks around for the entire hour it took. iNat says Podium rufipes so there ya go. #inverts

ANTIFA is using fake wasp nests to hide cameras KNOCK THEM DOWN

The Wasp (for "critters that fly") #FlyDay #Wasp #Portrait #Macro #ClassicMono #BNWmacro #ColorADay #BWFri

A pair of 0.35mm long female Alaptus minimus wasps of the Mymaridae found in the garden birch tree this morning. #UKWildlife #wasps #Mymaridae

Marsham Heath looking resplendent today with its characteristic mixture of Western Gorse (Ulex gallii) and Heather (Calluna vulgaris). Some of the gaps in vegetation have extensive patches of terrestrial lichens, as do the man-made banks within the heath and secondary woodland.

Another native bee during teaching this week. This one is a masked bee (Hylaeus sp.) They (usually) have facial markings, typically in bright yellow - hence the name. #hylaeus #wildoz #nativebee #entomology #australianbees

Bee on a Coneflower #bees #gardening #nature #flowers #photography #entomology

Something beautiful for this day: Bee on a sunflower, Yakima, Washington (September 2025). #bees #sunflowers

A sweat bee busy looking for snacks. The flower is an aster and the center of the flower contains lots of small florets that produce pollen and nectar. Asters are a wonderful fall food source for lots of insects. #inverts (Augochlora sp.) PA

Ivy flowers and an Ivy bee. 💚 #WildflowerHour

#MacroMonday A big bumble bee for today’s #macro Monday. #bee #insects #pollen #EastCoastKin #photography

This 2-day workshop @royalsociety.org on the right to participate in science and science as a global public good brings together scientists, philosophers, and policy makers. The event is open to everyone and can also be attended online. Programme coming soon. Registration required 👇

Plastic grass is one of the worst things you can put in your garden. Instead, let patches of grass grow long and give wildflowers a chance – boosting biodiversity, benefitting pollinators, and filling your patch with colour and life. More: bit.ly/3liIFWv