#entomology
New on Entomology Today: Meet Heather Kopsco, Ph.D., a vector-borne disease ecologist and research scientist at Columbia University and subject of the next installment of our "Standout Early Career Professionals" series. #entomology #insects #VectorBorneDisease #careers https://entomologytoday.org/2023/09/26/entomologist-vector-borne-disease-ecology-heather-kopsco-standout-early-career-professional/
I saw this on the outskirts of #mumbai #india, today. Someone on #inaturalist suggested these were #yellowcrazyants . This is very disturbing, as these #ants are one of the worst #invasivespecies in the world. To make matters worse, the place where I saw them is a diverse and vibrant #wetland. Birds from all over the world migrate here.
Could someone help confirm if Yellow Crazy Ants native to India?
#insects #invasive #entomology #myrmecology #naigaon #wetlands
Great find. Note the original photo is up side down relative to yours.
"When Giant Stick Insects Play With Colors: Molecular Phylogeny of the Achriopterini and Description of Two New Splendid Species (Phasmatodea: Achrioptera) From Madagascar", Glaw et al. 2019
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00105/full
The wings are also blue-red and very cute.
A male Common Darter #dragonfly resting yesterday in #Bath #Somerset #UK. #Insect #Entomology #Odonata #Nature #Wildlife ##NatureCommunity #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography
Yellow garden spiders leave amazing egg sacs, but this one has at least three hanging in the bush nearby!
Cool study on individual movement and dispersal capacities in #insects:
"Over 200 different arthropod species were captured and released within a circular setup, allowing quantification of movement speed and direction."
Folks, I am guest editing a Scientific Reports Collection on Animal Migration. If you are interested in contributing, feel free to DM me with any questions. #migration #animalmigration #Ornithology #Entomology #Ichthyology #MarineBiology #Mammalogy
Rove beetle in the genus Homaeotarsus. Found inches away from the mystery pupa I posted yesterday so perhaps they are the same species. I love how uniformly punctate it is. Media, PA, USA. #beetle #coleoptera #entomology #staphylinidae #RoveBeetle #nature #insects
A gallery of parasites and parasitoids from around the world.
#Insects #Entomology #Parasites #Photography
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Insects/Parasites-1/
To any of my entomology enthusiasts, what kind of caterpillar is this? Found it in central Mexico. #entomology #caterpillar
I wish the powerful ant lobby would get outraged and force the U.S. EPA to shut down Spartan Mosquito. Here's a recent video review from Amazon, one of many complaining that only ants are trapped (not mosquitoes). Ants also likely transport the boric acid back to their nests, killing them all. #pesticides #ants #insects #entomology #mosquitoes #epa #nature #mississippi https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R6U7PEVHPOS7X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B09B1BP1JH#SpartanMosquito
Same beetle photographed a few days apart to show how color in a newly-emerged teneral is muted. It's a red flat bark beetle (Cucujus clavipes). #beetles #nature #insects #cucujidae #coleoptera #entomology
Rove beetle pupa that I found under loose bark. When poked, just as ornery as an adult. Media, PA, USA. #beetle #coleoptera #entomology #staphylinidae #RoveBeetle #nature #metamorphosis
New on Entomology Today: In a study of mosquitoes in and around the Nashville Zoo, northern cardinals were found to be the most common source of the mosquitoes' blood meals, despite more than 300 species of animals on exhibit. None the less, the study suggests zoos are a valuable resource for monitoring mosquito species diversity, biology, and pathogen presence. #entomology #insects #mosquitoes #VectorBorneDisease #zoos https://entomologytoday.org/2023/09/22/zoo-mosquitoes-local-wild-birds-meals/
Fireflies are disappearing, but we may not know enough about these insects to save them.
Salon reports: "An estimated 1 in 3 firefly species are endangered thanks to light pollution, habitat loss and pesticides."
For the #SciArtSeptember prompt nocturnal my linocut print of an eclipse of moths! Isn’t that a great #termOfVenery for a group of #moths? It’s the moon at lunar eclipse in oranges and brown against a very dark sky behind 5 Ontario moths: the gorgeous green Luna moth (Actias luna), the yellow and purplish-pink Imperial moth (Eacles imperialis), …
🧵1/2
#linocut #printmaking #sciArt #moon #entomology #insects #MastoArt
In today’s blog post I celebrated 6 months of publishing on Substack; celebrated with a colorful caterpillar; & shared my process for creating blog posts each week.
https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/its-the-6-month-anniversary-of-my
#SciArt #SciArtSeptember #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Substack #blog #blogging #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #Summer #insect #arthropod #entomology #moth #caterpillar
A little sneak peak from an upcoming paper from the lab! Body shop™'s Pink Grapefruit Body Butter is an effective #mosquito repellent (panels I, J)! Washing your hair with grapefruit scented shampoo, not effective (G, H). #neuroscience #insect #entomology
And now we bring you this important update on the sex lives of stick insects.
American Lady butterfly
#butterfly #insects #insectphotography #nature #naturephotography #biodiversity #wildlife #wildlifephotography #entomology
New "electrical" blue tarantula species found in Thailand.
CBS News reports that entomologists said "the blue coloration in animals is a fascinating and relatively rare phenomenon in nature."
Interesting arthropods seen around my place over the last several days.
1) Cross Orbweaver (Araneus diadematus). This one has been perched at our back porch light, growing fat on a steady diet of moth and flies.
2) Southern Oak Bush-Cricket (Meconema meridionale). As seen on our grill cover. A European species recently introduced into western Washington.
#nature #naturephotography #photography #insects #arachnid #spider #entomology #macro #macrophotography #biology #PNW #washingtonstate
New on Entomology Today: For students and researchers in a variety of biological sciences, One Health is where many may first encounter entomology. And, conversely, entomologists working in One Health find their work intersects with a host of other fields within public health. One recent Ph.D. graduate shares her experience discovering entomology through her work in vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. #entomology #OneHealth #PublicHealth #VectorBorneDisease https://entomologytoday.org/2023/09/20/one-health-entomology-scientific-fields-intersect/
Arthropod Photo of the Week: September 20, 2023
Carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee
Megachile sp.
Hymenoptera: Megachilidae
By Joseph Clark, Florida, USA
#arthropodPOTW
#entomology #insects #photography #bees
What do you do when you see a wasp? 🐝😱🏃♀️
This #video from Dr. Adrian Smith's Ant Lab takes us to the world of wasps to challenge stereotypes. Beyond the fierce bald-faced #hornet, most #wasp species, like the parasitoid Braconid and Aulacid wasps, lead unique solitary lives. Captured at 6,000fps, the video showcases their fascinating behavior. 🐝🐝🐝
👉 Learn more: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/flying-wasps-slow-motion
Hemp legalization in the U.S. has opened doors for research on how to manage the arthropod pests that colonize it. A new collection in Environmental Entomology curates original research, reviews, and methods in management of arthropod pests of hemp. #entomology #insects #hemp #IPM https://academic.oup.com/ee/pages/special-collection-biology-and-management-of-arthropods-pests-associated-with-hemp
This may be the smallest insect I've tried to photograph to date: some sort of tiny parasitoid!. #Entomology #Photography #InsectPhotography #Insect #Hymenoptera
"In 2013, Alie Ward's life was falling apart. In quick succession, her relationship with her partner ended, her dad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and she was feeling increasingly unhappy in her job.
"I remember days when I would think, 'I only cried four times today.' That was a good day for me," Ward said.
Ward lived in Los Angeles at the time. To distract herself from her woes, she liked to find and take pictures of her unconventional obsession: bugs. Sometimes, if she found a beetle or a bee that she particularly liked, she'd post it to Facebook. Those posts attracted the attention of a woman named Lila Higgins, who worked as an entomologist at the local natural history museum. After seeing Ward's pictures, Higgins reached out to see if she would want a tour of the museum's insectary."
A small masked bee (Hylaeus sp.). #Entomology #insect #Photography #InsectPhotography #Hymenoptera #bee #Colletidae
Un #Phaneroptere squatte mon appartement ce soir. Je suis nul dans ce genre de bestioles donc je ne sais pas trop si c'est un Phaneroptere commun ou un Phaneroptere méridional. #alfortville #bugslife #biodiversity #insectphotography #entomology
New special collection in Insect Systematics and Diversity: 16 articles useful to demonstrate and teach key concepts and methods in systematics, evolution, and biodiversity of insects and related arthropods. #entomology #insects #systematics #evolution #biodiversity https://academic.oup.com/isd/pages/systematics-evolution-taxonomy
"Bark-destroying insects are attracted to dead and weakened trees that have been ravaged by fire, and while these insects are important for the natural decomposition of burnt trees, if they grow in population too rapidly, they can cause serious damage by going after live trees." #entomology #insects #wildfire https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tree-insects-wildfires-1.6966050
Aujourd'hui : le regard de braise d'une mante religieuse...
(Mantis religiosa)
#photo #photographie #nature #insecte #ete #vosges #biodiversite #entomology #ecologie #insectodon #jaimelespetitesbetes #vert
UPDATE: Spotted lanternflies have made it to Illinois, Tennessee, Ontario, and possibly Mexico. Links are to #iNaturalist observations. #invasive #insect #entomology #SpottedLanternfly #nature #IntroducedSpecies #InvasiveSpecies
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/183286229
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/182563016
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/183159595
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/183630016
Yesterday I witnessed a behaviour I never expected from a solitary bee: she unloaded all its pollen baskets onto a leaf, then tasted it, and soom after flew off, releasing a cloud of pixie dust as she jumped and beat its wings down to take of. As if she had had a change of heart, and the pollen wasn't good enough?
Lasioglossum sp. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/183728376
Slow motion video of me poking a large rove beetle (Platydracus maculosus). I failed to elicit the defensive secretions. Probably just as well. #insect #nature #beetles #coleoptera #entomology
Platydracus maculosus (Staphylinidae) in a defensive posture, ready to coat me with irritating secretions from glands at the tip of its abdomen. You can find them eating fly larvae at cadavers and cow patties. In flight they do a rather good job mimicking spider wasps (blue wings, jerky movement). #RoveBeetle #insect #nature #beetle #coleoptera #entomology
This tiny rove beetle gave me such an arrogant, threatening look that I said to it, "Well, aren't *you* just the Lord of the Mushrooms today!?" Later, after uploading the pic onto #iNaturalist, some expert informed me that it's in the genus Lordithon. #RoveBeetle #staphylinidae #mushrooms #fungi #insect #entomology #nature #beetle #coleoptera
Found a stump this week with several Zelia lurking about. In at least one species in the genus, females give birth to motile larvae, depositing them at the holes in decomposing wood made by beetles. The larvae then crawl along the tunnels until they find hosts to burrow into. #fly #diptera #zelia #tachinidae #insect #nature #entomology #FlyDay
New on Entomology Today: As insect systematists adopt Artificial Intelligence as a new tool, it is becoming clear that we still need the humans who crawl through bushes, sift leaf litter, and peer into museum drawers to be the arbiters of what is biological truth versus what is an artifact of an algorithm. #entomology #insects #systematics #AI https://entomologytoday.org/2023/09/14/systematic-entomology-artificial-intelligence/
Beech blight aphid (Grylloprociphilus imbricator) walking on a beech trunk. I think this is a wingpadded (alatiform), fourth-instar nymph, the type that acts as a soldier caste. They attack predators with their stylets and I can confirm that it hurts. #aphid #beech #fagus #hemiptera #insect #nature #entomology
We finally saw 2 Sphinx moth larvae in our Tucson AZ yard this past week. Usually we see more, earlier in the season. Possibly delayed due to our record-hot summer? I drew this for my Perpetual Journal.
#SciArt #SciArtSeptember #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #ClimateChange #Summer #insect #arthropod #entomology #moth #caterpillar
Arthropod Photo of the Week: September 13, 2023
Cecropia moth
Hyalophora cecropia
Lepidoptera: Saturniidae
By Steve Long, Florida, USA
#arthropodPOTW
#entomology #insects #photography #moths
This Asian tiger mosquito kept landing on my keyboard while I was googling p-Menthane-3,8-diol, a repellent that is marketed under the wholesome name, "oil of lemon eucalyptus." #mosquito #diptera #insect #nature #entomology
Special mosquitoes are being bred to fight dengue. How the old enemies are now becoming allies.
AP reports: https://flip.it/PyUQJE
"Bug zappers are exceptional killers of bugs — just not the ones that bite you. Among the thousands of insects these devices electrocute each night, almost all are harmless. One study estimated even a fraction of the bug zappers sold in the United States kill more than 70 billion insects annually — with no discernible impact on mosquitoes or other biting insects." #entomology #insects #repellents https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/09/12/bug-zappers-mosquito-repellent/
"Importantly, over the four years, none of the trees died. Therefore, in a natural setting where the [spotted lanternflies] are constantly on the move, we would not expect significant negative impacts on forest or ornamental trees." #entomology #insects #SpottedLanternfly https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1000397
Any gall fans able to help with identification? On western juniper in Prineville, Oregon, USA. cc @bugid #gall #galls #diptera #insect #nature #entomology #inaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148511677
Hyles lineata (white-lined sphinx moth / hummingbird moth) feeding on a Cleome serrulata inflorescence (Rocky Mountain beeplant). (Photo: Central Nevada, 9/7/2023.)
#Moth #Entomology #Insects #Photography #LinuxPhotography #Darktable
Blue Morpho Butterfly painting 🦋🦋🦋
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/blue-morpho-butterfly-painting-jan-matson.html
Palette knife oil painting of a Blue Morpho Butterfly on a black background.
#BlueMorpho #butterfly #insects #WildLife
#JanMatson #artist #painting #art #MastoArt #prints #oilpainting #ArtistsOfMastodon #HomeDecor #FediGiftShop #bugs #entomology #Entomologist #nature #mothtodon #invertebrates #lepidoptera #insekten #gardening
Arthropod Photo of the Week: September 6, 2023
Stick grasshopper
Prosarthria caucensis
Orthoptera: Proscopiidae
By Francisco López-Machado, Cali, Colombia
#arthropodPOTW
#entomology #insects #photography #grasshoppers
Macrothylacia rubi (fox moth, veelvraat) caterpillar spotted on the #Loenermark
Do spiders ever fall in love?
Not with humans. With each other.
I’ve been watching (and filming) the most dramatic soap opera of long-bellied cellar spiders playing out on the ceiling over the past month. Safe to say I’ve seen some weird shit. I can’t explain what I’m seeing now.
After cavorting with two partners for a month, my lady mama spider has herself an egg sac—and a companion? The second partner has not left her side. He still dances for her sweet lovin but she’s kinda got an egg sac in her mouth soooo no. She’ll jab at him if he gets too close for comfort, but then she reaches out a foreleg and they touch tips, and she’s like “Hey. Chill. It’s ok.” and he’ll settle down again.
What is this? Clearly he still wants sex and isn’t getting any, but also isn’t leaving. She seems to want him to stay. Their body language still mirrors one another. Could they have bonded? Is he gonna be a daddy to the babies that 50/50 may/may not be his? Or…? 🧐
Harvester ant straining to pull a mustard infructescence back to its nest. Possibly Pogonomyrmex salinus based on jaw dentition but this is beyond my expertise. Species ID in this group (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis complex) is easier if you photograph the nest, too. But I didn't know that. Madras, Oregon, USA. #ant #entomology #nature #seeds #silicle #brassicaceae
I was talking to some bikers in a pub (as you do) and they suggested that #ecology should recruit bikers to collect data more often. In the same manner as there was the #Splatometer experiment recently in Kent looking at insects on car number plates, they think that someone should develop a way to quantify insects on motorcycle visors & do a study. (One commented that the insect visor splats increased enormously once he crossed into Scotland!) #InsectDeclines #Entomology #InsectMonitoring
For #SciArtSeptember day 2: battle, it’s my linocut of 2 dangerous invasive beauties & the battle against their spread in eastern North America, the spotted lanternfly & tree of heaven. The Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altimissa) is a deciduous tree native to NE China & Taiwan, which was foolishly brought to Europe & NA in the 1700s where it as become known as a noxious weed & invasive plant. 🧵1/n
#linocut #printmaking #sciart #entomology #botany #spottedLanternfly #insect #ailanthus #InverteFest
I'm amazed I never knew of this early #entomology publication from 1634, Insectorum sive minimorum animalium theatrum: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39877094
The illustrations are often very recognisable and well-observed. There's no English Wikipedia page for the book itself. German Wikipedia has one: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectorum_sive_minimorum_animalium_theatrum
#biodiversityheritagelibrary #insects #engravings #orthoptera
Arthropod Photo of the Week: August 30, 2023
Giant forest scorpion
Gigantometrus swammerdami
Scorpiones: Scorpionidae
By Shashidharswamy Hiremath, Karnataka, India
#arthropodPOTW
#entomology #arachnids #photography #scorpions
Started working on a new drawing this evening. #Entomology #EntomologyArt #SciArt
a green chrysalis
transparent in that moment
Butterfly is born!
#haiku #poetry #poem #smallpoems #writingcommunity #writing #art #artwork #mastoart #fediart #artist #artists #AYearForArt #colorful #mosaic #mosaics #butterfly #butterflies #monarch #bug #bugs #insects #nature #fun #cute #garden #gardening #gardens #summer #entomology #purple #lavender #blue #mandala
Today's specimen photos: a Belted Grass-Veneer moth (Euchromius ocellea) and a small wasp of undetermined ID. #Entomology #Insects #Photography #InsectPhotography #wasp #moth
New on Entomology Today: City insects need native plants just like country insects do. A new study shows even small urban patches of native plants can support far greater insect species diversity than simple grass and tree plots. #entomology #insects #biodiversity https://entomologytoday.org/2023/08/24/urban-greening-small-plots-native-plants-boost-insect-species/
#wasp on thistle like flower - please identify the plant if you know it because I don't know. Looks like sea holly?
#Pollinator #BloomScrolling #florespondence #GardenLife #nature #yellowjacket #insect #entomology #Wsanec #Saanich #VictoriaBC #yyj #vanisle #VancouverIsland #PNW #PacificNorthwest #FlyingInsects #closeup #LekwungenTerritory
Mystery midget: #iNaturalist auto-suggestion didn’t even guess the insect order correctly. Holds itself like a mosquito, but only measures about 2.5 mm. Found on a pebble beach by a white pine tree secondary forest.
Look how much pollen this bee has collected. Also, pretty popular flower. #bees #insects #entomology #bloomscrolling
Charles Henry Turner, who died in 1923, was a zoologist and comparative psychologist who studied the behavior and cognition of insects and other arthropods including spiders, bees, ants and moths. Researchers are rediscovering the forgotten legacy of this pioneering Black scientist.
Read more in:
🕷️ @KnowableMag: https://arevie.ws/3OBAE9X
🐝 The Annual Review of Entomology https://arevie.ws/TurnerBio_EN
#NotADamselfly, but that's all I know.
#Insect #Entomology #Photography #LinuxPhotography #Darktable
New on Entomology Today: Effective and affordable tick management at the community level has long been sought after, but a new study shows the necessary costs remain steep. An analysis of integrated tick management models in a sample 1,000-acre, 320-home community find even a two-part program could cost about $400 per household, with more robust programs raising the price even more. #entomology #ticks #IPM https://entomologytoday.org/2023/08/17/community-wide-integrated-tick-management-costs-study/
"If you’ve ever felt underestimated and ignored, spare a thought for your local moths."
Why moths might be more efficient pollinators than bees and butterflies
@nev
Wow what a scene. Moulting renders insects vulnerable. A while back I witnessed how a hornet Vespula germanica chewed on the soft wings of a moulting Egyptian bird grasshoper, Anacridium aegyptium http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91574142
I too wonder why insects have such a weak point. Only social insects, who protect each other, are spared. Others have to dig themselves into crevices, like solitary bees, yet are still subject to predation.
#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #Orthoptera #predation #entomology #insects #locusts #wasps #wasplove
New review: Telling fascinating tales of bee biology, What a Bee Knows is a wide-ranging introduction that convinces that bees are sophisticated creatures, even individually.
#Books #BookReview #Bookstodon #Insects #Bees #Entomology #Scicomm @entsocamerica @bookstodon
This was the weekend I first heard the cicadas this year. This is a tiny linocut of a large, well-loved, well-known insect with a long song. The Tibicen canicularis, also known as dogday harvestfly or dog-day cicada, is common in North America and its power-saw like buzzing song is taken as a sign of summer. It lives in deciduous and mixed woods in southern Canada & NE US.
#MastoArt
#linocut #printmaking #cicada #DogDayCicada #scissorGrinder #insects #sciart #entomology
We've made it to #FlyDay! I think this might be Neurigona deformis (Dolichopodidae). When the flash went off it would dart away, then return in a fraction of a second to almost exactly the same spot (something long-legged flies tend to do). On a rotting log in Media, PA, USA. #fly #diptera #insect #entomology #moss #nature