I've been largely absent from social media lately, as it would be an understatement to say I've got lot on at the moment... with a draft book manuscript due in two weeks (Eeeeek!), and a lot of research work to complete before a brand new baby Ashwood arrives in five weeks (even more Eeeeeek)!!

Time is a scarce commodity right now, send positive vibes please!

#Macrophotography #SoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #SoilBiology #Entomology #Fatherhood

Are there any #beetle specialists in the #fediverse? Had this in the moth box this morning. At least 4cm long (measured at 4, possibly 4.2cm) App says King Diving Beetle but they're quite rare round here. More likely Great, but I see gold edge rather than yellow and seems too big. Grateful for any assistance

Edit - location: Hastings, UK

#nature #wildlife #britishwildlife #entomology #insect #cute #garden #summer #conservation #biodiversity #askfedi #alttext

Pollinator Week is a great time to share this print, which expresses the central theme of my work about the Future of Pollination for Manufactured Ecosystems. Our food sources & ecosystems around us are dependent on pollinators (mostly bees & other insects, some birds & mammals) but insects populations have lost huge numbers and many species altogether.🧵

#PollinatorWeek #nativeBees #entomology #ecology #sciart #insects #butterflies #beetles #moths #printmaking #linocut #ManufacturedEcosystems

The amazing value of the eLife Assessment, demonstrated:

"The fascinating role of neuropeptide Bursicon and its receptor in shaping insect seasonal polyphenism", by Zhang et al. 2024
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre…

"This *important* study shows that low temperature activates the bursicon signaling pathway during the transition from the summer to the winter form and that it affects cuticle pigment and chitin content, and cuticle thickness."

"The study's *solid* set of experiments and results reveal a role of bursicon signaling in regulating features of polyphenism related to the exoskeleton. Nevertheless, they only *incompletely* substantiate the authors' claims about the regulation of polyphenism itself."

In which other journal would a reader get such a valuable reviewer comment like this, right away? Only at @eLife ! ELife's Assessment for the win.

#insects #entomology #Hemiptera #Psyllidae

Surprise observation this afternoon: Homotropus sp. An ichneumonid wasp, about 5-6 mm long.

There are only 8 observations world wide.

inaturalist.org/observations/2…

#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #entomology #insects #wasplove

Ran an insect blacklight during the totality, with a control run the evening before. Got a ton of insects during both, but very different species. Fascinating. More later.

#Entomology #eclipse2024

Job! An endowed professorship at Arizona State University in the systematics and taxonomy of ants. A rare opportunity for the right sort of ant nerd/desert rat.

#Ants #Academia #Entomology

apply.interfolio.com/135564

The Venezuelan poodle moth is a beautiful animal. There was an article back in 2012 in #TheAtlantic theatlantic.com/culture/archiv… that traced the story and found out that it was real and not an internet fake.

The source of the photo for the Venezuelan poodle moth: flickr.com/photos/artour_a/420…

That album by Arthur Anker contains many more photos of extraordinary neotropical moths flickr.com/photos/artour_a/alb… plus a few other insects.

The photos are simply out of this world. Here are a couple of my favourites:

Amastus epicostosia - aposematic tiger moth flickr.com/photos/artour_a/257…

"Bolognese caterpillar" of a moth (Megalopyge sp.) from Ecuador flickr.com/photos/artour_a/504…

Photos by Arthur Anker.

#moths #Lepidoptera #insects #entomology #PoodleMoth #ArthurAnker #caterpillar

Quite specific, but a very interesting article about #ants and their early evolution. The authors propose a 3 step scenario based on fossils and their interpretation. Really fascinating !

biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/20…

#insects #nature #ecology #fossil #paleontology #entomology