iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

bug-boi.bsky.social @bug-boi.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

I'm excited to announce that a publication produced by the Mycological Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey has been made available online for free. I contributed the chapter on lichens, and would love feedback from readers. tinyurl.com/p5fuzpba

the cover of the publication "The Importance of Fungi", mostly filled with a four-by-four square grid of images of different mushrooms, lichens, and fungal products. The title is written in large bold text.

A screenshot of the title page of the chapter I wrote on lichens. Across the top is a large close-up image of Usnea subfloridana, the boreal beard lichen.

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bug-boi.bsky.social @bug-boi.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Imshaugia placorodia, American Starbust Lichen, is fond of hard-barked pines including P. virginiana, P. rigida, and P. banksiana. This charismatic lichen formerly was known from only 11 collections in PA; an abundant population is now documented from mine reclamation pine forests in Washington Co.

A close-up photo of a pale mint green foliose lichen with overlapping narrow strap-like lobes on a broken piece of bark placed in front of a black backdrop. The thallus is hydrated, allowing the abundant satellite-disc shaped apothecia to open more fully. There are many scattered across the thallus of various shapes and sizes, with larger ones located centrally and smaller ones that are more closed and becoming vase-shaped located near the edges of the thallus. The discs are yellowish to darker green compared to the thallus, variably convex, plane, or concave and the margins "crenulate", with few to many rounded projections the same color as the lobes of the thallus.

The same radially shaped thallus but dry. The lobes are a brighter gray-white color, and the apothecial discs have a more tan coloration that varies in darkness. The lichen is on a piece of bark that has fallen off of the pine branch the consortium of symbiotic partners assimilated upon in the forest. They are illuminated with directional diffuse natural light that is hitting the lower and central portions and casting shadows towards the rear of the thallus. The specimen is placed in front of a black backdrop, accenting their coloration - like the pale cold light of a white dwarf star in the night sky.

Displayed is a range map of Imshaugia placorodia showing Central America and most of North America. Blue and green dots represent locations where collections of the lichen have been made. Large concentrations of collections exist in the desert southwest, Colorado's Rocky Mountains, the Southern Appalachian Mountains, coastal New England, and the forests west of the Great Lakes, with scattered finds in Canada, Alaska, and Mexico. The uniting factor of these locations is the presence of conifer trees, primarily pines, that act as suitable substrate for the lichen.

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ACLU @aclu.org · 09/04/2025

ICE is rounding up dissidents and threatening them with deportation — all because of their protected speech. But the First Amendment protects all of us. Tell Congress: Defend our constitutional right to dissent.

action.aclu.org

Dissent Is Not Grounds For Deportation

The unconscionable, illegal arrests of Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, Badar Khan Suri, and other international scholars should alarm every one of us. Tell Congress to defend our right to free speech ...

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bug-boi.bsky.social @bug-boi.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

The Houthis are on the side of justice. People guided by their moral conscience to take action to help 1.5 million people being starved. US terror bombings in Yemen lead to self-defense is an accurate headline. Curious what spin US corporate media puts on this.

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Denis - The COVID Info Guy @thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

The Pandemic Never Ended. "5 years later, it is sad to think about what could have been ... For a moment, there was a sense that we cared about the vulnerable. There was a moment of solidarity, somewhere within the trauma." #COVIDisNotOVER Source: archive.md/MDXGt

Laura Weiss

March 16, 2025

The Vanishing

The Pandemic Never Ended.

Five years after Covid arrived on these shores, many believe the anxieties of the plague years are in the rearview mirror. But the threat is far from over.

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The Intercept @theintercept.com · 10/03/2025

Less than a week ago, Trump said he "brought back free speech." Tell that to Mahmoud Khalil, currently in ICE detention. Read more: interc.pt/3Dvhxgk ✍️ @natashalennard.bsky.social 📹 @jordanuhl.com

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bug-boi.bsky.social @bug-boi.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Mapledust Lichen - Verseghya thysanophora, formerly in the genus Lecanora, is a common sterile sorediate crustose lichen in eastern North America. What at first look like pale green splotches on trees become breath-taking when viewed up-close.

A pale green dusty crustose lichen covers part of a young sugar maple trunk. The bark of the tree has two lumps in the middle of the patch, and a crack towards the bottom. That combined with the oval shape of the lichen give the appearance of a face. A white margin is visible around the edge of the lichen.

A closeup of the margin of the thallus shows in detail the diffuse soredia covering the central portion of the lichen and the prothallus made of thick white hyphae extending beyond the soredia. At the edge of this white mat is a faint blue-green margin.

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Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 12/02/2025

Hamas has shared a report on the key Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. They list 22 different violations.

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bug-boi.bsky.social @bug-boi.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Texas Shield Lichen - Canoparmelia texana. A more fitting name might be Crinkled Grayshield Lichen. This large, foliose species with an atranorin-gray cortex, maculae, soredia, and UV+ bright blue medulla (from divaricatic acid) is common throughout the southeastern US, now being found in Western PA

a 1:1 lifesize macro photo of a large, gray, leafy, foliose lichen growing tightly to a branch. The branch has been posed in front of a black backdrop and the specimen is lit up artificially, enhancing the visibility of the identifying features. Faint white maculae can be seen making net-like patterns over the lobe tips. The central more wrinkly parts of the lichen are covered in coarse to fine granules called soredia. The margins of the lobes have a slight but distinct dark edge.

The same specimen from the first photo is now illuminated with 365nm ultraviolet light. The soralia and cracks in the cortex reveal the inner tissues of the lichen known as the medulla, which contain the chemical divaricatic acid. This chemical fluoresces under the ultraviolet light and releases bright blue light everywhere the medulla is exposed.

A screenshot of the range map for Canoparmelia texana taken from iNaturalist shows the southeastern part of the US including Mexico. Orange squares are placed on the map where observations of the species have been documented. They range from Maryland, Ohio, and Wisconsin southwest to Texas and Mexico, avoiding more tropical environments.

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bug-boi.bsky.social @bug-boi.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

The Physcia stellaris/pumilior/aipolia group is challenging to distinguish. This lichen has a medulla that turns yellow when a drop of KOH is placed on them, and a thallus that turns bright green when hydrated, which should make them Physcia pumilior aka “Lesser Gray Legs”

A light gray foliose lichen with narrow, flat, and adnate lobes spreads across bark in a rosette-like pattern. There are dozens of dark brown to black discs with smooth, pale gray margins erupting from the surface of the lichen. The disks vary in size and some are slightly bent or wrinkled.

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bug-boi.bsky.social @bug-boi.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Greetings earthlings, branching out into new frontiers. Expect macro photography of fungi & invertebrates, political commentary from a decolonial rustbelt eco-socialist perspective, and other things related to mycology, ecology, climate, Appalachia, & Pittsburgh/Diondega

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