iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Fiona Cross @drspidernz.bsky.social · 22h

Today, October 10, is International Jumping Spider Day, and it is also #Arachtober! I thought I'd mark the day by sharing this photo of a little Portia africana male on my hand. These little spiders have touched my life in so many ways 🕷️ #InternationalJumpingSpiderDay

A small fluffy brown spider walking across the palm of my hand

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 17h

Thank you, that is exactly what I needed to read this morning.

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation @xercessociety.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It takes special knowledge, time, & resources to produce the many native plants needed for conservation. That is why a key part of our work here at Xerces focuses on making more plants of more species available! ⤵️ xerces.org/news/organiz...

xerces.org

How Xerces is Improving the Supply of Native Plants for Pollinators

Getting more native plants growing is the foundation for many kinds of conservation work. That is why a key part of our work here at the Xerces Society focuses on increasing the supply of native…

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Dr Jill Whitelock @jillwhitelock.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Orange-tip butterfly, from Moses Harris, ‘The Aurelian’ (London, 1766), here under its older name of Wood Lady. MH.8.13 @theulspeccoll.bsky.social #InsectThursday

Hand-coloured printed illustration of an Orange-tip butterfly on a blade of grass.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Some nice vindication of Rosalind Franklin, whose records show she did recognize the helix first. Suck it, Watson. 😈

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Are you an undergrad, graduate student, or Post-doc in STEM? Want to switch to science writing? The AAAS Mass Media Fellowship places students in working newsrooms nationwide for 10 weeks in summer. It's PAID! 📝https://massmedia.secure-platform.com/a/page/About

AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship. Deadline January 4 2027. Images are a man writing and a woman holding a microphone.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

A great #SpotTheInsect challenge from @nickybay's Borneo photos 😍https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickadel/53681523291/

flickr.com

Leaf katydid (Zulpha perlaria) - P3102988

www.nickybay.com

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I love this larva of a tiger beetle hiding in it's burrow. "Nope, no big jaws here! Just predatory mud." www.flickr.com/photos/nicka...

flickr.com

Tiger beetle larva (Cicindelidae) - P3292866

View more at Cicindelidae Checklist: Tiger Beetles www.nickybay.com

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Bea Leiderman @bealeiderman.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

A flirty curly-tailed mantis nymph about 2.5cm long. Genus Pseudovates 🌱🌿

A mantis nymph on some white flowers. The mantis is standing with its tail curled up and facing the camera. It is brown with little flaps on its legs that make it look like a little twig.

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Javier Lazaro - scientific illustration @lazaroillustration.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Planing to make fine art prints of this one :) DM or email me if interested #scirt #bugsky #insects #entomology

Illustration of four cicadas in line pencil sketch style.
Available as fine art prints.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The important bit: "In over a half-dozen cases, OpenAI agents have been caught taking actions that would likely result in criminal charges being filed had human hackers taken them."

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Sigh. Yeah. I honestly may just drop off social all together. Not ready to be uprooted once again.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'd like to use these stories + some of mine to role play possible ways to deal with strong emotions or conflict in outreach/interpretive situations. It's always easier to learn by practicing techniques! Thanks all 🙂

static.klipy.com

Zach Galifianakis: Hangover Thumbs Up

Alt: Zach Galifianakis wearing sunglasses, giving a thumbs up while driving a car

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

If you're willing, would you share (anonymously!!) your stories about a time you struggled with conflict or emotions during outreach, or when you you nailed it with a perfect response to a difficult question or situation? (1/2) naturegeek.wufoo.com/forms/esa-20...

naturegeek.wufoo.com

ESA 2026 Outreach/Interpretation Stories

I'm doing a workshop on how to deal with emotions and conflict during outreach for the Formal and Informal Teaching section. Please share examples of times you struggled during outreach or teaching e...

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Such a great example of why focusing on a single species can lead us to miss the larger ecological picture.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Zotero has basic drag and drop citations for all word processors I have used. (Although I haven't tried it in the last year or so; I work with Scrivener for larger writing projects.)

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

And this right here is why I switched to LibreOffice last year. Just basic stuff to get your work done without 10,000 features I don't need. Including garbage AI.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This: Let go of the details when talking to general audiences; it's the big ideas that matter. 💡🧪

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Entomological Society of America @entsocamerica.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This year's Chrysalis Fund grants are helping students discover science through insects, biodiversity & real-world exploration. Read about the 6 projects selected for 2026 and see how donor support is turning creative educational ideas into meaningful learning experiences. entsoc.org/support/chry...

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Massive new review paper out on the causes of insect population declines. It's not great news, BUT if we pay attention, we can still turn things around. 🧪🦋 academic.oup.com/aesa/advance...

academic.oup.com

Drivers of insect decline: direct, indirect, and combined pressures

Abstract. Reductions in insect biodiversity are widely documented and result from numerous pressures that operate from local to global scales. Identifying

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Happy spood month, know your spoods #arachtober #InvertebrateShitposting

a doodle in four parts.

top left is a doodle of a jumping spider with massive adorable eyes. text says, a spood.

top right is the butt of a spider that has run off screen. text says, a spood doin' a scoot.

bottom left, a pair of spiders stacked on top of one another, hugging. text says, two spoods doin' a spoon.

bottom right, a spider covered in cloth like a sheet ghost, with speech bubble saying insect populations are experiencing a sharp decline, threatening every part of their food chain, including birbs, spoods, and the agricultural produce they pollinate. the text says a spood doin' a spook.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Fly, Caterpillar, Pear, and Centipede; from 1561. Mira calligraphiae monumenta, by Joris Hoefnagel & Georg Bocskay. Needed a little art this morning, since it's a grey cloudy day.

A page from an old book, with elaborate hand lettered type in Latin. I don't read Latin so no idea what it actually says. There is a beautiful image of a pear with a large black, yellow, and orange hornworm caterpillar on it; the stem has a grey butterfly perched on it. There is a centipede crawling below the pear, and a syrphid fly above.

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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

The way many if not most people respond to women coming forward with sexual assault allegations shows me that they don’t want sexual violence to be exposed. They want victims to be silent. They don’t want to deal with or even have to hear the truth. This is rape culture.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

And yeah, people TOTALLY treat you differently when they find out you are a rape survivor. Which is why so many women (and men) keep silent.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Dude got an email; I got to find out people in the department didn't think it was a big deal. I've been talking about being a survivor for decades, and I will keep yelling about it. This should not be happening. This should not be something that universities/schools/anyone tolerates as normal. 🤬

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

When I say you never age out-- my last assault was when I was 58, during a tour at work. If I hadn't had the surveillance camera photos of a huge man coming up behind me and grabbing my boob, no one would have believed me. (it was a containment facility, so cameras monitored entrance/exit)

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm a survivor, and sooooo many women I know have stories like mine. It is so common. It starts in middle school, and you never age out. So much anger and grief for all of us.

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Butterfly Conservation @savebutterflies.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Spot the moth 🫥 Meet our 'Wonder of the Day', the Merveille du Jour (Dichonia aprilina)! Its pale green colouring and black markings allow it to blend in perfectly with lichens and mosses. 📷: Clive Jones #MothMonday #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

A moth perfectly blended in with pale green lichen on a tree

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The amount of money it will take to move all those specimens and exhibits is a LOT more than what they say they need. The math isn't mathing. Thank you for leading the charge!

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The now defunct 2024 Title IX ruling provided significant protections against sexual harassment and assault, as well as protecting LGBTQ+ students in schools. edsource.org/updates/u-s-...

edsource.org

UPDATE: U.S. Department of Education ends Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students

The latest education news updates from EdSource.

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Gray @grays.art · 28/09/2026

Blue-green citrus root weevil (Pachnaeus litus) on Caesarweed bloom (Urena lobata) CREW pen flint strand lake trails Bonita Springs, Florida 9-24-26 #macroMonday #ColorADay #PinkMon #eck #macro #nature #pink #art #macroPhotography #native #beetles #bugsky

Macro of a weevil perched on a light pink wildflower. Viewed from a three-quarter perspective facing downward and toward its left, the insect showcases a smooth, pale pastel mint-green body with a distinct, elongated snout resting directly against a petal. Its pale legs firmly grasp the blossom. To its stage-right extends a long, prominent pink staminal column tipped with a cluster of bright crimson stigmas. To its stage-right, a cluster of tightly closed green and bronze-tipped buds arches upward on a slender green stem. The background is completely dark, and smoothly out of focus.

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

And let me tell you, explaining bioluminescence at a 4th grade level in 200 words is a REAL writer challenge 😀

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Entomological Collections Network @entcollnet.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

#SaveTheAcademy Our position in regard to the resolution about the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. This issue deeply affects our community, with many members having visited or worked closely with the academy over the years. We stand with @savetheacademy.bsky.social

The Entomological Collections Network is a society dedicated to uplifting natural history collections around the globe. We are deeply affected by the sudden announcement to close the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Museum, which is the oldest natural history museum in all the Americas. We stand behind the critical importance of not only safeguarding research collections for scientific use but also making outreach and educational displays that are available to all. At its core, a museum is a bridge to the community connection with the collections. And this connection is perhaps more important now than ever because of the continual threats to biodiversity around the globe and rising documented disconnect between the public and nature. It is through this institution and so many like it that we all can spark wonder and cultivate joy in the natural world, for an untold number of people of all ages and walks of life.

Shuttering a museum that provides a tangible connection to the natural world sends a shocking statement about what priorities are being set with regards to education and caring for the community in which we live. Although Drexel has expressed its intention to retain the research collection, it has presented no plan for the monumental task of safely moving their more than 19 million specimens and establishing a suitable facility to house it. As a Society we urge the City of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University to do what is best for the Academy of Natural Sciences’ collections, research, and public museum by exploring any creative avenue to ensure that this center of education and exploration can continue to inspire for generations.

From the Governing Board of the Entomological Collections Network
Isa Betancourt
Patrick Gorring
Adam Haberski
Andrew Johnston
Oliver Keller
Pete Oboyski
Ashleigh Whiffin
Jack Whisenant
Chris Wirth

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Fall is a great time to .... do nothing around the yard and create habitat 🍂🍁🙂

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Martin Harvey @kitenet.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thrips are tiny creatures that lay very tiny eggs, into which these astonishingly tiny wasps lay their own minuscule eggs. What an amazing form of life 🔬

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If you aren't in Ohio, you might not know JOBS stands for Jobs Ohio Beverage System (JOBS). They purchase and distribute all booze in the state as a "nonprofit" and turn the profits to .... economic growth? Somehow? 🗑️

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Reposted by Gwen Pearson

Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🚨 JOB ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Please share! We're looking for an entomologist to join our dept.! I'm excited as it's broadly advertised to find someone who can build a stellar teaching program w/research on insect ecology. Deadline is tight (end of Oct.). Read more & apply at jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/235...

Flyer that says:

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY
AND PLANT PATHOLOGY

We're hiring!

The Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology is seeking applications for a nine-month, tenure-track Assistant Professor in Insect Ecology (60% teaching/40% research). The position will play a central role in the department’s undergraduate curriculum, including ENT 201: Insects and People, as well as additional undergraduate and graduate courses. The position also provides an opportunity to build a nationally recognized research program in insect ecology, secure external funding, and mentor undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Lead instruction for ENT 201: Insects and People and teach additional courses using effective, technology-enhanced approaches. Mentor undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs.

Establish a nationally recognized, externally funded research program in insect ecology (e.g., behavior, plant–insect interactions, community ecology, conservation, or global change biology). Publish in peer-reviewed journals and engage students in research.

Contribute to departmental, college, and university service, engage with scientific societies, review manuscripts and grant proposals, and participate in outreach.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

Demonstrated teaching experience at the undergraduate and/or graduate level.

Expertise in one or more areas of insect ecology (e.g., IPM, invasive species, pollination biology, vector ecology, trophic interactions, global change, or molecular/community ecology).

Ph.D. in Entomology or a related field, with a proven publication and funding track record (as PI/Co-PI or lead author).

JOIN OUR TEAM!

For more information and to submit your application, please visit:
https://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/234875

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