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caeculus.bsky.social

@caeculus.bsky.social

133 followers 110 following 25 posts

Ken Schneider; pathologist and California-based naturalist and microscopist on a mission to document the diversity of tiny and/or obscure invertebrates and cryptogams (lichens, mosses) living in western North America.

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

One more beauty for #flyweek : a bee fly I photographed in the Mojave Desert a couple of years ago which was kindly identified as Poecilanthrax californicus by York Niu.

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Posting this rather colorful and snazzy-looking gall midge (Cecidomyiidae) I found in the Mojave Desert recently for #flyweek !

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

A "long-horned" bee, possibly in the genus Eucera, found at Carrizo Plain NM in California today. #bees #pollinators

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Phase contrast photomicrograph I took recently of a "fingerprint"-like pattern on the integument of a snout mite (Bdellidae) - a few hairs and hair sockets are visible. Apparently the precise pattern is useful for species identification.

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Possibly my new favorite moss - Hedwigia (maybe H. detonsa) growing on the north side of a large rock outcrop in San Luis Obispo County, California.

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

I was really excited to be able to key out this tiny (395 micron) mesostig mite I found in coast redwood leaf litter all the way to species - not an easy task for most mites. Meet Cosmozercon setosus, slide mounted in Hoyer's medium. 🤩

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Another tiny but fearsome predatory soil mite - Labidostomma sp. recovered from coast redwood leaf litter in northern California and mounted on a microscope slide. Check out the massive jaws (chelicerae) and the ornate ornamentation on the cuticle! :)

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

I found this mound of scat (?) on a log in northwestern CA recently and it appears to have become a food source for a cool-looking fungus in the family Phycomycetaceae? Not able to check with microscopy and have never seen this before, so corrections welcome if I've got this wrong! 😁

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

I photographed this Condylostylus sp. long-legged fly at a little city park in Fresno County, California earlier this year. It was only a few millimeters long. This family of predatory flies is diverse and can be photogenic because of their metallic sheen. #diptera #entomology #flies

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caeculus.bsky.social @caeculus.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

A slide mounted cunaxid mite, Cunaxa capreolus, collected from leaf litter in northern California recently. Only 0.5 mm long, but sure to strike fear into the hearts of the litter springtails it might have encountered.

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