iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Army ants (Eciton mexicanum) are specialist predators of other ants. Here, a group of workers take down a Neoponera huntress ant in an Ecuadorian cloud forest.

Macro photo of four dark red ants with orange casters surrounding a larger metallic blue/black ant on a mossy rock.

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Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

TIL about Eichlinea gloriosa, the “glorious squash vine borer” Moth that sounds like a @tkingfisher.com bit but it’s real (and it’s magnificent)

Selection of pinned specimens of what I can only describe as a gay cowboy moth. It’s wearing elaborate hot pink feather boa chaps.

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FrontRangeWildflowers @frwildflowers.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Physcia aipolia, our Hoary Rosette Lichen, on Ponderosa bark today in Upper Gregory Canyon 🌿

Gray lichen with numerous dark centered apothecia on ponderosa pine bark accompanied by bright yellow lichen splotches

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Andy Pym @exmoormothman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Heath Potter Wasps collecting clay for making their exquisite pots. Amazing! A superb day with Rog Musgrove & @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social.

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Donna Rainey @donnarainey4.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A friend discovered a rare fungal gall in a local woodland. She took me there to see it. Toughshank jellygall, Syzygospora tumefaciens, parasitic on Gymnopus sp. Such an interesting find. #fungi

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David Widdick @davidwiddick.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I love pew end carvings in churches. I try not to post too many to avoid being a bore but I’d be interested in peoples opinions on what these might represent. They’re both from Cley-Next-the-Sea. Please retweet because I’d like to get as many ideas as possible.

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Marc A. Milne @forthespiders.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

The elephant mosquito (Toxorhynchites rutilus) is one of the largest mosquitoes in North America with a wingspan of 12mm! They also do not bite, as females do not use blood for their eggs. They're also predators of disease-causing mosquitoes like those in the genus Aedes. So, friends! #invertefest

A large green iridescent mosquito sits on a yellow coneflower bloom.

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Senator Nikil Saval @pasenatorsaval.com · 01/09/2026

It is unacceptable for a world-class city like ours to allow its major natural history museum to close. We cannot allow it. My statement ⬇️

The text of Senator Saval's statement on the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences museum. The words are in white on a blue background. Senator Saval's image is in the lower-right corner.

"For nearly two centuries, the museum of the The Academy of Natural Sciences has been the physical embodiment of a commitment to public natural history education. I was outraged to learn of the plans for its closure, both as a long-standing member of the museum and as an elected representative committed to the health and vitality of Philadelphia. It is unacceptable for a world-class city like ours to allow its major natural history museum to close.

The mismanagement of such a treasured asset is a profound insult to the residents of the city and to the incomparable workers and curators at the museum. We cannot allow it."

The text of Senator Saval's statement on the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences museum. The words are in white on a blue background.

"This museum is a place where generation after generation first became enthralled with our world, and as we face the enormity of the climate crisis and an unprecedented loss of biodiversity, the continuation of the museum’s legacy of marvel and care for the natural world has never been more urgent. Partners from all levels of government must unite in our efforts to see this vital work continue."

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Nature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Today was the first time I encountered the fascinating Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp (Disholcaspis quercusmamma). Small females are developing inside the gall. The galls are exuding honeydew, attractive to yellow jackets and ants, who might protect the gall from parasitic wasps. #invertefest

Round and nipple shaped greenish brown galls being attended by Yellowjackets and paper wasps. Inside the gall is a developing female solitary wasp. When she emerges this fall, she will lay an egg in a dormant leaf bud.

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Steve "Whistling Joe" Everett @whistlingjoe.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Not something you'll see very often - Hedychrum rutilans, one of the Jewel Wasps. Extinct in the UK up to a handful of years ago, now popping up in the southeast. A specialist cuckoo on the Beewolf - this one spotted by Mrs WJ just off #DiggerAlley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social

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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Bats and bat-flies Last night I tagged along to collect Nycteribiids from Daubenton’s bats. Great to see these dipteran weirdoes - flies with no wings, no eyes & giving birth to live young. 😎🪰 @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

If anyone is already planning their garden for next year, order some Dr. Martin lima beans. Incredibly productive vines with massive pods that are easy to shell. They are also super tender and flavorful. Named for the Philadelphia dentist who developed it in the 1920s. #gardening #legumes #beans

Large, flat, pale-green seed resting next to a smaller US quarter on my fingers.

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Mindy Weisberger @laminda.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

While I appreciate the coverage of this important public health story, news editors may want to consider what message they're sending about vaccination when they choose photos associating vaccines with pain

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Just another art student @alt3cats.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

#InverteFest Copper etching of imaginary Crinoid. #etching #printmaking

Two tone, blue upper, brown lower, copper etching of imaginary Crinoid with roots extending below a small patch of ground with Crinoid pieces, an echinoid and a trilobite fossil.

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D. Allan Drummond @dadrummond.art · 25/08/2026

Magical creature, a cuckoo wasp (Chrysis conica) 💙💚🖤 Found this one trapped in a window frame, tuckered out just enough to not immediately fly away after I freed it. #bugsky

A gorgeous iridescent metallic blue/green wasp with black eyes on a white semicircle (my disconnected flash diffuser) on a white background. The wasp's body armor is dimpled all over as if finely hammered.

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Judith A.H. Smit @judithsmit.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Caterpillars eat plants, right? 🌿 Not always, some are carnivorous! 🥩🐛 Our new paper documents the life history, behavior, and vibrations of Juditha odites. It feeds on treehoppers, then moves into ant nests to consume ant brood! 🐜🐛🦋 link.springer.com/article/10.1... @insectessociaux.bsky.social

link.springer.com

An insect-eating caterpillar associated with arboreal ants: life cycle, diet, social integration and substrate-borne vibrations - Insectes Sociaux

Herbivory is the predominant feeding strategy in Lepidoptera, whereas carnivory has evolved rarely. The life cycles of carnivorous species, however, remain poorly documented. Here, we confirm that Jud...

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🍄Mushroom Guy🍄 @mycotae.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Went to cut a virginia creeper vine and saw this guy! Obviously the vine will stay. #bugs #invertebrates #caterpillar #pandorussphinx #Eumorphapandorus

Eumorpha pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar on virginia creeper vine. Its head is retracted in its body.

Eumorpha pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar on virginia creeper vine. Its head is retracted in its body. Hand for size.

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Tom Sharpe @tomsharperocks.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Interesting obituary of art historian Peter Cannon-Brookes in today's Times. It was he who spotted the original watercolour of Henry De la Beche's Duria antiquior in the window of a London art dealer in 1980, recognising what it was from the later oil copy he knew @sedgwickmuseum.bsky.social. 1/3

A watercolour painting of a reconstructed prehistoric scene showing ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and other animals all eating one another.

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Reposted by Colin Purrington

🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Let’s keep going with epizoochory, the dispersal of fruits & seeds on the outside of animals. Two days ago, I posted a photo of a diabolical fruit from Uncarina. 👿 The fruits of its cousin, Harpagophytum procumbens, are positively sadistic. 📷: KW CCBYNC4 #Pedaliaceae #epizoochory #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a hand holding two ferocious-looking fruits. They have numerous hooked and barbed outgrowth that would make they very difficult to remove once they attach to an animal.

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

What do mosquito biologists think about the American Mosquito Control Association's position on using Mosquito Dunks to control mosquitoes? Are mosquito buckets doing more harm than good by attracting mosquitoes to people's yards? #mosquitoes #pesticides www.mosquito.org/mosquito-buc...

mosquito.org

Position on Mosquito Bucket

Position: The Mosquito Bucket Challenge Is Not a Replacement for Integrated Mosquito Management Programs Summary: The AMCA recognizes the strong public interest in the Mosquito Bucket Challenge and a...

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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This spider is appx 1mm long, qualifying it as both "itsy" and "bitsy"

Photo of a spider with a round, red opisthosoma (back end) with white spots, like an amanita mushroom with eight little transparent legs and a funny face

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

So you think you know cute bugs? But have you ever seen the larva of a handsome fungus #beetle? 🥰 😍 A perfect little crawling dome baby. #Endomychidae: #Corynomalus Costa Rica

A dark round dome-top rough larva sits on a white background facing right. It's got orange margins and patches of small white dots and bluish plates on the body.

A dark round dome-top rough larva sits on a white background facing front right. It's got orange margins and patches of small white dots and bluish plates on the body, with short straight antennae.

A dark round dome-top rough larva sits on a white background facing left. It's got orange margins and patches of small white dots and bluish plates on the body.

The belly of the beetle larva as it tries to right itself. The legs and mouthparts can be seen.

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Sean McCann @ibycter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Bembicine wasps of the genus Bicyrtes sleeping on a twig!

Two bembicine wasps with bold yellow and black stripes perched on a twig in the night.

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Sean McCann @ibycter.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Now here is an absolute stunner of a robber fly. In the genus Lampria, possibly L. clavipes. So beautiful!

A black robber with a gold pubescence on the thorax, and golden on each of the femora, red colour on the abdominal tergites, and purple-green iridescent eyes. Has golden setae on the underside of the tibiae.

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Some crane flies in the genus #Geranomyia produce a little gel nursery to develop on leaves in the tropics. There they graze on algae & other organic matter. The mass provides moisture (other spp. live in water/soil) & likely protects from predators. #Tipulidae #Limoniidae #FlySchool2026 Costa Rica

A jelly mass on the midrib of a long leaf contains a long translucent larva within

A close up of a long, worm-like, translucent larva curving around inside a clear jelly mass

A thick jelly mass on a leaf surface has a long crane fly pupa suspended within

Two greenish crane flies with long beaks mating on a leaf. The female is resting above, while the male contorts himself underneath, connected by their genitalia.

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

On multiple occasions during the past several years I've been nearly hit by vehicles running red lights. Invariably the vehicle has tinted windows. I'm hoping House Bill 1142 ("Vehicle Window Tint During State Vehicle Inspection") becomes law soon. #pennsylvania www.palegis.us/legislation/...

palegis.us

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I have started running Claude alongside the book I am writing on ants, as well as just letting Google Gemini do its thing at the top when I do Google search. It is not doing any writing I am using, and I am always checking the results against primary sources.

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Sometimes you've gotta go metallic to mimic your model! This common tropical hover #fly at the top is a convincing mimic of the local orchid #bees in the genus #Euglossa (bottom). #FlySchool2026 #Syrphidae: #Ornidia obesa Soltis Center, Costa Rica

Two metallic green winged insects on a white background, one at the top and one at the bottom. The top one is a hover fly and the bottom is an orchid bee.

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Nature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Look at this amazing swarm of springtails, harmless, tiny insects, in a water bowl for bees, etc. My sister found them in her backyard.

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Spartan Mosquito of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is 10 years old! Scamming hundreds of thousands of Americans each year with its yeast-and-sugar tubes that kill ants. Innocent ants. 🐍🛢️🎂 #mosquitoes #mississippi colinpurrington.com/2020/04/spar...

colinpurrington.com

Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech review

This post is a review of the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech, a tube containing sugar, yeast, and boric acid that you fill with warm water and position around the perimeter of your property. The cap has a s...

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Luxomancer 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @luxomancer.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

In today's episode of #WeirdShitInMyYard is this fluffy #gall(?) that I found growing on a Black Cherry leaf (Prunus serotina). Inat suggests subfamily Sceliotrachelinae of family Platygastridae, but did not seem confident. Any #Wasp people have an idea? Attn: @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social

A photo of a fluffy cotton-ball like mass on the underside of a leaf, my thumbnail is in the bottom of the shot.

A photo of the leaf and the cotton-ball -like gall next to a ruler, the mass is about 1.5cm across.

A photo of the mass cut in half, revealing many small chambers containing shiny black wasp larvae

A close up of one of several of the shiny black wasp larvae against the cotton-like background of their gall.

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Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Syrinx aruanus, the Australian trumpet, is the largest snail alive, a shell up to about 75 cm and 18 kg. Why so big? It hunts giant polychaete worms over a meter long, reaching into their tubes with a proboscis up to 25 cm. Big prey, big predator. 🦑 🧪 #MolluscMonday #HowToBuildAGiant #marinelife

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Marshal Hedin @mhedin.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

hammertail robberfly on Mojave Yucca, single shot I've found that robbers like Yuccas, and have simultaneously discovered that getting stabbed by these hurts, for a long while have recently taken to sliding my clarity to the left in my LR macro post-processing ... kinda liking the look

a hairy fly perches on the edge of a Yucca cactus

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I’ll end Moth Week with the most famous case of moth pollination: the #orchid Angraecum sesquipedale, in habitat in Madagascar. Dawin predicted that a moth must exist with a proboscis long enough to reach the nectar deep in the spur. He was right! #pollination #MothWeek #TeamMoth #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of an orchid among other vegetation. The orchid has three large, white, star-shaped flowers. Each flower has a long nectar spur.

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Matt Berry @matthewberry.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

A 'few' of my local Jersey Tiger Moths for #mothweek

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Dozens of these tiny flies were swarming around an Achillea millefolium in my yard. Can anyone help ID? I'm assuming Cecidomyiidae but not positive. #diptera #insects #inaturalist #yarrow www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Pale red fly with long legs resting on a small white inflorescence.

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AJCann @ajcann.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

It's taken me years to finally catch up with Metatropis rufescens, the Enchanter's-nightshade Stiltbug, but today a bank of Enchanter's-nightshade finally yielded the goods, although only a nymph as yet. #Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Berytidae

Metatropis rufescens nymph, the Enchanter's-nightshade Stiltbug.

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Sarah DeWeerdt @sarahdeweerdt.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Sorry, but, do we actually know if Jimothy is a boy or a girl?

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I made a mosquito trap that combines the traditional Mosquito-Dunk approach (for killing larvae) with a funnel & clear dome that prevents the gravid females from escaping. Still testing but seems to work. Will post design details on my blog. You just need a Dremel tool and a glue gun. #mosquitoes

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Patrick Heffernan @pmheffernan.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Mosquitoes can develop in the places you'd least expect! I found ~200 larvae developing on the lid of a bin in my backyard after it rained last week. An excellent reminder to survey my property for standing water. Reducing larval habitats is one of the easiest and most effective control methods!

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Another mosquito-control scam involving yeast and sugar has entered the market. It's identical to Tougher Than Tom's Mosquito TNT but has a solar-powered light, presumably to better attract gullible Americans. #mosquitoes

Screenshot of sales page for BiteShield Mosquito Trap Set. "Why mosquitoes can't resist BioLure Powder" is main title, but there are lots of smaller claims on the page, too. E.g., "Mosquitoes hunt CO2 not you."

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Vanna Bartlett @vannabartlett.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

No trip to the seaside is complete without rolling over some dry horse dung to see what is underneath (it's slightly more pleasant than turning over dead seals...). This pile at Holkham didn't disappoint with my first Armadillidium album. Thanks to @jeremybartlett.bsky.social for first photo.

A figure wearing a grey peaked cap and a blue jacket with a black and yellow rucksack on their back crouching on a sandy beach and peering at the underside of a large lump of dry horse dung. A short handled net with white mesh bag lies on the sand in front of the figure.

Two small, pale sandy coloured woodlice half curled up on some damp sand. A pink human finger is just visible top right corner giving an indication of the size of the woodlice.

Close up of one of the woodlice in amongst the sand grains. It is a pale sandy colour with a broad, darker brown central band that has very pale flecks on it.

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Reposted by Colin Purrington

iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Meet Urodeta conocarpi, a leaf-mining moth so small you could easily go right past it without noticing. (Though, maybe not after reading this!) ⤵️

A small reddish-brown larva with a segmented, patterned body resting on a green leaf, shown in close-up. Photographed by thomasirvine, seen on iNaturalist.

A tiny grey and brown mottled moth with wings folded, resting on a smooth pale surface. Photographed by thomasirvine, seen on iNaturalist.

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Those garlic-based mosquito sprays might be less ecologically harmful than pyrethroid sprays but they can still be bad. At least that's my takeaway from this study by Ebrahim et al. 2026. Diallyl disulfide can suppress mating and egg laying in other insects. #mosquitoes www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

cell.com

A phytoscreen identifies a garlic compound as a deterrent of mating and egg laying in Drosophila and mosquitoes

This study provides a paradigm for how the vast chemical diversity inherent in agricultural crops can be screened to identify compounds that deter insect disease vectors and pests. Such a “phytoscreen...

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Does a photograph exist of a bat catching a mosquito? #bats #mosquitoes

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Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

For those who haven't heard of this yet, the fastest/easiest way to reduce indoor air pollution from wildfire smoke is to get a basic 20x20 box fan, and slap a single 20x20 air filter (make sure it's very high MERV) on the back. No tape or anything, it just sticks to the back of the fan.

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

If you smell an odor when your neighbors are getting their yard fogged for mosquitoes, that means the pyrethroids are drifting onto your yard, too. The chemicals can remain active for weeks. #mosquitoes #pyrethroids

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