iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Adrian Smith

Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

We're looking for a plant pathologist 🌱 🍄 to join our department (cals.ncsu.edu/entomology-a...)! The position is fairly broad/open to different disciplines in plant pathology, but heavy in teaching. Please go to the following link for more info & to apply. jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/233...

A serviceberry twig with leaves and fruit, one of the fruit infested by a rust fungus

a purple flowered clover with whitish powdery mildew growth on the leaves

A shiny dark green magnolia leaf with lichenized algal leaf spot on it.

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I’m sneaky with these YouTube releases!

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Reposted by Adrian Smith

Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Check out @dradriansmith.bsky.social's new paper!! #SciComm

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Reposted by Adrian Smith

John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

New publication from @dradriansmith.bsky.social on media-based storytelling becoming a prominent application for natural history museum research.

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Travis McEnery @travismcenery.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This was more complicated than even I thought when I set out to make the video, but I'm glad I did! It was a lot of fun, and the reality of this is really cool. youtu.be/djfoUWZbLn8?...

youtu.be

How Spiders REALLY Eat their Prey (and it isn't by just sucking blood)

YouTube video by Travis McEnery

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Not feeling it this morning? Watch this beautiful stick insect fly. (And if you keep watching, there is caterpillar poop flinging. As a treat) www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTXA...

youtube.com

Giant Stick Insect & Flying Caterpillar Frass - Slow Mo

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Uploaded and noticed “flys” isn’t a word! Thumbnail is fixed.

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Glad I could serve as the sacrificial finger model!

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Awesome, thanks for the info! I've filmed a diparid wasp jumping with it's middle legs middle legs before, but not a eupelmid. It would be cool to film more of that! This one that Matt pictured I filmed some flight sequences of too, but it didn't jump into the flights.

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Curious about those middle leg tarsi?! They seem different from the others?

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

🚨 Lifer alert! 🚨 Check out this deer bot #fly that @dradriansmith.bsky.social found while we were hunting bugs - my first time getting pics of a wild adult of this family! It's a convincing bee mimic, whose babies live in the sinuses & throats of deer 😋 👀 #Oestridae: #Cephenemyia phobifer NC, USA

A large bodied, fuzzy yellow fly, looking like a bumble bee, sits on a leaf, viewed from above.

A large bodied, fuzzy yellow fly, looking like a bumble bee, sits on white background, viewed from the side facing right.

A large bodied, fuzzy yellow fly, looking like a bumble bee, sits on white background, viewed from above next to a US dime.

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

If it gets people to click and watch, i'll take it!

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

It's 3pm slump time, so how about something to perk you up? Did you know fleas have complete metamorphosis? This is a larval cat flea. @dradriansmith.bsky.social's filming and rearing story will definitely bring you to alertness 😀 (1/2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bsG...

youtube.com

I've never seen a FLEA move like this!

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Increasing interest in entomology 1 cat at a time

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Yeah, I felt the same way about these when I first saw them in action and when I first heard about what they specialize in catching

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

New Ant Lab video today about pincer wasps and a new research project. This one has some really cool, newly-filmed insect behavior in it! youtu.be/9osTBzQ0zbk

youtu.be

Spring-Loaded Claws on a Wasp – Parasitoid Pincer Wasps

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Did you consume too much depressing news on your timeline? Here's your palate cleanser from @dradriansmith.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJNa...

youtube.com

Caterpillars Are THE BEST! Here’s why.

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Ksepka Lab @ksepkalab.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives is officially open at the Bruce Museum! Enter the tunnel and you will meet "Buckley", our five foot long scaled-up Dinoponera ant. Buckley is named after her creator, the great Dan Buckley. The smaller ant is my daughter, dressed as an alate queen for the opener.

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Still looking for horror now that Halloween's over? Fortunately/unfortunately it's all around! 💀 A parasitoid laid a few eggs in a moth egg. As the caterpillar hatched & grew, wasp embryos multiplied inside to 100s of larvae that ate the entire host, eventually killing & turning it into a husk 😳 🤢

A pale yellow caterpillar husk, filled with rice-like wasp larvae, sits doubled on itself inside a silken cocoon. the caterpillar was almost certainly a looper (Noctuidae: Plusiinae) and the parasitoids are encyrtid wasps (Encyrtidae: Copidosoma). Brought to me by a generous and curious client.

Close up of the pale yellow caterpillar husk, filled with rice-like wasp larvae. The caterpillar was almost certainly a looper (Noctuidae: Plusiinae) and the parasitoids are encyrtid wasps (Encyrtidae: Copidosoma). Brought to me by a generous and curious client.

Close up of the pale yellow caterpillar husk, now filled with dark wasps waiting to emerge. The caterpillar was almost certainly a looper (Noctuidae: Plusiinae) and the parasitoids are encyrtid wasps (Encyrtidae: Copidosoma). Brought to me by a generous and curious client.

A composite plate of tiny parasitoid wasps on a white background. The top has two views of the small wasp, showing the meallic green and purple body, while the bottom shows the wasp dwarfed by a US quarter coin. Brought to me by a generous and curious client.

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Reposted by Adrian Smith

Aeon Magazine @aeon.co · 01/11/2025

In this video, the biologist Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social provides close-ups of a diverse array of caterpillars and shows how they support healthy ecosystems, employ a range of strategies to protect themselves from predators and transform into seemingly entirely different creatures

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Close-ups reveal how caterpillars live long enough to cocoon | Aeon Videos

From poison spikes to fake snake eyes, caterpillars employ many clever strategies to survive to their dazzling adulthoods

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

🚨 Spicy gummy worm alert! 🚨 🐛 Though it may look delicious, the bright colors warn of its ability to sting. Kinda looks like it's wearing pajamas... Thanks to @dradriansmith.bsky.social for hosting the specimen. stinging rose #caterpillar #Limacodidae: #Parasa indetermina NC, USA

A squishy-looking caterpillar sits on a leaf. It has four thin black lines alternating with white running down its back, with alternating orangish-red and yellow stripes down the sides. Along its body are a few tentacle-like protuberances covered in stinging spines. There are smaller round, evenly spaced warts covered in spines along the body as well.

The squishy head region of a caterpillar can be seen curling around the edge of the leaf, its spiky protuberances can also be seen cresting the edge of the leaf.

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

We think there is a lot of room for natural history museums to produce interesting, unique, and informative content made for online audiences. A lot of those stories could be from the unique collections and research happening at these institutions. (research project led by @ruzimyrmex.bsky.social !)

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

in short, there is an opportunity gap for natural history museums in the US to use YouTube better! In particular, research and collections functions of natural history museums are often not featured in what they communicate via YouTube. We show this via surveying 400+ videos from 28 US museums.

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Reposted by Adrian Smith

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

🐜⚡ These Indian jumping ants don't just jump for show – they use powerful leaps to pounce on prey like crickets. Researcher @dradriansmith.bsky.social 's slow-motion footage shows how these predatory ants hunt with the agility of much larger predators. #science #nature 👉 Learn more: zurl.co/kyQs1

A reddish-brown Indian jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator) with large dark eyes grasps a pale yellow cricket with its mandibles and front legs on a white surface.

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SciAnts Media @sciantsmedia.com · 15/09/2025

From fire ants in Florida to filming batflies in North Carolina, our latest interview is with @dradriansmith.bsky.social, who has built a career at the intersection of insect science and storytelling. 🐜🎥 #scicomm #science #sciants #stem #YouTube #twitch youtu.be/xEXwFel5DEY

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

New video today! Megaloptera, owlflies, bioluminescent click beetles, and MORE! youtu.be/lD8sKzA_FZU

youtu.be

Bizarre Bugs in Flight! Slow Motion - 14 species

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Reposted by Adrian Smith

Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech @bhamlalab.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

How do tiny ripple bugs surf raging rivers? Check out our new work in @science.org Work led by Victor Ortega-Jimenez, Dongjin Kim, Sunny Kumar, Changhwan Kim, Je-Sung Koh, and Saad Bhamla - a collaboration between UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, and Ajou University. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Ultrafast elastocapillary fans control agile maneuvering in ripple bugs and robots

Rhagovelia ripple bugs use specialized middle-leg fans with a flat-ribbon architecture to navigate the surfaces of fast-moving streams. We show that the fan’s directional stiffness enables fast, passi...

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Reposted by Adrian Smith

Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

I don't think I've ever posted this here on Bluesky, so have some bug-drawing tutorials... (1/3)

Let's Discuss: Bug Basics! Intro to insect body anatomy.

Let's Investigate: Insect Legs! In which we detour for some reason into talking about human hands.

Insect leg pattern 1: Bees, ants, and flies.

Insect leg patterns 2 and 3: Beetles and dragonflies.

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Digital Naturalism Laboratories @dinalab.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Here's a super cool documentary about the Mothbox! Learn about the development and use of this fun #openscience #opensource tool for DIY biodiversity monitoring! youtu.be/1LGz3aWpeVE?...

youtu.be

Mothbox - Wildlabs Award 2024

YouTube video by Digital Naturalism Laboratories (Andrew Quitmeyer)

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Reposted by Adrian Smith

Gil Wizen @wizentrop.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

This is such a good video by @dradriansmith.bsky.social. Not only does it show cool Harpegnathus jumping and stinging action, but it also features Gigantiops, one of my favorite ants, for a quick comparison! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hBX...

youtube.com

These Are the Best Ants. Seriously. (Harpegnathos saltator)

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

New video today on one of the coolest ants, Harpegnathos! youtu.be/-hBXOAJ7l1I

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Fluffy. Sparkly. Adorable. These are not the things you usually say about a fly, but here we are. Let this little creature warm your heart 🥰 #Psychodidae #Setomima nitida North Carolina, USA (w/ @dradriansmith.bsky.social)

A small fly sits on a green leaf. It looks like a moth, with a very fluffy head and thorax to the right, and dark, fluffy wings held roof-like behind it. The wings are adorned with scattered, small, icy blue scales.

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social is at BugShot Arizona, explaining how to tell stories.

Photo of a tall guy in a white t-shirt and jeans in front of a PowerPoint slide.

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

yeah, now I want to go through my wasp footage and see if their hind wings are also passively powered by the front ones too

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

New Ant Lab video out today: Ants mating and flying at the same time! youtu.be/bG9I9u-aM8g

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SciAnts Media @sciantsmedia.com · 30/05/2025

We will be live tonight with a special SciAnts Thursday! We will be interviewing @dradriansmith.bsky.social, insect scientist and behavior expert, on his scientific journey, his incredible YT videos, and more! 9pm EDT #scicomm #sciants #science #stem #twitch www.twitch.tv/sciants_stre...

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

🪲✈️ Slow-motion footage of 23 flying #insects by @dradriansmith.bsky.social explains the wide variety of flight mechanics out there. From beetles to stoneflies, each species developed different strategies. 👉 Learn more: zurl.co/OclZV

Two insects are shown in flight against a purple background with yellow text reading "INSECT FLIGHT" and black text reading "23 SPECIES!" - one appears to be a yellow-bodied flying insect on the left and a green beetle-like insect on the right.

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Finally checked off "rove beetle wing folding" from my need to film list. New video up now: youtu.be/uvXxiUjw-xY

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