iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Sometimes I worry about the mental health of the UT insect collection volunteers

Photo of a glass-topped drawer of pinned white and yellow butterfly specimens with the note “undetermined pierids to give up on”

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

everyone should sell their stocks and put everything in ants

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Update: the Met station at Monks Wood recorded 32.9C max air temperature yesterday, but temperature on concrete exceeded 50C for >2 hours - the blank cells are because it was off the scale: designers of Met Office stations didn't imagine 50C was likely in UK. Even 10cm deep in soil it was 28C.

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The Coleopterists Society @coleopsoc.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

#LiteratureNotice Montanhini et al. Synopsis of the #myrmecophilous genus Ecitonides Wasmann (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae), with description of two new species from Brazil doi.org/10.3897/zook... #Beetle #Beetles

Ecitonides volans Assing, 2012, holotype (NMW). A. Dorsal habitus; B. Labels. Photos by Harald Schillhammer (NMW).

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴 play a vital role as a specialized predator within ephemeral habitats. Both the adults and larvae are highly adapted for hunting soft-bodied prey, particularly the maggots and puparia of various fly species.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

With its impressive size, 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘶𝘹 is a formidable hunter. As an ambush predator, it typically waits on sunny vantage points such as leaves or tree trunks to spot passing prey. Once a target is identified, the fly catches it mid-flight.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

𝘈𝘤𝘩𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢 L. A robust, fast-growing taproot system acts as a biological drill, penetrating compacted, rocky substrates. As the roots grow and expand, they physically fracture hard soil layers, creating micro-fissures. These fissures improve aeration, allow water infiltration.

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Michael Caterino @mcaterino.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

It is a unique pleasure to have someone send you pictures of a species you described. It's like a report that one of your kids is doing all right. This beauty is Orectoscelis westwoodi, a myrmecophile (probably with Pheidole) described back in 2005 from Queensland, AU. (photo by Jan Pražák)

a beetle glued to a point. Its head points left, with sausage-like antennae attached to large shielding scapes. The body is punctate, dark brown, and the elytra have gigantic, ear-like rounded bulges, with a golden fringe of setae along their inner edge (handles, we believe, for the ants to grab).

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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

The collections at @nhm-london.bsky.social are full of glorious specimens esp the Flies. But they also come with lots of extra information Roger Crosskey wrote down his feelings 50 years ago about this species complex - his frustration evident @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social

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Biodiversity Pics @biodiversitypix.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

🕸️ Histoire naturelle des fourmis, . Paris, De l'impr. de Crapelet, 1802.. [Source]

Historical illustration titled "Histoire naturelle des fourmis," depicting detailed, labeled anatomical drawings of various ant species and body parts. The image shows ants in different postures, with some winged, highlighting segmented bodies, antennae, legs, and mandibles. Close-up views of specific head and mouthparts emphasize structural features. The insect drawings are arranged in figures 56 to 60, each with multiple components marked by letters for study. The illustration combines detailed coloration and line work typical of 19th-century natural history documentation, focusing on the morphology and taxonomy of ants, an arthropod group related to Arachnida by classification context.

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Jordan Rainey @jordanrainey.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Pleased to share our latest contribution to knowledge on West Indian Staphylinidae in The Coleopterists Bulletin! The first modern revision of West Indian Belonuchus in 82 years — 7 new species, 2 synonymies, lectotypes, illustrated keys + maps. 🌴 🪲 Read more & find paper here: tinyurl.com/3f646nnu

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Matt Hamer @entohamer.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Recent fieldwork in Sayap Substation, Sabah, Malaysia

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

The thing about entomology is, there are always weirder bugs than anything you could imagine on your own. Here's Cysteodemus wislizeni, a blister beetle from west Texas.

Photograph of a metallic blue/green beetle with a very spider-like body, a huge fake "abdomen" that is swollen and dented with even pits over its bulbous surface. It is otherwise ant-like, standing on a pure white stylized background.

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David Notton @davidnotton.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

New publication! Review of Tetramopria (Diapriidae) of E Palaearctic - mating behaviour and interactions with host ants. with Ryoji Kawai and Seonwoo Yoon. Free download: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Only today I learned about the shrine in Tokyo to insects killed for science.

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Mushizuka at Kan'ei-ji Temple

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

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Matt Hamer @entohamer.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

More photos from South Korea fieldwork, lovely to be back in a temperate environment collecting ants

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Matt Hamer @entohamer.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Sampling ants in South Korea this month

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Matthew Prebus @mprebus.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

🐜🐜🐜Fans of Myrmicinae! New paper in Syst Biol in collaboration with C. Rabeling🐜🐜🐜 doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

A chronogram of the ant tribe Myrmicini, showing the disparity of divergence dates between alternate placements of the fossil species †Manica andrannae

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Evelyndroid's Aperture Science and Bugge-Finding 🏳️‍⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

A creature which would like to be perceived as a Crematogaster ant, complete with "thorax" spines (it longhorn beetle).

Black and red ant-like beetle with long sweeping antennae

Shot of the creature's elytra from the side, showing two fin-like spines where an ant's thorax would be

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

The Monks Wood Wilderness is now in its 64th year of natural colonisation, eg. natural woodland creation. In 1961 this was a 4 ha barley field next to a larger wood, left to see what happened. No management, no planting. The wood expanded by itself, with the help of birds dispersing seeds.

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Dr Will Leo Hawkes @willleohawkes.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

It's published! The largest research work I've ever undertaken: Lords of the flies: dipteran migrants are diverse, abundant & ecologically important Published in Biological Reviews: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... Thanks so much to co-authors @koralwotton.bsky.social & Myles Menz 1/x

Screenshot from the cover page of the paper

A map of the world showing fly migration study locations and estimated routes

A close up photo of Eristalinus taeniops the stripey eyed hoverfly on a yellow flower in Cyprus

A close up photo of the locust blowfly Stomorhina lunata on a rock. My favourite fly

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Michael Caterino @mcaterino.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Going through accessions at QCAZ/Católica, and this crazy fly caught my eye! What the hell, fly-people?!

A pinned specimen of an unidentified Ecuadorian fly with patterned wings, brown/golden body, and its signature feature, a curved ovipositor? (I think) that's twice as long as the body!

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NHM Library and Archives @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Our followers may be aware of the recent passing of Richard Fortey, a great palaeontologist and user of the Museum’s Library and Archives. A brilliant science communicator with a penchant for fungi and fungus gnats, his Dry Store Room No.1 was a classic. To us and many others, Richard was too.

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Carrion Beetle Recording Scheme @carrionbeetlesuk.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Hey BlueSky 👋 Please excuse the lateness, but we have arrived! We’re here to promote the recording of #CarrionBeetles in the UK and help with any of your ID queries. Please join the #CarrionClub and help us spread the word! 💀 🪲

A montage of images, including carrion beetles, attendees at an ID workshop and a close up of the ID keys.

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Théotime Colin @theotimecolin.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

We don't know much about these odd-looking Zasphinctus ants, except they seem to raid other ant nests, steal their larvae and eat them... Their narrow elongated bodies probably help them enter small galleries. #ants #myrmecology non #armyants #fourmis #science

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Matt Hamer @entohamer.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Large-tailed Nightjar fast asleep in the carpark to Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre of all places

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Matt Hamer @entohamer.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Three and a half weeks collecting ants in Borneo rainforests for my PhD is now complete ✅️

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