iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Auke-Florian 🪹 @aukeflorian.nl · 09/04/2025

NEW PAPER, JUST OUT! 👀 Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯 A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛 Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x

Lead author Auke-Florian Hiemstra holds the oldest known caddisfly casing containing microplastic, dating to 1971. Photo: Liselotte Rambonnet.

A caddisfly casing with pieces of blue microplastic, dating 1986. Photo: Auke-Florian Hiemstra

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

It’s the last few days of Soil at Somerset House! If you haven’t been, you really should. Wonderful exhibition, and thank you to the talented @jopearlceramics.bsky.social for the guided tour. These are her ceramics www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Bees exhibition at World Museum Liverpool is beautiful! Wonderful perspectives on pollination and the lives of bees. Go and see it. After all, bees are furry, vegetarian wasps. I wish it could visit us at NHM London.

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Dom Greves @domgreves.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Here's a longer video showing the full life cycle of the White Admiral butterfly. Filmed over 2 years in Sussex woodland. Guest starring several parasitic wasps! 🎥🦋🐝 @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social @gavinbroad.bsky.social youtu.be/SJjjYmyjzoM

youtu.be

White Admiral Watch: Life Cycle

YouTube video by Dom Greves

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

A cold and breezy trip to lovely Hilbre island. Always good to see Purple Sandpipers. Very obliging of this Shag, to stand next to a Cormorant. @hilbrebirdobs.bsky.social

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Episode 3 (imaging): Don't just sort. Also image, from multiple perspectives! Insect levitation with ultrasound: capturing 360° views to automate measurements and create 3D models. More here: www.techrxiv.org/users/813834...

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BENHS @britentsoc.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

It's tonight! Link to tonight's Brad Ashby lecture is up on the members area of the website benhs.org.uk/members-area/

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James McCulloch @jamesimcc.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Send me records: I am excited to be taking on the role of national springtail recorder. I have huge shoes to fill, but I hope to continue the progress Peter Shaw made in understanding the taxonomy and biology of the UK's #springtails. www.brc.ac.uk/scheme/colle...

Orchesella flavescens, one of the UK's largest springtails. It's an elongate springtail, with long antennae, often with a differing number of segments on each antenna (but with a maximum of six). It can be identified by the pattern consisting of parallel longitudinal dark lines running the length of the abdomen, contrasting against a paler ground colour. This is a relatively scarce woodland species.

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Sam England @samjakeengland.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

I'm very excited to give this talk in January! It's free to attend via zoom if you're interested! :)

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BENHS @britentsoc.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Join us for our Annual Virtual Meeting Saturday 15th of February 2-4pm to discuss society matters and hear 'A beginner's guide to sawflies' by Andrew Halstead (photo credit). We'll be meeting over Zoom, link to be posted on the website Members' Area and emailed to membership.

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

@ionace.bsky.social and I identified and databased 6,600 UK ichneumonoids light-trapped by an amazing crew of moth trappers in 2024. Wonderful dataset. Recent highlights: first Rogas luteus for over 100 years and Enicospilus myricae, haven’t seen since I described it in 2016.

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Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

This is WILD. Cave invertebrates are supposed to be short-range endemics, especially the ones that don’t use water systems for dispersal, ESPECIALLY the ones that don’t fly, and then here’s this one spider in particular

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

If I empty my (slightly out of control) sent emails folder, will future historians curse me? Probably not.

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Wildlife and Countryside Link @wclnews.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

The Prime Minister was wrong to blame nature protection & regulators for stopping development🏡 Leading nature groups have written to Keir Starmer calling for an urgent meeting to discuss how nature & sustainable development can go hand-in-hand👇 wcl.org.uk/docs/2024/le... 📷Cassie Crocker

Image of wildflowers growing with houses in the background

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Join us! Should be a great talk on January 23rd

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Coming very soon in #BirdStudy, a special issue on HPAI: highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) in wild birds. Some papers already published (among other early view articles): www.tandfonline.com/action/showA... #ornithology #seabirds #conservation

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

A lot of Darwin Tree of Life barcodes and a lot of genomes (1500). Which means a lot of cake.

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Seirian Sumner @waspwoman.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

It’s #WaspDay at NHM London today! Can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday! With some lovely waspy people! @gavinbroad.bsky.social @cintiaoi.bsky.social @ionace.bsky.social @femi-benny.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social #WaspLove

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Josh Luke Davis 🏳️‍🌈 @joshlukedavis.com · 25/11/2024

I've updated this starter pack for all interested! Now bursting with over 100 natural history museum related accounts 🎉🌱🦆🙌 go.bsky.app/NtdUnyF

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Always nice to photograph mutillids for enquiries. The South African Smicromyrme praedatrix.

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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Our first firetail (Yoyetta ignita) for the season! Currently chirping on our window screen. This species was only named recently, here's a little story about the value of recording biodiversity observations 👇 #wildoz #ozinverts 🌏🧪

A small cicada sitting in the palm of a person's hand, facing away from the camera. It's body is mostly black with a fiery orange abdomen.

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Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

The national recording scheme for Soldierflies, Horseflies, Robberflies, Bee-flies, Snipeflies, Stiletto-flies, Hunchback-flies, Water-snipeflies, Awl-flies, Windowflies and Wood-soldierflies. Info and ID guides at dipterists.org.uk/soldierflies... - please add your records to iRecord!

Collage showing photos on one example from each of the eleven families covered by the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme: Soldierflies (Stratiomyidae)
Horseflies (Tabanidae)
Robberflies (Asilidae)
Snipeflies (Rhagionidae)
Stiletto-flies (Therevidae)
Bee-flies (Bombyliidae)
Water-snipeflies (Athericidae)
Hunchback-flies (Acroceridae)
Windowflies (Scenopinidae)
Wood-soldierflies (Xylomyidae)
Awl-flies (Xylophagidae)

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Vanna Bartlett @vannabartlett.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Little plug for 'Arthropedia: an illustrated alphabet of invertebrates' written & illustrated by yours truly. If you want to learn more about some of the UK's fabulous insects and other invertebrates why not start here. Available from publishers or contact me. www.mascotmedia.co.uk/books/arthro...

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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Any random shape around you might actually be a wasp nest.

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