Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Want to join our team and work on cave invertebrate biodiversity?? We have a fully funded scholarship for a PhD student at Adelaide University. Open to domestic or international applicants. Enquiries: jess.marsh@adelaide.edu.au More info below... 117
Reposted by Jess MarshGwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 19/06/2026Your periodic, sad reminder that some of the most trafficked live animals are arthropods. Based on the size and location, these were probably emperor scorpions, considered endangered and regulated by CITES www.citizen.co.za/news/south-a...citizen.co.zaCape Town Airport sting: Man nabbed with 150 venomous scorpions hidden in luggage | The CitizenPolice said the scorpions were found concealed between items of clothing. 0143
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Introducing the world's only known cave-adapted spider wasp... Troglopompilus miracaecatus (Pompilidae) from the caves of the Nullarbor, Australia. A world first: Eyeless, long limbs and antennae, highly reduced wings. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #cave #wasp #biodiversity 113436
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 30/06/2025Hugely excited for our work on the Nullarbor Caves to be featured on the ever excellent First Dog on the Moon. Oh yeah... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comDid you know that there are huge caves full of weirdy bugs and ancient life right under the Nullarbor desert? | First Dog on the MoonWe simply don’t know even a fraction of what is in them 0198
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 08/05/2025Just back from surveys of #caves of the Nullarbor, Western Australia, land of the Mirning People. 🖤 amazing caves 🕷️ amazing cave #invertebrates ✨ hugely exciting finds The best start to my ARC Industry Fellowship. 👀 Watch. This. Space 👀 #biodiversity #conservation #ozinverts 📸 Dr Steve Milner 3230
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 04/05/2025A brief peak at my home for the last three weeks. Surveying cave-adapted invertebrates of the beautiful and rugged caves of the Nullarbor plain, Western Australia. Some REALLY exciting finds. Stand by for updates #caves #invertebrates #troglobites #spiders #biodiversity 0101
Reposted by Jess MarshEvelyndroid's Aperture Science and Bugge-Finding 🏳️⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · 03/04/2025Sand grains as big as her head ❤️ 315823
Reposted by Jess MarshEvelyndroid's Aperture Science and Bugge-Finding 🏳️⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · 15/03/2025It's officially spring up here because there are tiny Metaphycus nugget wasps in the savannah grasses again and I am happy 🥹 #EmotionalSupportWasps 1031748
Reposted by Jess MarshThe Guardian @theguardian.com · 20/02/2025Worm-like creature with ‘dark secret’ wins New Zealand bug of the yeartheguardian.comWorm-like creature with ‘dark secret’ wins New Zealand bug of the yearVelvet worms have rows of pudgy legs, skin speckled like a galaxy and dissolve their prey with sticky goo An ancient gummy-looking worm-like creature with a vicious hunting method that involves projecting sticky goo from its head has been crowned New… 1426054
Reposted by Jess MarshRebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 12/02/2025Scientists first collected a pig butt worm from the dark ocean depths near Monterey, California. The size of marbles, pigbutts are a near complete mystery. Officially described in 2007, scientists aren’t even sure if the pigbutt form is an adult, or just a very very awkward adolescent stage. 371147315
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 13/02/2025 Invertebrate species of the year, for the WHOLE world 🌍 … I know which species I’d choose. It has the name, it has the looks, it has the on-the-brink-of-extinction need for awareness… (Come on little #kangarooIslandAssassinSpider 🕷️💪)theguardian.comNominate your invertebrate species of the yearWe’re asking readers from around the world to nominate their favourite spineless species for our second Invertebrate of the Year competition 091
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 10/02/2025This is another very cool invertebrate #biodiversity #insects 0192
Reposted by Jess MarshEvelyndroid's Aperture Science and Bugge-Finding 🏳️⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · 10/02/2025Anthony Davis spood (Mr Angry UniBrow) 617519
Reposted by Jess MarshFrank Ashwood @frankashwood.bsky.social · 10/02/2025🚨BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!🚨 I know everything is a lot right now, but this is the LAST WEEK of Bug of the Year, and team velvet worm are hot on our heels! Please VOTE NOW to make Giant Springtails victorious! bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... IF WE WIN, I WILL GET A GIANT SPRINGTAIL TATTOO!! 810824
Reposted by Jess MarshMarshal Hedin @mhedin.bsky.social · 07/02/2025welcome to the world new spider genus Siskiyu. you've been lurking in the dark, magical woods of far northern California for millenia. Now the humans have finally gotten around to telling your story, at least in part this research was funded by the NSF OA here zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1402... 315829
Reposted by Jess MarshTom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 30/01/2025One more for the Year of the Snake, plus #TBT. It's one of my favorite photos I've ever taken, from ten years ago in Borneo, a gorgeous little snake called an eight-striped kukri (Oligodon octolineatus). I have a large print of it on my home office wall and it makes me happy to see every day. 🐙 📷 🐍 2348378
Reposted by Jess MarshTom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 05/02/2025One more from my Borneo archives, because frankly, living in the past seems like a good idea right now. See the grasshopper? Look for the "holes" in the leaf - they're actually solid but transparent exoskeleton. I've shared this before elsewhere, but I don't think here. Even if, worth a re-post. 🐙🌿📷 2422545
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 02/02/2025The Grampians National Park is an important area for biodiversity. And it is burning. Many species have been impacted, but some species have had their whole know range burnt. The Grampians Assassin Spider, Zephyrarchaea grayi is one of these. Extinct? Possibly. #biodiversity #arachnids #fire 1104
Reposted by Jess MarshDanae Wolfe | Chasing Bugs @chasingbugs.com · 31/01/2025When you’re willing to move slowly through the world, you’ll find amazing things. I call this Birth of an Assassin. #bugsky 1522838
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 31/01/2025Unknown to me, a school student chose to write a poem on one of the species that I have fought to conserve. Convincing people that spiders are worthy of conservation often feels an uphill battle. This feels a little bit like a win 🥹💙 #australia #arachnids #biodiversity #poetryredroompoetry.orgKangaroo Island Assassin SpiderAustralian poems by Australian poets are at the heart of Red Room Poetry an organisation devoted to creating, publishing and promoting the reading and writing of great new work. 35210
Reposted by Jess MarshDanae Wolfe | Chasing Bugs @chasingbugs.com · 28/01/2025Little bug. Big munch. 513813
Reposted by Jess MarshShahan Derkarabetian @sderkarabetian.bsky.social · 02/03/2024Opilioacarida! Mites that kind of look like Opiliones (hence the name). Found all over tropical and subtropical habitats worldwide, poorly studied. These were the first I've ever seen alive! From south of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. This is Neocarus bajacalifornicus. 0142
Reposted by Jess MarshFrank Ashwood @frankashwood.bsky.social · 01/01/2025Do you need a New Year’s resolution that’s quick, free, easy to achieve and makes a difference? Then I’ve got one for you! Vote for Holacanthella in the Bug of the Year contest! You can vote from anywhere in the world, just follow this link! 🧪 #Invertebrate bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... 815022
Reposted by Jess MarshRobby Deans @hydaticus.bsky.social · 27/12/2024Prokoenenia wheeleri, a micro-whipscorpion in the rarely seen arachnid order Palpigradi. Travis County, Texas #nature #photography #arachnids #invertebrates 813621
Reposted by Jess MarshIan Smith @ecologian.bsky.social · 17/11/2024Seems we have enough Australian Entomology / other insect people to start a starter pack. Who have I missed? go.bsky.app/8d9RtMC 3169
Reposted by Jess MarshDaniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 15/01/2025@NatGeo just published an article about mound-building Formica wood ants, featuring a series of spectacular photographs by Ingo Arndt: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti... Here is Ingo’s winning wood ant photo from @NHM_WPY last year: 429952
Reposted by Jess MarshFrank Ashwood @frankashwood.bsky.social · 15/01/2025He's right, you know. Let's make Giant Springtails NZ's bug of the year, it only takes a moment to vote: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... #Invertebrate #TeamGiantSpringtail 🧪 5375
Reposted by Jess MarshJen Cross @jencross.bsky.social · 15/01/2025Hey all, I made a Bug Friends starter pack a while ago and have added a few accounts since then. If you enjoy insects, spiders, and other arthropods then this is a nice list for you. go.bsky.app/DCu5DxX 58452101
Reposted by Jess MarshDax Kellie @daxkellie.bsky.social · 15/01/2025The galah package 📦 lets you use R to download images from Living Atlases around the world! 1. Choose an atlas with `galah_config(atlas = )` galah.ala.org.au/R/articles/q... 2. Download images with `collect_media()` galah.ala.org.au/R/articles/d... #rstats 🌏🐦🦋🐛🌱 (cc @rowdynerd.bsky.social) 26317
Reposted by Jess MarshPerry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 12/01/2025📣 New preprint! We reconstructed the cave cricket family tree and found the Australian biota have not 1, but >5 independent evolutionary origins. 🇦🇺 is at the centre of a radiation in the S. Hemisphere that began in the Lower Cretaceous ~119 million years ago. 1/ #bugsky Paper: tinyurl.com/bddev8kn 46520
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 15/01/2025Now, I totally don't have favourites...but if I did this species would come close. Feared extinct after fire burnt all of its known range in 2019. Finding this girl during post-fire surveys in an unburnt area of vegetation was like magic. Kangaroo Island Assassin Spider, Zephyrarchaea austini 🌏🧪 315423
Reposted by Jess MarshUnion of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 10/01/2025While deaths and destruction are mounting and thousands flee inferno in LA's devastation, the President-Elect has used the catastrophe to spread misinformation, offer false solutions, and disrespect the suffering of people and the hard work of first responders. Here are 6 facts you should know:blog.ucsusa.orgSix Facts About Water and Wildfire in the WestWhile deaths and destruction are mounting and tens of thousands flee a devastating inferno in Los Angeles, the President-Elect has used the catastrophic wildfires to spread misinformation, offer false... 1221097
Reposted by Jess MarshGeorge Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 10/01/2025We don’t have to choose this fate. But I fear we will. 382138383056
Reposted by Jess MarshDezene Huber 🍁 🌻 @dezene.me · 09/01/2025“From what I’m seeing, you are not really de-extincting anything. You are creating something else.” (Dr. Clare Palmer, Texas A&M) Efforts focus on vertebrates, which are ecosystems to many other creatures. Many of those creatures went extinct with their ecosystem. 🧪 🌎 e360.yale.edu/features/de-...e360.yale.eduDespite Biotech Efforts to Revive Species, Extinction Is Still ForeverIn the last decade, laboratory initiatives to recreate long-extinct species have stirred controversy. Now, scientists increasingly agree "de-extinction" is not possible, but breeding living animals wi... 45616
Reposted by Jess MarshRebekah Jones @georebekah.bsky.social · 08/01/2025ABC, NBC & CBS dedicated about 16 minutes of airtime last night to the California wildfires without once mentioning climate change. Since the news failed do it's job, here's a short summary of the role of climate change and wildfire risk: www.noaa.gov/noaa-wildfir...noaa.govWildfire climate connectionClimate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last ... 12193967714704
Reposted by Jess MarshGlobal Center for Species Survival @protectspecies.bsky.social · 07/01/2025Did you know we're hiring? We're looking for conservation biologists with expertise in plants and fungi. To apply for the Plant Conservation Coordinator job, click here: bit.ly/PlantCoordin... 🌱 To apply for the Fungus Conservation Coordinator job, click here: bit.ly/FungusCoordi... 🍄 0138
Reposted by Jess MarshAndy Murray @mesofauna.bsky.social · 04/01/2025So, it’s about time everyone got behind the bug of the year 2025 contest as Holacanthella is nominated as one of the ‘bugs’ and to see a springtail winning would be beyond awesome. So please please please follow this link for more info… www.frankashwood.com/boty2025 2417
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 02/01/2025The absolute cuteness of Collembola. Fascinating little important things. Brilliantly photographed. 🌏 1101
Reposted by Jess MarshCorey Bradshaw @conservbytes.bsky.social · 21/12/2024Just throwing this old poem I wrote out to @bsky.app My Daughter's Earth Warning: uses repeated profanity to convey a sense of futility and exasperation 🌏🖋️🧪 061
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 30/12/2024With our recent estimations of an exceptionally high extinction rate for Australia’s invertebrates since European arrival (>9,000 species, with 1-3 species lost per week), the evidence for a mass extinction event is only strengthened 🌍🧪 172
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 29/12/2024Quote with a favourite cover I saw her play this live 20 or so years ago, and I can still feel the ghost of the shivers that ran down my spine. m.youtube.com/watch?v=1nnh...m.youtube.comTori Amos Enjoy the SilenceYouTube video by herein myhead 010
Reposted by Jess MarshWayne Maddison @waynemaddison.bsky.social · 28/12/2024Species concepts in conservation biology — some thoughts derived from our 2023 paper advocating a retrospective reproductive community concept. waynemaddison.wordpress.com/2024/12/28/s... #conservationbiology #evolbio #philbio #philsci #hpbio #SpeciesSaturday @jeannettewhitton.bsky.socialwaynemaddison.wordpress.comSpecies concepts in conservation biologyWhen Jeannette Whitton and I were writing our 2023 paper on species1, we were acutely aware that, for species concepts, the “rubber hits the road” in conservation biology. What concept … 25213
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 28/12/2024Early morning reflections. Quiet, broken only by the cry of a lone bird, protesting my presence. The smell of salt water and seaweed. 0183
Reposted by Jess MarshAndrew Warren @andybugguy.bsky.social · 20/12/2024Check out those spiracles and tracheae! Brazilian Skipper caterpillar here to show us how insects breathe... Alachua County, Florida, USA 213027
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 19/12/2024Wanna learn more about earthworms? (we all know the answer is YES). Then have a look here. All the wormy goodness. 082
Jess Marsh @jessmarsh.bsky.social · 19/12/2024Always a pleasure to speak about #invertebrate #conservation and raise awareness of the importance of these animals, the threats they are facing and what we can all do to help (even with my croaky post-Covid voice 🐸🐸) 🐝🐌🐞🪱🦋🕸️🪲🪰🪳🦟 071
Reposted by Jess MarshAlex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 18/12/2024I was happier to see this giant Narceus millipede in hill country yesterday than it was to see me. It curled into this defensive spiral and just sat there. Made a nice photo, though. With bonus mites, if you look closely. 2355094