iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Joe Lapp

Tylan Berry @tylanberry.bsky.social · 12h

One of the most incredible photos I have ever been sent, courtesy of Chloë James of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Seagrass Restoration Team. Yep, that's Philodromus margaritatus...under seawater using...an air bubble to breathe and move about. I am utterly speechless!! @britishspiders.bsky.social

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mentalfoundry.bsky.social @mentalfoundry.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Some art made by me that features some invertebrates alongside other critters 🐍🐦🐳! Btw I am open for commissions if anyone would want to add one of their favorites to this little collection !! #insect #inveretbrate #snake #Sciart

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

"It is likely that every tomato you eat was pollinated by a bumble bee... [Their anthers] will only release their pollen when they are vibrated at a frequency of around 400 Hertz, and bumble bees do this by grabbing hold of the anthers and vibrating their flight muscles." - McGavin, The Hidden World

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MOTH👑MONARCH 🤖🔪 Robot Knife Fight Recovery Zone @mothmonarch.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

THE SHOP IS BACK OPEN!! Check out my bugdanas, pins, stickers, prints, sketchbook downloads & more! October's around the corner & the perfect time for a spider bandana in black or vibrant purple!! 🕷� 🐛👉 shop.mothmonar.ch 🐝 #sciart #insectart #bugsky

Photo of a black bandana with an assorted spider design printed in white ink. It's folded in half diagonally and resting on a wood and metal bench as a backdrop.

Photo of an enamel pin of a celestial-themed bumblebee. The bee is facing right in a rounded pose with wings sticking out above it. It has a large round eye and sparkles on the body with constellation-like patterns as the wing veins. The antennae and some of the legs are mostly depicted by gold metal. The pin is resting on a blue cloth surface with some round gold accents. Mark at the bottom of the image reads "shop.mothmonar.ch"

Photo of two vinyl stickers of stylized millipedes posed to resemble infinity symbols. Both have metallic color areas for their legs and between their black body segments - the top is rainbow, the bottom is red. They are on a brown-grey background. Text reads "Shop.Mothmonar.ch"

Photo of a lavender sticker sheet with whimsical celestial-themed moths and related accent stickers. Nine moths have moons, stars, and small constellations on their wings with purple, blue, and pink palettes. Their shapes are inspired by real species like the luna moth, comet moth, cecropia moth, sphinx moth, etc. Accent stickers include four-pointed stars, five-pointed stars, a moon, a planet with a ring, and a four-pointed comet as well as a line of moon phases vertically in the middle of the sheet. Some of the stars, moons, and markings have metallic details catching the light here. The top of the sheet reads "Magic Moon Moths" and the bottom has the artist's name, "Moth Monarch".

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Try to fathom this: A tangled brown pelican repeatedly tapped on the *door* of a facility of scientists *equipped* to assist the pelican. www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-stor...

fisheries.noaa.gov

Knocking for Help: A Pelican’s Unlikely Rescue

It is not every day a patient knocks directly on the doctor's door, but for one clever seabird, desperate times called for an unusually precise house call.

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Frank Ashwood @frankashwood.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

If you're into nature writing and/or scientific nonfiction and you haven't yet bought my debut book The World Beneath Our Feet, what are you waiting for? Grab yourself a copy today and come on a safari into the soil with me! Available at your favourite bookseller now! 🪱📚🧪 @hodderbooks.bsky.social

A photograph of my hardcover book ‘The World Beneath Our Feet’ in a plastic cover with a Toppings and Co book sleeve

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samcannonart @samcannonart.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I don't like autumn as much as like Spring. But the colours - the colours I love. I could have posted 30 pictures with the autumnal colours.

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

"An elephant cannot move from an air temperature of 50° C to a much more bearable 30° C by simply walking around to the other side of a leaf." - George McGavin, The Hidden World: How Insects Sustain Life on Earth Today and Will Shape Our Lives Tomorrow (2023)

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Insect "total biomass is at least 10 times that of all humans and our livestock combined. It is hard to imagine a terrestrial or freshwater ecosystem that does not depend on insects. The world isn’t ours at all. We are newcomers on a planet made and maintained by insects." –McGavin, The Hidden World

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marshy @dolomedes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

piglet bug, PIGLET BUG. and they live up to that adorable name, and then some~ #bugsky #cute

a dark brown insect with a thin white stripe along the top

it looks like a weevil but it is a planthopper. the wings are short, leaving the abdomen exposed

the white stripe follows from tip to tip, and has a thin reddish line in the center

SNOOT
Bruchomorpha sp., family Caliscelidae (piglet bugs!!!)

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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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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Monarch caterpillar on milkweed vine. Charlottesville, VA.

Small caterpillar on partially-eaten spade-shaped leaf.

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Monarch caterpillar on milkweed vine. Charlottesville, VA.

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Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This is a deep-sea isopod. Dr. Johanna Weston, a deep-ocean biologist and guest investigator at @whoi.edu, is confident this is Bathyopsurus nybelini, one of her favorite animals. Learn why via the YouTube caption: youtube.com/shorts/DenUj...

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The Onion @theonion.com · 29/07/2026

Teacher Required To Provide Own Salary theonion.com/teacher-required-to-pr…

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

I saw a small green caterpillar ballooning today over a parking lot, though I can't be sure it wasn't a sawfly larva. I didn't know that caterpillars could balloon.

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Reposted by Joe Lapp

Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 19/03/2026

Taxonomist Appreciation Day post I am in freakin' AWE of people doing primary taxonomic work. To do it well, you need deep scholarship to track past naming (and misnaming) efforts. You may need to hunt down specimens only to discover they are damaged, misindentified, or lost. 1/3

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

I just saw a glitch in the matrix. I put a bowl on the kitchen counter and dropped a handful of kibble in from a few inches up. One kibble rebounded up two feet to the height my eyes and landed behind the sink. That kibble had more kinetic energy than the potential energy of its drop would provide.

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KetrinaDrawsALot @ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

#Crabmas is nearly upon us! Reposting "The 12 Days of Crabmas" is my new holiday tradition 🦀🎄 #throwback #12daysofchristmas #crab

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Our market got cancelled tomorrow (😭) so we have a bunch of these left now! They're beautiful! You can learn about animals! So many people in the last 2 weekends have said "Oh we should get this for your mom", and then they get one for the other person's mom. Just sayin' SquidFacts.net

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Every once in a while I have to remove a large Pholcus phalangioides spider from my bathtub before my morning shower, but this morning I have to relocate three!

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Insect hemolymph does not supply the insect with O2. Instead, trachea branch from spiracles to provide O2 to the proximity of every cell. During development, cells deficient in oxygen release the signal protein FGF to draw the forming trachea nearby. (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

A fertilized insect egg doesn't repeatedly divide like a vertebrate egg. Instead, its nucleus duplicates itself thousands of times (6000 in fruit flies). These nuclei migrate to the cell periphery, where the membrane folds around them to form cells. (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

"Some of the early microscopists imagined the entire shape and structure of the human body to be already present in the sperm as a 'homunculus,' a miniature human; after fertilization, the homunculus would simply grow and generate a full-sized person." (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)

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Jennifer Campbell-Smith, PhD 𓄿𓃥𓅃 @jcampbellsmith.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

"I Contain Multitudes" This digitally painted piece honors coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our cities and the wilderness today. The thread gives descriptions of all the extinct organisms shown in this piece (not to scale)

This digitally painted piece honors the survivor spirit of the coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our landscapes today. Below the horizon, carefully chosen ancestors mark pivotal moments in adaptation, each contributing to the form and survivor we see today. Above the horizon, Coyote stands alert at the center, framed by both Denver’s skyline and a mountain backdrop, symbols of their ability to thrive in cities as well as wilderness. Embedded in the ground are the skulls and bones of carnivores whose lineages ended long ago, emphasizing Coyote’s persistence in contrast.

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Reposted by Joe Lapp

Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

And that's how you integrate digital elements into an exhibition. Part of the temporary "China's Dinosaur World" at the Shanghai Natural History Museum, China. Closing this November. Video source: Shanghai Let's Meet

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

The question of how DNA encoded proteins "stimulated great excitement. Here was a cryptogram set up by nature that, after more than 3 billion years of evolution, could finally be solved by one of the products of evolution—human beings." (Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.)

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Reposted by Joe Lapp

taenia @taenia.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Let's appreciate the hermit crabs of Simpson Beach.

A hermit crab crawling across red sand. This one is pale pink with an unornamented white and brown shell that's very weather worn.

A hermit crab crawling across red sand. This one is pink with a spiky black and orange shell.

A hermit crab crawling across red sand. This one is very pale with a white and brown shell that looks like a frilly, oversized tricorn hat.

A hermit crab crawling across red sand. This one is pink with a brown shell with frilly ornamentation.

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

I'm taking notes in Google Docs, and I've been impressed with how it recognizes all the technical jargon of molecular biology.

The mispelling "phospohdiesterase" is underlined in red, and the correct spelling "phosphodiesterase" is recommended instead.

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

DNA nucleotides appear to average a mutation rate ranging from 1 to 3 out of every 10 billion copied. This likely restricts organisms to having at most 30,000 genes that are "essential," placing an upper limit on the complexity of organisms. (Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.)

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

"DNA [is] inherited with such... fidelity that... only about one nucleotide pair in a thousand is randomly changed in the human germ line every million years. Even so, in a population of 10,000... every possible... substitution will have been [tried] on about 20 occasions [every] million years."

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

The human genome “[resembles] your garage/bedroom/refrigerator... little evidence of organization; much accumulated clutter... virtually nothing ever discarded; and the few patently valuable items indiscriminately... scattered throughout.” - unattributed quote in Molec. Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Packaging human DNA in a cell nucleus "is geometrically equivalent to packing 40 km (24 miles) of extremely fine thread into a tennis ball." - Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed. (2022)

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Jakob Jilg @weevil-see.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

I started a blog and my first post is online! The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think! weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...

weevil-see.github.io

Species Identifications: Common Pitfalls

Some thoughts about Identifications. How do we identify properly? How do we avoid mistakes?

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Ken MacLeod @amendlocke.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Are there any authors on here? They might want to take a look at this, and take action by Sunday: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

lieffcabraser.com

Anthropic Authors’ & Publishers’ Rights Class Action – Author Contact Page – Lieff Cabraser

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

This web has been on my car for about 3 weeks now, surviving all my driving, including once for 2 miles at 60 mph. It sometimes catches small flies at slow speeds. The spider stays behind the mirror during the day. I visited at 4am once to try to ID, but I wasn't sure. Maybe a young Neoscona.

An orb web spritzed with water to make it visible, attached at the high end to the outside of the driver's side mirror, at the other end on the door just below the window, and below lower on the door. The spider is not visible because it is a daytime shot.

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

A funnel weaver is making a grand living on the 6th floor of a new, well-sealed office building. Body length ~5mm, its web is about 10" wide, 10" high in the pot of a tall plant. The plant has scale insects producing honeydew, and the fruits people bring for lunch provide a regular supply of flies.

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alicebw4.bsky.social @alicebw4.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

An interesting find today, because a juvenile Xysticus sp. was just hanging out in an Argiope bruennichi web! She tolerated it too as it was moving around a lot and she paid it no heed. At one point it even walked across her. @britishspiders.bsky.social

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Spiders and mites are hard to ID.

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

I just read that the arguments between gradualism in evolution and punctuated equilibria were so heated that biologists bandied about the phrases "evolution by jerks" and "evolution by creeps." 🤣

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Joe Lapp @josephtlapp.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

"The Administration is proposing to modify the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to exclude effects to species’ essential habitats... limiting public comment to just 32 days... [Use the link] to request that the public comment period be extended to 90 days." savetheesa.org

savetheesa.org

Protect Endangered Species Act - Take Action Now | What you can do to help save the Endangered Species Act

Join us in safeguarding the Endangered Species Act. Learn how to take action against regulatory changes threatening vital protections for species at risk. Your voice matters in preserving biodiversity...

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

This study was: -done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime, -funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime -hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes

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Eric R. Eaton @bugeric.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Got my advance copy of my new book, “Bugwatching: The Art, Joy, and Importance of Observing Insects.” You can preorder now from Princeton University Press. Shoutout to @samanthagallagher.bsky.social for the amazing illustrations!

Me, older White man, gray hair and beard with wire frame glasses, smiling, wearing long sleeve gray shirt, and holding my new book. Book is softcover, green, with magnifying glass, titled “Bugwatching: The Art, Joy, and Importance of Observing Insects.” Background is a pegboard screen with a cross stitch sign reading “Bug Eric.”

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