Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAlex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 22/12/2025Finally got some photos of Australia’s “blue ant”, Diamma bicolor, which is not an ant at all but a shockingly large metallic blue thynnid wasp, wingless and solitary, that hunts mole crickets. Been meaning to shoot this thing for years. 22569119
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAdrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 22/12/2025New 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/9osTBzQ0zbkyoutu.beSpring-Loaded Claws on a Wasp – Parasitoid Pincer WaspsYouTube video by Ant Lab 38638
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerCIÊNCIAS ULisboa @cienciasulisboa.bsky.social · 28/06/2025Uma “nuvem” de agúdias “invadiu” a Feira do Livro de Lisboa. Estes insetos saem com o objetivo de se reproduzirem com insetos de diferentes ninhos e são inofensivos. “As formigas em si não fazem absolutamente nada", esclarece Roberto Keller, investigador de Ciências. 🔗https://t.ly/APRwR 001
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerCETAF - Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org · 23/06/2025One of the strong points of #TETTRIsEU is the Cascade-grant mechanism. We managed to give 1.8 million € to 12 amazing Satellites projects that are now producing great results and pushing the reach of the project to new limits. Enjoy L.U.C.E. and the italian #fireflies 👏 #taxonomy 011
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerTatiana Moreira-Pinhal @moreirapinhaltc.bsky.social · 04/06/2025I have been worried on the field, and it is not just in Portugal. It has been decreasing immensely since 2013. I have never seen such low numbers as I have last month's field work. Nor such low numbers of species. :/ Everyone is saying the same. Especially whoever goes to the southern areas. 022
Roberto A. Keller @rkellerp.bsky.social · 21/05/2025(re)Follow Tatiana for everything bug related, especially butterflies, and more! 030
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerTatiana Moreira-Pinhal @moreirapinhaltc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025Oh hi! :D My old account was hacked, so I kinda am rediscovering BlueSky and also wanted to share this awesome new account about the work @rkellerp.bsky.social has been doing at our National Natural History and Science Museum (Lisbon, PT), so follow us & have fun! www.instagram.com/p/DI541lts8n6 021
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerLed By Donkeys @ledbydonkeys.org · 07/05/2025TANK vs TESLA "We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again" - WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank 22505585020036
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerTETTRIX @tettrix.eu · 07/05/2025🌍 #TETTRIsEU Taxonomy Recognition Day – May 23! 🌿 Let’s celebrate the vital role of #taxonomy in protecting #biodiversity on Earth! 📸 Snap a photo of your favourite animal, plant, or mineral 🔤 Identify it with its taxonomic name (we’re happy to help!) 📱 Share it on social media using #NameItToSaveIt 0158
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerTETTRIX @tettrix.eu · 05/05/2025#TETTRIsEU Satellite ARCADE is getting famous in Portugal! 🇵🇹 Muitos Parabems! wilder.pt/naturalistas... 061
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAlex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 19/04/2025Smugglers busted trying to take thousands of queen ants out of Kenya, destined for the exotic pet trade.edition.cnn.comBelgian teens arrested with 5,000 smuggled ants as Kenya warns of changing trafficking trends | CNNTwo Belgian teenagers were charged Tuesday with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking sma... 87719
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerDiscover Magazine @discovermag.bsky.social · 18/04/2025Learn about the extinct species of "dirt ant" that was found in 16-million-year-old Dominican amber, adding an important piece to an evolutionary puzzle.buff.lyAncient Amber Has Kept a Dirt Ant Frozen in Time For 16 Million YearsLearn about the extinct species of "dirt ant" that was found in 16-million-year-old Dominican amber, adding an important piece to an evolutionary puzzle. 2158
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerPensoft @pensoft.net · 15/04/2025⌛️ Deadline for the “ #Collections Reaching Out” collection at @nhcm.pensoft.net is approaching ❕ Inspired by the 2024 @entcollnet.bsky.social meeting, the collection invites anyone looking into the design & use of #entomological outreach drawers as educational tools. @entiminae.bsky.social ℹ️nhcm.pensoft.netCall for papers: Entomological collections in public education & outreach activitiesInitiated by the symposium “Collections Reaching Out”, held as part of the 2024 annual meeting of the Entomological Collections Network (ECN) in Phoenix, Arizona, a new topical collection ... 034
Roberto A. Keller @rkellerp.bsky.social · 14/04/2025Taxonomy fail: yes, Diacamma ants (pictured) occur in Asia's tropical regions, but they are not related to Colobopsis exploding ants, apart of also happening to be ants. #taxonomyFailforbes.comSoutheast Asia’s Exploding Ant Dies So Its Colony Can Live — A Biologist ExplainsMeet the exploding ant, a tiny warrior hidden deep in the forests of Borneo. Their astonishing act of self-destruction unleashes a toxic blast, stopping predators in their tracks and redefining the tr... 072
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerKevin Keegan @mothpotato.bsky.social · 14/04/2025Any entomologists know what these eggs? are that I found in soil in Pittsburgh? 456
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAuke-Florian 🪹 @aukeflorian.nl · 09/04/2025NEW 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 361576744
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerZooKeys @zookeys.pensoft.net · 05/03/2025🐜 An updated taxonomic revision of the ant genus Zasphinctus for the Afrotropical region based on the worker caste, with five newly described species: doi.org/10.3897/zook... #newspecies #taxonomy #ants #entomology 0123
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerCETAF - Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org · 03/03/2025Our Executive Director Ana Casino in this interview in Spanish 🇪🇦, given at @mncn-csic.bsky.social: "The strong voice of scientists is crucial" #taxonomy4science #taxonomy #policymaking #worldwildlifeday #wildlife 053
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerGBIF @gbif.org · 01/03/2025Are you hardcore into #DarwinCore? 😎 The Darwin Core Maintenance Group are seeking public review for the accumulated set of proposed changes to Darwin Core. 👀 🐸 Interested in contributing? The review period will be open for at least 30 days. 🔗www.tdwg.org/news/20... 1154
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerCETAF - Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org · 18/02/2025#CETAF signed this letter to ask for a serious commitment to preserving #nature and insist on environmental-friendly regulations. Any step back would be critical for the planet! Read the new version of the letter here 👇 👓 zenodo.org/records/1486... #taxonomy4nature 052
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerTETTRIX @tettrix.eu · 17/02/2025#TETTRIs #PolicyBrief 📝 #Biological nomenclature is a cornerstone of #biodiversity #research, conservation and #taxonomy. #Policymakers, funding agencies, museums and international standards organisations should provide the necessary investment and support to secure its future. shorturl.at/H7zBD 141
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerArmando Rosario-Lebrón @rosariolebronentomology.com · 12/02/2025As I see my colleagues at risk of job loss in the US government, I have been on the phone with people in tears over many concerns I won’t get into on this platform. I am doing my best for them behind the scenes. However, I will recall a passage from William M. Wheeler in 1970. #science #entomology 0439
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerGil Wizen @wizentrop.bsky.social · 13/02/2025Snap! Trap-jaw ant (Orectognathus mjobergi) from Australia just caught herself a large collembolan prey. What's interesting here is that the ant has to carry it high up in the air to prevent it from being dragged on the ground and potentially picking up mites, fungi etc'. 59614
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAIM @aim-mirmecologia.bsky.social · 31/01/2025🐜 Hormigas al descubierto: La nueva taxonomía de las #hormigas Zasphinctus en la región Afrotropical 172
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAlex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 24/01/2025Australia has the shiniest ants. This is a worker of Rhytidoponera aspersa carrying eggs among her colony's nest sites. 722838
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerRudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 23/01/2025Episode 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... 34020
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerDr Fevziye Hasan @fevziye.bsky.social · 21/01/2025Increasing Disconnection of Primary Biodiversity Data from Specimens: How Does It Happen and How to Handle It? academic.oup.com/sysbio/artic...academic.oup.comThe Increasing Disconnection of Primary Biodiversity Data from Specimens: How Does It Happen and How to Handle It?Abstract. Primary biodiversity data represent the fundamental elements of any study in systematics and evolution. They are, however, no longer gathered as 02112
Roberto A. Keller @rkellerp.bsky.social · 20/01/2025Brighten up #BlueMonday with this gorgeous Anthaxia dimidiata! #BlueBugs From the collection of the Nacional Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon. 0252
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAsh Whiffin @ashwhiffin.bsky.social · 16/01/2025Next Monday, help me transform #BlueMonday into a celebration of BLUE INSECTS! Join in by sharing your photos or artwork along with the hashtag #BlueBugs 🦋🪲🔬🧪 This weevil was my 2024 offering… 513622
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAinsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 15/01/2025pulling up the original "Species-scape" by Quentin Wheeler and Frances Fawcett, showing different groups of organisms at a size proportional to their species richness. Of COURSE all insects are represented by a monstrous Agathidium 614144
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerPhil Barden @haidomyrmex.bsky.social · 15/01/2025Ant folks, is antweb down? Does anyone know why? Can we help? 102
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerThéotime Colin @theotimecolin.bsky.social · 15/01/2025Epopostruma wardi, one of my favorite ant species because of the unusual triangular shape of their head. We don't know too much yet about their biology. #ants #fourmis #myrmecology #insects #bugs #nature #macro 0386
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerThe Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 14/01/2025In 1897, Alfred G. Mayer created his butterfly wing projections, an attempt to gain new insights into natural patterns and laws. Vertical blocks denote individual wings, distorted and stretched mathematically to fill a tidy rectangular space. More here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/m... 314240
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerNatural History Collections and Museomics @nhcm.pensoft.net · 14/01/2025📢 Initiated at the last @entcollnet.bsky.social annual meeting, this topical collection welcomes contributions about #specimens curated for #public #education & awareness. ⌛️ 31 March 2025 👌 No #APCs 🤗 Open to anyone, including non-members! #entomology #ento #scicomm #scholcomm #openaccessnhcm.pensoft.netCall for papers: Entomological collections in public education & outreach activitiesInitiated by the symposium “Collections Reaching Out”, held as part of the 2024 annual meeting of the Entomological Collections Network (ECN) in Phoenix, Arizona, a new topical collection ... 12321
Roberto A. Keller @rkellerp.bsky.social · 07/01/2025If you are one of those interesting people who like sausage-like ants, you are in for a treat: we just published in @zookeys.pensoft.net a taxonomic update for Afrotropical Zasphinctus describing 5 new species! You read that right FIVE! Happy 2025 for you as well zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1312... 13011
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerDaniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 06/01/2025Today in @currentbiology.bsky.social: a Quick Guide to the wondrous and fascinating biology of the clonal raider ant: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kOXg3QW8S... 16319
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerIsa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 30/12/2024*Be my new work supervisor!* Arizona State University is hiring a new Director of the ASU Biocollections with a concurrent appointment as a tenured associate or full professor. *I'd really love for this person to be an entomologist so ento friends, please share!* apply.interfolio.com/159166 110179
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerBrent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 23/12/202415 years old, but still completely relevent — and if we had acted 15 years ago, the “better world” we could be creating today would be a LOT better and easier to reach. There are real consequences we’re just starting to see to not heeding this cartoon a lot sooner. Heed it now. #ClimateCrisis 562913683
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerNatural History Collections and Museomics @nhcm.pensoft.net · 19/12/2024🤩 At the #Collections Club community #scientists initiative at the #FieldMuseum, volunteers have processed over 300,000 #scientific #specimens, records & objects to make valuable #data accessible to #researchers worldwide. 👏 More about the latest paper in our #journal via the @pensoft.net blog 👇blog.pensoft.netCommunity scientists digitized over a quarter-million items and records at the Field MuseumVolunteers and members of the “Collections Club” of the Field Museum provide a blueprint for how community scientists can help researchers around the world. 094
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerJosh Gibson, Ph.D. @drstrangeant.bsky.social · 16/12/2024MicroCT scan of a wheel bug (Arilus cristatus). 0267
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAsh Whiffin @ashwhiffin.bsky.social · 14/12/2024You may find it disturbing but it is unfortunately still necessary. Identification of insects is usually far more complex than with most mammals, birds & reptiles, often requiring dissection to accurately get to species. You can’t even begin to protect something if you don’t know what it is. … 2292
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerShloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 13/12/2024I’ve found a ton of Instagram insect sellers who slap “sustainably sourced”, but never seem to elaborate what they mean by “sustainable”. Curious! So I checked their pages to see what I can find. This one didn’t even try to hide it. You can see labels stating origin country and collection date. 1/9 717484
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerAinsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 12/12/2024That's interesting, I just tried the same search (screenshotted in my previous thread) to see if google is still prioritizing AI slop for certain taxon names. It looks like they've fixed Chrysina: 57111
Roberto A. Keller @rkellerp.bsky.social · 11/12/2024There isn't a week in which the Lisbon's tram that passes in front of my place of work is blocked by a car that is too fat for the parking spaces, delaying public transport and traffic in general There's no place for SUVs in European cities. 050
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerPriyantha Wijesinghe @elaphrornis.bsky.social · 08/12/20243/n qwheeler.substack.com/p/much-ado-a...qwheeler.substack.comMuch ado about very littleMolecular-based taxonomy is useful, but not very informative 025
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerNatural History Collections and Museomics @nhcm.pensoft.net · 06/12/2024This collection description highlights the zoological specimens from Portuguese oceanographic campaigns in former colonial territories, currently deposited in the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa. doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...doi.orgThe zoological collections of Portuguese oceanographic campaigns in former colonial territoriesThe Missão de Biologia Marítima (Lisboa, Portugal) and its successor institutions, were responsible for conducting oceanographic campaigns in former Portuguese colonies during the decades of 1950–1960... 092
Reposted by Roberto A. KellerZooKeys @zookeys.pensoft.net · 02/12/2024We're ZooKeys, an open-access, peer-reviewed zoology journal published by @pensoft.bsky.social. We're very excited to share our research with you and meet fellow scientists! Submit your manuscript or find out more about us at zookeys.pensoft.net 0126
Roberto A. Keller @rkellerp.bsky.social · 29/11/2024New journal just dropped! Excited to serve as subject editor for this venue promoting collection-based research and the legacy of our museums of natural history! Gives us a follow. 072