Reposted by Thomas ShahanAlex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Found a midge this morning, Goeldichironomus carus, that appears to mimic a jumping spider. 1125348 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 11/10/2026A few recent salticid finds for #Arachtober 🎃🕷️ 1 Classic orange face of a Platycryptus undatus male found haunting a picnic table 2 Effective ant-mimic: Synemosyna formica 3 Pale, gold-topped Hentzia mitrata on oak 4 Juvenile Phidippus audax hunting pollinators on frostweed 07410 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026fuji body was out of commission for a bit w/ a stuck on/off switch (from sweat?) - but got it fixed and am gladly back in action shooting leafhoppers in the backyard (got some rain for the first time in too long here in OK) 🌈Graphocephala versuta, Graphocephala coccinea, and Oncometopia orbona! 18813 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026 "✌️"major agricultural pest" Diabrotica undecimpunctata "Spotted Cucumber Beetle" on my Tithonia "Mexican Sunflower"✌️" 1352 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Guyana turtle ant haul: Cephalotes atratus (mango tree) Cephalotes placidus (forest) Cephalotes pusillus (many on a fence beneath a mango tree) Only regret is I didn't find Aphantochilus, a genus of crab spiders that mimics (and predates upon) Cephalotes 2504 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Lovely checkered skipper seen in Guyana - Burnsius orcus Didn't know the genus in the field, but recognized it as one of those "little fancy spread wing skippers" I see back home here in Oklahoma, just a bit more contrasty! 08011 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 08/08/2026...Ectatomma tuberculatum (top) and an alydid bug nymph (bottom) from Guyana. Roughly same size and similar movement/stance from a distance - totally mistook the bug for the ant in the field - should’ve filmed a comparison! 0354 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026The quoted post is kind of like the New World equivalent of this mimicry comparison I put together from Mozambique - showing the Old World equivalent slender ant, Tetraponera (top), and its mimic - Myrmarachne (spider, bottom). 2496 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Incredible mimicry under a mango tree: Pseudomyrmex sp ant (top) and a Synemosyna sp jumping spider (bottom). Both Synemosyna males found on this trip lacked (antennae mimicking!) front legs - yet they were no less ant-like! 0345 0
Reposted by Thomas ShahanAinsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 16/07/2026New map projection just dropped 8629120 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Back from BugShot in the Rupununi savannah of Guyana! Some incredible ant mimics & potential models: 1. Alydid (Broad-headed Bug) -> Ectatomma? 2. Myrmecium sp. (corinnid spider) -> Ectatomma? 3. Synemosyna -> Pseudomyrmex 4. Peckhamia -> Crematogaster **All IDs tentative - corrections welcome!** 1458 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Thanks Wayne - was hoping you'd see it! Dorsal views and more here: www.inaturalist.org/observations... 050 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 09/07/2026! :) Love the sketchy lines getting the setae on the elytra! 110 0
Reposted by Thomas ShahanBlue Appaloosa @blueappaloosa.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Sketch of a firefly, ready for take-off. Referenced from the quoted photo by Thomas Shahan. I think I need to simplify my shading when I draw bugs. There's too much going on, and stuff gets lost. #SciArt #Invertebrates #BugSky 66111 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Photuris sp firefly (beetle in the family Lampyridae) with elytra popped - about to take flight 🪲 1454 0
Reposted by Thomas Shahanmilla🧷 @villakala.bsky.social · 04/07/2026Daily doodle 169, stag beetle based on @tshahan.bsky.social 's photo #dailydrawing #dailydoodle #sketchbook #sciart 27011 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 26/06/2026in non-salticid news, I found this beautiful stag beetle *just* as I was overheating and getting fed up w/ mosquitoes while hunting today 🙏 414421 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Re-visited a limestone gravel path yesterday after a rainy night and got lucky with harmochirine portraits 🕷️ 1 Sooty-faced adult male Habronattus borealis 2 Adult male Pellenattus(?) - first time seeing this guy! 3 Immature male w/ red face 4 Uniformly pale green-eyed female 413926 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 14/06/2026"tufted" dark morph of the dimorphic jumping spider Maevia inclemens 🤩 Excited to get a portrait (on a light bg highlighting his mohawk) as it's been a while since I've shot a dark morph - I usually only run into the colorful "light" morphs Still hoping to film their courtship display(s) someday 3819 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Clockwise from top left: Nectopsyche sp. - White Miller Caddisfly Petrophila jaliscalis - Jalisco Petrophila Cyllopsis gemma - Eastern Gemmed-Satyr Cerastipsocus trifasciatus - Barklouse maybe the depicted salticid is at a low anterior angle: how real jumpers may encounter another face-to-face? 38316 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/06/2026overlaying jumping spiders on insects at 50% opacity... clockwise from top left: salticid/caddisfly salticid/moth salticid/butterfly salticid/barklouse 1386 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 29/05/2026I went back to some old whale watching photos to upload them to iNat and found myself wishing I had used a faster shutter speed 🫡 010 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 28/05/2026first two shots are closer shots of the ant above ^ ....second two shots are of another Camponotus I shot in April with a past-attacker's head attached to leg III: 1357 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 28/05/2026Camponotus with another ant's head still clamped to her left antenna. Second time I've seen this with this species (Camponotus pennsylvanicus?) this spring! Wild how the mandibles can still be locked so tightly even after the attacker was decapitated! 59814 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 28/05/2026Thank you! (*just* noticed your ID on iNat!) and no - I don't collect :/ 000 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Not the most colorful Habronattus out there but very handsome in an understated way - Habronattus borealis. One of the more common Habros I'll see around here (NE OK) on rocky shores of creeks and lakes in the summer. 1483 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026some bee diversity for #wordbeeday ! #savethebees 1514525 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 15/05/2026I see Peckhamia a lot and occasionally think "ooh this one looks a little different" but don't ID them to species because they're apparently difficult to tell apart and the genus needs revision love that they're still kind of a mystery🙇 1527 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 15/05/2026low posterior angle passes the "looks like an ant" test too ✅ 0364 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 15/05/2026from the side... bold patches of white setae break up the silhouette + create the illusion of a more tucked waist, additional body segment(s?) - maybe even a more isolated, ant-like head? and a darker color around the rear eyes (~where an ants are) makes them look bigger! lateral angle disguise ✅ 0274 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 15/05/2026bit better anterior angle - focused on the "antennae" - v anty 🐜 squinting eyes (and looking at the image small), taking in just values, u can def see the silhouette of an ant like head capsule too anterior angle disguise ✅ 0414 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 14/05/2026Peckhamia sp ant-mimicking jumping spider showing off their odd second pair of legs - thin and dark - help up and out like the geniculate antennae of an ant Woods, NE Oklahoma, in situ, 5-14-26 07212 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 08/05/2026Thanks for the feedback/suggestions on the spider anatomy design!🙏 Was going to update it today but went on a hike instead - here are some handsome jumpers I found: Hentzia mitrata, Habronattus coecatus, Paraphidippus aurantius, and Habronattus decorus - all in situ w/in about the same 1 acre area! 39515 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026So clean! So readable! 😭 Such nice work! Considered splitting them/removing legs early on - may revisit! 130 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026ooh I've considered that! Like here?: thomas-shahan-shop.fourthwall.com/products/spi...thomas-shahan-shop.fourthwall.comSpider Families Eye Arrangements ShirtA design featuring the eye arrangements of several different spider families 140 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026ooh thanks! good point - I may omit those altogether! 010 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026yeah! Don't like the lines on top of other lines :/ (also they aren't consistent - arrows, dots...) Tried color coding but don't want ppl having to go back and forth to a key... 130 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026...originally designed it being purely black and white, but am unsure if color helps readability... also thinking my usual woodcutty line art may be too busy with all the labels... might need stronger divisions between body parts... #salticidae #jumpingspiders #anatomy 281 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026Salticid anatomy design I've been whittling away at too long - started as an idea for a t-shirt but may be too feature-bloated now... Tear it apart! I need criticism/corrections! What don't you like? What doesn't read well? Anything misleading/mislabeled? Fonts/labels/pointers can all be changed... 1312724 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 24/04/2026grateful for a herp-heavy spring so far! 🙇 1 Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus) 2 Mississippi Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis) 3 Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum) 4 Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis) in situ, NE OK 414113 0
Reposted by Thomas ShahanDr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 22/04/2026Sooo... who's going to #Bugshot Guyana this July? (Or wants to join? I hear there are a few spots left!) 🕷️🪲🪳🦋🐜🐝🐞🪰🦟🐛🦂🪱 I may have just impulse-registered myself* & @ibycter.bsky.social! So exciting!!!!!!!! *strictly as a bug-pointer-outer and enjoyer www.bugshot.net/bugshot-guyanabugshot.netBugShot Guyana — BugShotPhotograph in one of the most biodiverse intense places on Earth! 7 days in the remote jungle with some of the best macro photographers in the world! 2237 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 15/04/2026was photographing a turtle yesterday when a Habronattus decorus male hopped on top the turtle and searched around a bit #salticidae #jumpingspiders #arachnology #herpetology 2657 0
Reposted by Thomas ShahanThomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 07/02/2024!!! initially thought they were an oribatid beetle mite... then freaked out upon taking a few photos - realizing they were BAEUS - a *tiny* (~600µm) parasitic wasp! Lost them after trying to stop lens down for a bit more depth of field! Underneath a log, NE Oklahoma 1531685 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 14/04/2026Baeus! The impossibly cute (and small at ~600µm BL) spider egg parasitoid wasp - found beneath a stone in my backyard, Oklahoma 2565 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 10/04/2026this Synemosyna was LOVING these little yellow flies - even got one while it was mating! two more showed up while I was shooting… 🪰ID help appreciated - I’ve got them at an unconfident “Nematocera” on iNat: www.inaturalist.org/observations... 6465 0
Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 10/04/2026squinting my eyes, blurring my vision, just looking at coarse silhouettes and values... comparing Synemosyna formica's 🕷️ first leg to Camponotus subbarbatus' 🐜antennae... both seen around 1PM 4/9/26 woods NE Oklahoma (unsure of plant ID - maybe young Verbesina?) 56610 0
