Alex Wild

Entomologist, Natural History Collection Curator, and Photographer based in Austin, Texas.

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alexwild@mastodon-online.mostr.pub

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Last Notes

2026-07-31 19:00:55 UTC

Imagine your species name being a mistake.
This is the Cuban Spiny Ant, Polyrhachis cubaensis. It lives in South Africa, because of a labelling error. Cuba does not have any Polyrhachis ants.
#Ants #Insects #Polyrhachis
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/117/016/129/377/176/889/original/29fb47a9a3ee3fd5.png

2026-07-17 19:04:48 UTC

Acorn ants, Temnothorax curvispinosus, in an old acorn in Illinois.
They need an acorn in a particular stage of decay, usually a year old and already hollowed out. If you're looking for acorn ants, you won't find them in the fresh ones. #ants #insects #temnothorax
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/936/870/777/421/990/original/58b0e7ac44aae1f4.png

2026-06-01 19:10:49 UTC

Ten points if you can figure out what's going on here. (Ecuador) #Nature #Insects #Spiders
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/676/430/148/492/798/original/9be7558558270105.png

2026-05-30 00:54:01 UTC

tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.
https://www.science.org/content/article/white-house-seeks-tighten-political-oversight-grantmaking

2026-05-28 21:16:35 UTC

Ant course is back! This year, in Mexico:
#Ants #Biology
https://www.antcourse.org/

2026-05-20 15:56:44 UTC

Diadasia rinconis is supposedly a cactus bee but this one’s happily lounging in a thistle. Dripping Springs, Texas. #bees #insects #diadasia #worldbeeday
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/607/715/717/523/105/original/714e7ea97a5042e0.png

2026-05-13 18:03:49 UTC

Found these yellow sneaking ants, Cardiocondyla wroughtonii, in one of UT Austin's greenhouses. A worldwide tramp ant, but not one we normally see in central Texas.#Ants #Insects #Cardiocondyla
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/568/578/296/081/551/original/52a76da2178d6b9d.png
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/568/579/207/111/826/original/42cfae03778cf2ad.png

2026-04-24 18:05:20 UTC

Drama in the garden, with a bunch of freeloader flies (yes, that's a thing) taking advantage of a crab spider's kill on the milkweed. #Insects #Spiders #Nature #Milichiidae
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/461/003/780/922/187/original/b5cc4b173ee25c90.png

2026-04-13 00:57:22 UTC

Found some common buckeye caterpillars (Junonia ceonia) on our snake herb this afternoon. #Caterpillars #Nature #JunoniaCoenia #Lepidoptera
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/394/674/346/633/443/original/f53ef11ad938e2d4.png
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/394/674/988/306/641/original/1ee817ae4e5beacb.png

2026-03-22 16:31:13 UTC

The retractable antennae of Mycetophylax fungus-farming ants leave such a distinct scrobe on the head. Photo from a few years ago from Mindo, Ecuador.
This is possibly an undescribed species. Too many ants, not enough taxonomists. #Ants #Insects #Formicidae #Mycetophylax
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/273/778/673/784/424/original/036a31a8b8da7dbc.png

2026-02-02 15:43:30 UTC

Anochetus rugosus, a tough little trap-jaw ant from Borneo. The color makes it look cherry-flavored, but I'd be surprised if this ant even lets you think about it.
#Anochetus #Insects #Ants #TrapJawAnt
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/001/798/408/020/746/original/8add830ad75d0b2b.png

2026-01-29 01:58:25 UTC

A green tree ant stands guard on a leaf nest. Oecophylla smaragdina. These little guys are everywhere in the humid tropics of southeast Asia and Australia and have a lemony flavor. Cairns.
#Ants #AustralianWildlife #Insects #Oecophylla
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/975/906/228/995/342/original/580039c1be6022f4.png

2026-01-24 16:39:41 UTC

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This fight does not follow international borders. It's a global fascist network, they are coordinating with each other, and the resistance to it must also be global and coordinated.

2026-01-24 16:35:13 UTC

Dear Europe,
I know you're having a tremendous time yelling at Americans, and fair enough for that, but get your houses in order because what happened in the United States is being orchestrated in your countries, and it may prevail as long as you let this sort of thing grow.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/24/a-lot-of-fear-the-families-bearing-brunt-of-swedens-immigration-crackdown?CMP=share_btn_url

2026-01-20 16:58:55 UTC

Toltec Potter Wasp, Parazumia tolteca. Texas.
#Hymenoptera #Vespidae #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/928/486/520/115/262/original/79aaf792cc494a0f.png

2026-01-16 02:20:18 UTC

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It's worth noting the tech billionaires are not trying to expand the US empire. They have incubated inside it and are planning to discard the United States like a spent shell once their new network state emerges.
In theory, those hoping to protect Europe from this new threat could find common cause with a number of more traditional American oligarchs, though it might be distasteful, because their interests are also threatened.

2026-01-15 18:49:54 UTC

Why are US fascists fixated on Greenland? It's weirder than you think and only happening because a few nutjobs became billionaires (from April, but still relevant)
https://www.thenerdreich.com/tech-billionaires-want-to-build-a-network-state-in-greenland/

2026-01-15 18:38:30 UTC

I guess I'd also like people to know that the Trump government is getting more awful not because it is growing in strength, but because it is weakening and the rats are grabbing for what they can while they still have the means.
The government is tanking in the polls, things are falling apart in places, and it is clear that the regime will lose Congress by historic margins even with their newly rigged districts.
This is a tremendously dangerous time, the lashings about of a drowning dictator.

2026-01-13 16:03:09 UTC

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the primary division is between rural areas and urban areas. Both sides occur in great numbers across the entire country. The states are all blends of multiple cities sprinkled across a rural expance, and they will not secede in either direction without making at least 40% of their populations violently angry.

2026-01-13 15:59:18 UTC

For those not in the U.S. thinking a civil war might break out here and spare the rest of the world the full brunt of the Imperial Trump regime, I regret to inform you that is highly unlikely for reasons of geography.
Although we managed a fine and truly spectacular civil war in the 1860s, that was largely between two clearly defined regions with multiple coherent governments on either side.
The current political divisions do not align in such a clean matter now. Instead,

2026-01-12 20:18:14 UTC

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@nprofile…djfr Also, sanctions on particular officials most responsible for violations of international law.

2026-01-12 20:00:21 UTC

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@nprofile…djfr I think breaking our tech and oil sectors are key, they both have vast wealth and nearly unchecked power. The more they struggle, the less of a grip they'll have on internal U.S. media and politicians.
So: pull the plug on Google, Apple, Meta, etc as soon as is feasible. They are a security risk for you anyway. And transition to sustainable energy.

2026-01-12 19:24:41 UTC

I recognize that what the U.S. is doing is terrible for Europe, Canada, and for pretty much most of the rest of the world, and that y'all are right to be angry. You didn't ask for belligerent, dangerous neighbors, and you don't deserve this.
But, the best outcome for people everywhere- a stable, peaceful, rights-respecting, law-based world order- is not made more likely if y'all decide to wash your hands of the United States and just let us deal with our own problems. It is made less likely.

2026-01-12 15:08:35 UTC

Feels like something has shifted in the United States

2026-01-04 14:18:29 UTC

Discerning a sense of size from macro photographs is hard. Camponotus intrepidus, for example, is one of Australia’s largest sugar ants at slightly under an inch long.
But did you see the little Pheidole ant at her heels?
#Ants #Insects #camponotus
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/837/256/720/753/340/original/6d968c278d95b1e0.png

2025-12-29 00:19:37 UTC

Was surprised to find a new-to-me jack jumper species, Myrmecia fulvipes, in a small park I’ve been visiting for 20 years. The ant looks nearly as surprised as me!
#Insects #Ants #Myrmecia #Nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/799/986/666/353/880/original/ab7e980a8115d4f2.png

2025-12-24 00:02:26 UTC

Honored to have a photo on the cover of Current Biology!
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/771/606/504/437/439/original/085aa911d9976bcb.png

2025-12-06 23:43:26 UTC

Post a photo of an animal that looks Gen-AI but is 100% real.
Hegemona lineata, Belize.
#Tenebrionidae #Photography #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/675/272/578/972/249/original/b830b7a7af693798.png

2025-11-30 18:26:19 UTC

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@nprofile…pu4e Fortunately, I was able to use the mosquito researchers who regularly feed the lab mozzies anyway. They apparently don't mind?!

2025-11-30 12:59:37 UTC

Mosquitoes, a photo gallery:
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Insects/Mosquitoes
#Mosquitoes #Nature #Insects

2025-11-14 21:48:59 UTC

Up close with a Texas cave scorpion from UT Austin's Brackenridge Field Lab.
#Scorpions #Arachnids #Nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/550/251/337/824/967/original/ec543f99891af717.png

2025-11-14 15:52:58 UTC

Putting final touches on a 400 species list for a book I'm writing about ants, for the general public, worldwide coverage.
I welcome suggestions for species I should include. Whittling 15,000 species down to only a few hundred is harder than it looks, because of course it should have ALL THE ANTS.
#ants

2025-11-14 14:48:05 UTC

BlueSky really choking on its terrible moderation decisions this week

2025-11-03 23:11:31 UTC

A colony of aphids tended by a Camponotus noveboracensis carpenter ant. South Bristol, New York.
#Camponotus #aphids #ants #Insects #ecology
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/488/291/209/268/455/original/c3484d2b02897c62.png

2025-10-18 21:21:17 UTC

Just want to give a shout out to my 83 year old dad- normally conservative, a former SCOTUS law clerk for Rehnquist- who protested out in the rain this morning in St Louis. #NoKings

2025-10-17 18:46:42 UTC

Friday Flyday! A mating pair of big-headed flies, Pipunculidae, photographed in Texas.
#Diptera #flies #Pipunculidae #insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/390/989/520/957/760/original/f5e9eb56171c08b7.png

2025-10-12 23:47:17 UTC

One of the midwest's most iconic insects, a goldenrod soldier beetle sits in a mid-summer aster. Indiana Dunes National Park.
#Cantharidae #Nature #Insects #beetle
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/363/858/855/129/691/original/e63294c1d21dce8b.png

2025-10-11 19:01:40 UTC

We decided the word for arranging Halloween skeletons into various scenes in the front yard is “Necroscaping”

2025-10-11 13:48:02 UTC

Temnothorax isabellae, from the rainforests of Puerto Rico, is one of the more colorful ant species I have photographed.
#insects #ants #Temnothorax
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/355/842/560/612/399/original/26d93c817313ac5c.png

2025-10-07 17:18:47 UTC

The U.S. soy market problem is going to cause complications with corn in coming years, as soy is rotated in the same fields with corn to keep corn rootworm populations low.
If farms switch to corn only, we’ll see pest resurgences and increased pesticide use.

2025-10-01 13:30:12 UTC

Someone needs to explain to normies that the plan to “Make America Healthy Again” works by killing the sick people.

2025-09-14 15:14:04 UTC

A nest of Syneoca cyanea warrior wasps in Paraná, Brazil. Two things I love. Wasps. And Brazil.
#Wasps #Synoeca #WaspLove #Hymenotera #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/203/298/258/249/567/original/34cd8f09848cb481.png

2025-09-05 02:21:00 UTC

How does one explain to young people that the internet used to be a free, open place with no ads.

2025-08-13 15:01:50 UTC

Buried in the regime's political takeover letter of the Smithsonian is the worst bit. Unlike exhibits, which are non-destructive towards primary materials, temporary in nature, and reversible, the foundational collections are irreplacable. They want to be able to throw stuff out or sell it off.
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/022/053/066/581/038/original/48193009580c5a43.png

2025-07-26 16:16:29 UTC

I never worked up this 2016 photo from the Peruvian Amazon because I was running into trouble identifying the wasp, in spite of its distinct markings.
But taxonomic resources are more accessible a decade on, and I'm happy to announce that she's the rarely photographed Polistes torresae.
#WaspLove #Polistes #Insects #Wasps
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/920/427/742/534/495/original/89ef410edc681358.png

2025-07-10 18:46:47 UTC

On the other hand, I love open platforms.

2025-07-09 20:23:49 UTC

The thing about entomology is, there are always weirder bugs than anything you could imagine on your own.
Here's Cysteodemus wislizeni, a blister beetle from west Texas.
#Meloidae #Insects #Beetles
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/825/141/231/095/449/original/f004e5e41774bfd9.png

2025-07-08 22:29:37 UTC

Kind of amazing that the people who finally ruined the internet was the tech sector itself.

2025-07-06 14:01:13 UTC

I love how this queen Lasius arizonicus ant is smooth like glass. She’s a social parasite who , after dropping her wings, sneaks into existing ant colonies, kills the resident queen, and takes over.
So much drama. #Lasius #Ants #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/806/650/402/899/920/original/3467768c755a6efb.png

2025-06-28 23:35:46 UTC

At the Bugshot photography workshop in Arizona, we happened across a column of Neivamyrmex nigrescens army ants that had popped above ground to grab termites after their mating flights. A real feast, hauled away to feed hungry ant larvae. #Neivamyrmex #ArmyAnts #ants #insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/762/768/495/540/277/original/7e3ecd2f74841eb9.png

2025-06-13 11:58:21 UTC

When I have my military parade, it’s gonna be lit. It’s gonna be army ants for days. The biggest soldier ants you’ve ever seen.
#ants #insects #Eciton #armyants
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/675/933/759/548/854/original/115a23d8d5ef31e2.png

2025-06-10 21:03:08 UTC

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@nprofile…args The described use seems targeted to resolve a recurring shortcoming of the site, and wouldn't touch the images.
But that they seemed oblivious to how a group of nature nerds might react to a sudden partnership with the tech death star? Does not bode well for the organization.

2025-06-10 20:49:36 UTC

Controversy brewing in the iNaturalist community over the nonprofit's partnership with Google to make generative-AI text content.
#GenerativeAI #iNaturalist
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/what-is-this-inaturalist-and-generative-ai/66140

2025-06-03 12:20:52 UTC

Dung beetles are such handsome animals. Here’s a female Texas rainbow scarab, Phanaeus texensis. It is not rainbow colored like its congeners, but I’m not complaining.
#insects #phanaeus #dungbeetles .
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/619/388/460/440/215/original/11eea0002fd9a1c6.png

2025-05-24 18:14:52 UTC

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Pequin is our local native pepper. It is quite hot, but has a great flavor. We use it in spicy queso, and in egg tacos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pequin_pepper

2025-05-24 18:11:37 UTC

Chile pequin season is about to start, then things get spicy. #peppers #plants #gardening
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/564/155/077/997/298/original/1c8a45ec65505cbd.png

2025-05-12 15:09:08 UTC

We leave the venus flytrap outdoors in the summer. It's been busy, apparently. #VenusFlyTrap #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/495/490/239/027/381/original/0a8cb5cd43abf7cc.png

2025-05-04 14:31:36 UTC

The enemy. So pretty. So hungry. Eating my tomatoes and looking gorgeous. #insects #hornworm #lepidoptera #gardening
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/450/042/610/849/454/original/5c3e612926f79875.png

2025-04-17 14:53:03 UTC

A Lasius americanus worker ant carrying the silken cocoon of one of her many younger sisters in the brood nest. Indiana Dunes National Park. #Insects #ants #Lasius
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/353/868/938/016/676/original/eb26e31e1c0c158f.png

2025-04-13 21:15:42 UTC

A touch of hot shoe-mounted flash at low power (right) makes all the difference. A mating pair of gulf fritillaries, Texas. #insects #butterflies #photography
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/332/722/613/625/994/original/443b020509df8f32.jpg
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/332/722/610/525/181/original/50790fc0704dab84.jpg

2025-03-27 21:52:27 UTC

A few years back I got this photo of a honey bee in flight, returning to her hive.
Had to shoot a few hundred photos just to land this one.
#bees #insects #nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/236/608/999/178/937/original/90b6a7dedf04bb3f.png

2025-03-09 13:05:59 UTC

A Sceliphron mud dauber wasp carries a glob of mud back to her mud nest, the weight of her load counterbalanced by her unusual petiolate abdomen. Texas. #sceliphron #sphecidae #wasp #insects #flight
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/132/617/393/139/202/original/9dc903a063379280.png

2025-03-04 06:10:56 UTC

After nearly a century of prosperity, the United States has decided, apparently on purpose, to become a poor country.

2025-02-28 00:58:03 UTC

Death by Fungus: a photo gallery. #Cordyceps #fungi #insects
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Insects/InsectKilling-Fungi

2025-02-27 20:59:43 UTC

A soldier ant and several regular worker ants in a Pheidole hyatti late winter brood nest. Brackenridge Field Lab, Texas. #ants #Insects #Pheidole
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/077/858/136/684/129/original/c5ad2e58fddd5e4c.png

2025-02-27 20:47:39 UTC

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@nprofile…uzrd not found in NYC

2025-02-27 20:40:16 UTC

Columbia = University in New York City
Colombia = Large country in NW South America

2025-02-25 21:22:01 UTC

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@nprofile…h8y7 these don’t sting, but the larger workers can slice skin with those jaws. No venom, though, so it’s not too painful.

2025-02-25 03:09:02 UTC

Had a few minutes to do some photography today. Pleased with this shot of a Texas leafcutter ant in our lab colony, standing in the fungus garden. #ants #atta #insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/062/322/665/755/977/original/a67f40b0e05cceca.png

2025-02-16 17:54:13 UTC

I've been imaging some of our searcher wasps (Ichneumonidae), in a futile attempt to stay ahead of the hyperdiversity. There are seemingly endless variations on these wasps. This is Tromatobia notator, found in a marsh along the Texas coast. #Insects #Ichneumonidae #wasps #Entomology
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/014/842/932/121/395/original/a0811650b94b78c6.png

2025-02-12 22:37:34 UTC

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@nprofile…m947 Nice! It's a young katydid. Not sure beyond that- immature forms are hard. Maybe Scudderia?

2025-02-10 15:23:42 UTC

Texas sky update.
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/113/980/276/551/226/749/original/711b1468f4054686.png

2025-01-21 21:22:46 UTC

We've opened registration for our annual BugShot insect photography workshop! This summer we'll be in Portal, Arizona for the start of the monsoon.
We're also very pleased to announce our newest instructor, Adrian Smith, whose exquisite high speed insect flight videos you may know from the AntLab Youtube channel.
#Insects #Photography #Bugshot
https://www.bugshot.net/bugshot-portal-arizona

2025-01-20 21:02:32 UTC

When I think of great things coming historically from the United States- the music, the novels, the art, the science, the universities, the food- almost none of it comes from the strains of oppressive white Christianity that now temporarily hold power. They’ve been opposed to all of it, all along.

2025-01-20 19:01:09 UTC

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@nprofile…fa4k ooooohhhhhh good luck.

2025-01-20 18:08:12 UTC

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@nprofile…args nice! Looks cold where you are

2025-01-20 16:54:12 UTC

How are we all doing today, Mastodon?

2025-01-20 01:32:26 UTC

One perk of being curator of a natural history collection is that our volunteers and staff bring me little treasures. Here's an Oiceoptoma carrion beetle that John Carroll found on a deer carcass in south Austin. Life- and death- goes on.
#insects #Silphidae #Beetles
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/113/858/099/045/401/509/original/c5a54769aab62ff2.png

2025-01-19 20:31:43 UTC

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@nprofile…args do you not have enough tarsi?

2025-01-19 03:08:20 UTC

It’s Saturday night. Here are two palmetto tortoise beetles with adorable feet having sex. #insects #coleoptera #beetles #Chrysomelidae
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/113/852/814/755/789/210/original/df21aa877c1fd854.png

2025-01-19 02:00:05 UTC

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@nprofile…xe4c I still miss Google plus

2025-01-19 01:21:31 UTC

TikTok is really something right now. Servers in the United States shut down in half an hour, and people are saying goodbye, telling jokes, sharing their funniest posts, and playing their own piano outros.
I’ve never once posted there, but there’s a tangible sense of loss and community, even from a lurker’s perspective.

2025-01-17 15:21:49 UTC

New study: How parasitic crickets co-exist with hostile ant hosts- Distancing and dodging. #ants #entomology #insects #science
https://phys.org/news/2025-01-parasitic-crickets-hostile-ant-hosts.html

2025-01-16 02:32:22 UTC

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@nprofile…args where I live we really only see them in the spring, which from an enthusiast perspective is a bit of a drawback compared to things like ants and leafhoppers that are around all the time.

2025-01-16 02:26:47 UTC

An absolutely gorgeous pergid sawfly, photographed in Victoria, Australia. These are herbivorous relatives of wasps. #pergidae #hymenoptera #insects #nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/113/835/664/321/462/862/original/ac829610688ad3ff.png

2025-01-14 19:17:51 UTC

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@nprofile…n7e2 Their bloodlust is immense. They cannot wait to try to purge this country.

2025-01-14 18:59:13 UTC

The trouble with Hegseth isn't that he's an abusive alcoholic, or that he's unqualified, or whatever. It's that he will use the military to kill U.S. citizens. That's why Trump wants him.
Republicans absolutely hate Americans and will not think twice about doing a Tiananmen Square.

2025-01-14 16:41:07 UTC

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@nprofile…acz2 This is one area where Mastodon and Bluesky run as equals.

2025-01-14 16:35:15 UTC

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@nprofile…qs6e Indeed it is!

2025-01-14 16:31:31 UTC

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Yes, I am aware that the Fediverse has a superior product in many ways, and is likely to outlive Bluesky, as well as other platforms. I do nudge people over here from BS when I can.
But the problem with Mastodon isn't the tech. It's the purist condescension, the constant sense of bitterness and sour grapes. This is a social network, supposedly. Ditch the antisocial behavior if you want people to feel welcome.

2025-01-14 16:26:46 UTC

People being snitty about Bluesky is 95% of the reason why people don't stay on Mastodon. Get the fuck over yourselves.

2025-01-14 14:39:58 UTC

A female Xorides wasp has sensed a beetle grub deep in this redbud tree, and she drills through the wood to deposit an egg on it. Illinois. #insects #Ichneumonidae #Hymenoptera #wasps
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/113/827/223/035/085/870/original/37cc2d5c10f940c1.png

2025-01-13 16:45:23 UTC

There are a lot of negative comments on Mastodon directed at Bluesky, which is honestly kind of bullshit. The oligarchs are coming for everyone, and having a diversity of open protocols is a form of resilience.

2025-01-13 16:39:54 UTC

For what it's worth, I like both Bluesky and Mastodon, I want both to succeed, and that they are doing similar things from slightly different vantage points is not needless redundancy but needed resiliency, given what we face going forwards.

2025-01-13 13:45:53 UTC

Hypnobug. Don’t stare too long at it or you’ll go under.
(Derbidae, Ecuador) #Hemiptera #Insects #color
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/113/821/345/702/727/598/original/8f2de18f33a95954.png

2025-01-12 01:27:03 UTC

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@nprofile…args Weevils have scapes too. They lack external palps in their mouths, kind of unusual for beetles, so they need their antennae to “taste” what’s at the tip of the snout.

2025-01-12 01:23:49 UTC

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@nprofile…args I always thought it was because scapes allow an insect to antennate whatever they are holding in their mandibles, which is why scapes are common in social insects.

2025-01-11 14:31:12 UTC

American elites created the greatest universities the world had ever seen, with the aim of generating humanity's deepest pool of knowledge, but when that knowledge turned out to be "American elites are the root cause of many of the world's problems" they decided to shut it all down.

2025-01-10 18:31:03 UTC

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@nprofile…5wy9 I'm not sure that's true, anymore. We had a million-acre wildfire last year in the panhandle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Texas_wildfires

2025-01-10 02:00:37 UTC

Nervously watching the LA fires knowing that huge portions of west Austin look like this
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/113/801/588/215/180/568/original/9f704a567782f14c.png