Alex Wild

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

Photography: https://www.alexanderwild.com/

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Last Notes

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

2026-03-22 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

2026-03-15 12:48:04 UTC

An incipient paper wasp nest built under the shelter of a large, partly curled leaf. Guanica dry forest reserve, Puerto Rico.
The different eye colors of the two insects are age-related; the individual with black eyes has only recently emerged.
#Wasps #Mischocyttarus #Insects #Photography
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/233/264/218/049/291/original/29c90c7de7908a5a.png

2026-03-14 18:52:31 UTC

A Calligrapha beetle- named of course for the beautiful inscriptions on its elytra- sits on its dogwood host plant. Texas.
#Insects #Beetles #Calligrapha #Chrysomelidae
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/229/033/111/337/479/original/06272a2c3829a32f.png

2026-03-13 01:42:06 UTC

A small Lasioglossum in the spiderwort, which is blooming now around central Texas. #insects #bees #Bloomscrolling
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/219/321/194/506/848/original/b278b2c27257fbf2.png

2026-02-26 18:44:57 UTC

The emergence of spring bees here in Austin also means the emergence of somewhat rarer bee parasites. I caught this Sapyga nevadica wasp yesterday; it lays eggs in solitary bee nests.
#Sapygidae #wasps #Sapyga #Insects #Parasites
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/138/407/989/608/103/original/ca0185b3b66d4c37.png

2026-02-24 17:51:35 UTC

One of my favorite pollinator photos, and the bee isn't even in focus. Which is why I love it. (Bombus sp., Illinois)
#bees #Bombus #pollination #Solidago #Nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/126/874/272/009/072/original/d1f0016d797bdc5f.png

2026-02-14 16:25:20 UTC

Sorry, it was Willow the cat’s fault. We tried to stop her. #Caturday #Olympics
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/069/906/005/731/522/original/f4147fdaaa88a41e.png

2026-02-10 13:56:29 UTC

Brown recluse spiders exonerated! In Florida, recluses are rare, much less likely to bite than other spiders, even when provoked, and the one verified bite did not produce necrosis.
#Spiders #BrownRecluse #science
https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjag004

2026-02-05 20:44:36 UTC

Life continues for the majority of the planet that did not invest in Bitcoin, including these Tetramorium lucayanum ants.
#Ants #Insects #Tetramorium
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/019/971/085/546/892/original/ea41038fa341ef14.png

2026-02-03 21:27:47 UTC

One of our local Chagas disease vectors, Triatoma indictiva. Texas.
Cool looking bug, not much risk in casual encounters like this, but you won't want to live in rustic or outdoor housing for longer periods of time where these are common
#Hemiptera #Insects #Triatoma #Bugs
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/116/008/816/032/640/806/original/7f0ca881947b5d88.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 03:11:08 UTC

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Avoid things that are brightly marked or have spines. Otherwise, you just sort of try them.

2026-01-29 02:03:46 UTC

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A couple.

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

2026-01-26 21:29:27 UTC

A photo from warmer days. Heriades sp. leafcutter bee, St. Louis.
#Megachilidae #Bees #Bloomscrolling #insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/963/523/567/437/137/original/42273393253eaf79.png

2026-01-24 18:01:02 UTC

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I can't tell you enough how the "look at what those dumb Americans did to themselves" blinds you from what is happening to all the established institutions, and sends you down the path to further disintegration.

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

2026-01-24 14:57:34 UTC

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I understand why Europeans are rightfully angry at the United States, and this will be a generational break. I wish more people like you were talking about the advance of Nazism in Europe, though, because the same movement that staged the coup in the United States is at work in Europe.
It's a mistake to focus too much energy on foreign threats, big though it is, because the fascists will use that fear in their own campaign to take over your countries.

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

2026-01-17 18:04:53 UTC

Hope Americans are ready for the next 50 years of movies and TV where we are always the cartoonishly played bad guys.

2026-01-16 19:02:18 UTC

A gallery of social wasps.
#Insects #WaspLove #Photography
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Insects/Social-Wasps

2026-01-16 02:20:18 UTC

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RE: https://mastodon.online/@alexwild/115900612237201487
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.
#note1u3y…8jk9

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.

2026-01-15 14:04:24 UTC

Another indication that the United States is no longer a democracy. The American people are very strongly opposed to stripping Greenland from Denmark, but the Trump regime doesn't seem to care about public sentiment at all.
#Greenland #uspol
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/899/468/956/064/195/original/4ca19c2b31e04b16.png

2026-01-12 20:28:52 UTC

When thinking about the news that Trump's EPA no longer views American deaths as a problem, it isn't a few lives here or there. It is hundreds of thousands.
https://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-early-deaths-each-year-in-the-us-0829

2026-01-12 19:35:21 UTC

The same international criminal network that has replaced the American government is also coming for yours. It already cleaved the UK away from Europe, to disastrous ends.
Declaring that the United States did this to itself and so it isn't your problem is just...dumb, strategically.
It's already working its tendrils where you live. Fight it wherever you have the ability to. Yelling at its victims for not working hard enough does not eliminate the peril you face.

2026-01-12 15:08:35 UTC

Feels like something has shifted in the United States

2026-01-11 15:06:51 UTC

Who can enjoy this toucan? You can.
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/877/084/095/938/814/original/501d5e4b717a37eb.png

2026-01-09 01:33:25 UTC

Spider or puppy? We report, you decide.
#Spiders #Nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/862/562/047/971/838/original/a3a9736e34331544.png

2026-01-07 01:11:09 UTC

A winter ant, Prenolepis imparis. Georgia, USA.
#Ants #Insects #Photography #Prenolepis
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/851/149/556/418/417/original/81bfa869a109e1fb.png

2026-01-06 16:52:21 UTC

Resurrected this 10 year old photo from my unpublished archives, not sure why I ignored it the first time. It's a Carebara queen ant in an underground nest chamber, with brood.
Victoria, Australia.
#Ants #Insects #Soil #Carebara #QueenAnts
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/849/188/323/664/109/original/c2ece8975f669ca7.png

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

2026-01-02 23:04:02 UTC

Whenever I see this photo of harvester ants working on their nest, I think how it looks like they planted a decorative tree by their door like they have an HOA or something.
(Pogonomyrmex desertorum, west Texas)
#Ants #photography #Pogonomyrmex #insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/828/000/605/445/385/original/ae291455670188e2.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

2025-12-28 03:43:40 UTC

Australian cockroaches are pretty. This is Balta spuria, which I've found in various indoor and outdoor settings in Victoria.
#Insects #Balta #Cockroaches #Australianwildlife
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/795/125/577/563/282/original/957907480c4e9140.png

2025-12-25 22:25:02 UTC

Scutiphora pedicellata, the metallic shield bug, is as good a candidate for an official Christmas bug as I’ve seen. Wilson’s Promontory, Australia.
#Scutelleridae #Insects #Hemiptera #Bugs #nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/782/547/926/819/925/original/d696ade4f0c62e55.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

2025-12-22 19:39:30 UTC

Finally 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.
#Thynnidae #Hymenoptera #Diamma #Insects #australianwildlife
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/764/905/136/714/957/original/b8ad11fdf4fa184d.png
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/764/908/436/532/341/original/a1f2cda3f942deb0.png

2025-12-20 22:54:09 UTC

Found a nest of one of my favorites! A true oddball. Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus, the red-headed spider ant.
#ants #insects #Leptomyrmex
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/754/350/576/323/171/original/c1409f1703702ca5.png

2025-12-09 15:24:34 UTC

We are discovering new species at the fastest rate ever. #Taxonomy #Science
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/690/298/486/836/000/original/548b92dfbbb6af79.png

2025-12-07 14:21:35 UTC

A Formica incerta field ant worker drinks nectar from a Queen Anne's Lace. Tennessee.
#Formica #Ants #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/678/725/988/504/200/original/ced2e0efd1ae562b.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

2025-12-06 20:30:24 UTC

One of my favorite local planthoppers, Dictyonissus griphus. Such distinctive wing venation.
#Tropiduchidae #Planthopper #Insects #Nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/674/514/148/052/205/original/e1c0ddfd5d2f07d9.png

2025-11-23 15:05:23 UTC

The genus name for American harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex, means "bearded ant", and it refers to a basket of hairs on the underside of the head that helps these desert ants carry dry sand.
Monahans Sandhills State Park, Texas.
#Ants #Pogonomyrmex #Formicidae #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/599/623/601/735/799/original/9a81f16bdadbc65a.png

2025-11-17 17:43:29 UTC

This is such a cool study. A parasitic ant queen tricks worker ants into murdering their own queen, so the parasite can take over the colony.
#Ants #Science https://www.sciencenews.org/article/parasitic-ant-matricide-queen

2025-11-17 02:35:46 UTC

It's that time of the year when the rotting Halloween pumpkins start delivering tremendous bug content.
I got these shots of Pheidole dentata ants successfully hunting fruit fly adults and larvae in the muck.
#Insects #Nature #Pheidole #Ants
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/562/703/102/228/358/original/2064733fa651a5fa.png
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/562/703/590/409/073/original/1c78dadab9a9b048.png

2025-11-15 17:39:27 UTC

I do like taking the occasional bug photo that gives the subject space in the frame.
Here's a Liometopum luctuosum tree ant in Arizona, taking home a gall midge it has caught.
#Liometopum #Insects #photography #ants
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/554/933/025/601/117/original/594433a1a4288eba.png

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

2025-11-08 13:23:17 UTC

A Texas leafcutter ant, Atta texana, hauls spring Prunus buds along a tree branch on her way back to the nest.
#Ants #Insects #Atta #nature #leafcutterants
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/514/289/773/436/008/original/bb0b53c652494819.png

2025-11-04 23:46:53 UTC

The different colors of the cells indicate pollen from different species of plants, packed away to be used as food for hungry honey bee larvae.
#bees #geometry #nature #HoneyBees #Pollen
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/494/090/075/717/872/original/bfdf2cb5b2ebb473.png

2025-11-03 23:13:54 UTC

UT Austin students are amazing. They've raised $30,000 for their undocumented peers after the Texas state government hiked their tuition.
https://thedailytexan.com/2025/10/31/texas-student-groups-financially-support-undocumented-students-after-overturning-of-texas-dream-act/

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

2025-11-03 14:23:22 UTC

I wasn't that excited about this stock standard photo of a darkling beetle (Eleodes goryi), until I noticed the parasitic tachinid fly egg attached above the insect's midleg. This beetle is on borrowed time.
#Tenebrionidae #Eleodes #Tachinidae #Parasites #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/486/208/833/324/233/original/5b15fa207a809507.png

2025-11-01 19:49:55 UTC

A tattered Beelzebub bee-eater fly rests on stick at the end of the season. This distinctive bumble bee mimic is one of North America's largest robber flies. Austin, Texas.
#Diptera #Insects #Asilidae
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/476/171/504/344/767/original/c8a22ec190dbf129.png

2025-10-27 14:12:04 UTC

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If you were feeling perky and wanted to learn a second genus, the obvious choice is Crematogaster, the acrobat ants. They're also found worldwide and are instantly identifiable for their unique, heart-shaped butts.
#Ants #Insects #Crematogaster
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Taxonomic-List-of-Ant-Genera/Crematogaster

2025-10-27 14:02:52 UTC

If you were going to learn just one genus of ants, you'd want to do Camponotus, which includes the familiar carpenter ants of the northern hemisphere, but many others too.
Abundant on every continent, diverse, and ecologically important.
#Ants #Insects #Photography #Camponotus
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Taxonomic-List-of-Ant-Genera/Camponotus

2025-10-25 12:50:33 UTC

A female soldier fly, Nemotelus kansensis, drinking nectar from a late spring aster. Dripping Springs, Texas.
#Diptera #Insects #Pollinators #Stratiomyidae
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/434/888/562/944/031/original/870110e60fc34926.png

2025-10-22 21:22:23 UTC

In which our intrepid photographer narrowly escaped being murdered by driver ants in Kibale Forest, Uganda.
#Ants #Insects #Dorylus #ArmyAnts
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/419/913/834/250/929/original/4ecc2ab83c0d354b.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

2025-10-18 01:14:46 UTC

Quite pleased with this shot of an Urosigalphus braconid wasp I got in central Austin today. I suspect the wasps are emerging from live oak acorns, having parasitized the grubs acorn weevils.
Not many live photos exist of this genus, it seems.
#Urosigalphus #Braconidae #WaspLove #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/392/515/106/052/807/original/7821c7f8fed44c11.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

2025-10-08 01:31:04 UTC

A textbook image I did a few years ago showing a trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus rixosus) with her mandibles held open and trigger hairs forward, and then in the closed position.
The snapping shut of the trap is one of the fastest measured animal movements.
#Ants #Entomology #Insects #Odontomachus
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/335/956/856/902/608/original/01b2f046fa359470.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.

2025-10-03 18:32:52 UTC

A honey bee visits a summer milkweed, pollinia hanging from her legs. Illinois.
#bees #milkweed #bloomscrolling #insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/311/662/443/080/073/original/3e16c38bce581a27.png

2025-10-02 19:25:48 UTC

I've obtained the Trump Compact document, let me summarize it for you.
#HigherEd #UTAustin
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/306/206/912/462/992/original/c66f9674d4b0e3c4.png

2025-10-01 16:18:39 UTC

Hello, I am Myrmoteras and I will be your disembowler this evening.
#Myrmoteras #ants #Insects #trapjawant
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/299/810/085/951/919/original/732f4c78ac044d4b.png

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.

2025-09-29 11:38:30 UTC

A gallery of ant queens from around the world.
#ants #QueenAnts #Insects
https://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Natural-History/Queen-Ants

2025-09-28 14:07:13 UTC

The fine velvety hairs on this Lutrochus travertine beetle trap air like a little bug scuba tank to help it breathe underwater. Arizona.
#Beetles #Insects #Lutrochus
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/282/306/665/070/134/original/391fc6a5869575b0.png

2025-09-24 21:36:07 UTC

Crematogaster crinosa acrobat ants visiting a Heliconia flower. Minca, Colombia.
#Ants #Nature #Color #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/261/423/535/936/823/original/abe5b6d9d32d3993.png

2025-09-22 17:13:36 UTC

"Why do queen bumblebees emerge from hibernation during weekends?"
I love this framing about bias in hobbyist-collected data.
#Science
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-025-01192-x

2025-09-19 15:25:48 UTC

Portrait of a human bot fly. Belize. Friend? Maybe not. But cuter as an adult, I'd say.
#BotFly #Insects #Diptera #FridayFlyday #FlyDay #Oestridae
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/231/654/176/669/607/original/dc800f7b0f246688.png

2025-09-15 02:24:10 UTC

Our graduate student Steven found this unusual two-eyed spider last night out in hill country. If you spend any time staring at spider faces, you’ll know most have 8 or 6 eyes, or maybe none at all for cave dwellers.
But two? Almost humanoid. Weird.
(Orthonops lapanus)
#Spiders #Orthonops
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/205/933/040/457/394/original/4bcc7227fb40fb11.png

2025-09-13 12:23:06 UTC

Silky field ants tending black locust treehoppers for honeydew. Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
#Ants #Insects #Nature #Treehoppers #Formica
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/196/960/962/322/446/original/533a3c21091c8396.png

2025-09-13 02:44:22 UTC

This is a real mic drop of an obituary. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/charlie-kirk-assassination-maga/

2025-09-08 11:57:59 UTC

A great purple hairstreak takes a sip of Rudbeckia nectar. Austin, Texas. #Lycaenidae #butterflies #insects #pollination #rudbeckia
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/168/553/142/072/721/original/e9938d734185a352.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.

2025-09-03 21:07:04 UTC

This finding that some ant queens can lay eggs of another species is astonishing. Biology is far stranger than we can possibly imagine.
#Ants #Science #Evolution
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02807-0

2025-09-03 14:45:11 UTC

In their rebellious adolescent years, Guayaquila gracilicornis treehoppers sport garish stripes and spikes, before maturing into more stately and traditional thorn bugs (Ecuador). #Membracidae #Insects #Treehoppers #Nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/140/896/505/889/162/original/faccd9eea471a24c.png

2025-09-02 23:44:10 UTC

An extraodinarily elegant insect, Taphroscelidia linearis, a passandrid flat bark beetle. Austin, Texas. #Coleoptera #Insects #Passandridae #Beetles
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/137/356/806/809/020/original/ff05049a2b7068c1.png

2025-08-24 15:42:27 UTC

An immature Phidippus jumping spider, Texas. #spider #Photography #salticidae
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/084/499/580/928/470/original/39b6983c193618f2.png

2025-08-17 15:37:09 UTC

Me: I'm gonna plant native wildflowers and attract lots of pollinators!
The pollinators:
#pollinators #Mosquitoes #Insects
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/044/843/475/942/957/original/59312036b4c2e7c8.png

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

2025-08-10 18:40:57 UTC

Today's photography project: a resh cicada that arrived to our porch light last night. Set it up in an outdoor white box for perfect front lighting with a natural background from the urban canopy.
These are the loud evening screamers performing in Austin this month.
#Cicada #Insect #Photography #Megatibicen
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/005/928/712/432/872/original/37b6312236a12192.png
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/005/929/247/509/555/original/769a6b3b19d5d241.png

2025-08-09 23:09:09 UTC

Red next to black is a friend of Jack, red next to metallic green is… something, I’m guessing we probably shouldn’t eat this.
#paederus #staphylinidae #insects #nature
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/001/322/379/091/912/original/a2a0225cb3903c19.png

2025-08-06 16:08:24 UTC

One of my favorite ants, the Texas turtle ant Cephalotes texanus. Photo is a live stack of three images, to improve depth of field.
#Ants #Cephalotes #Insects #TurtleAnt
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/982/680/412/896/723/original/83fd438467d1b9e6.png

2025-08-03 00:33:46 UTC

A favorite bug photo from last summer. Yes, it's a Polistes fuscatus wasp on goldenrod, but if you look long enough, you'll see another insect. (Indiana Dunes National Park)
#WaspLove #Insects #Polistes #Phymata
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/962/019/622/012/152/original/77cd84f8d69845f7.png

2025-07-26 16:18:56 UTC

- reply

Couldn't have identified her without this 2024 paper: https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5496.4.3

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

2025-07-19 18:19:58 UTC

Insect photographers spend a lot of effort increasing depth of field. Focus-stacks, small apertures. And that's great, I do some of that too, but there's nothing wrong with a dreamy, shallow depth photo.
Here's Prionyx parkeri, a thread-waisted wasp, in Arizona.
#Insects #Sphecidae #Wasps #Nature #Photography
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/881/277/539/335/173/original/095f60076b593eb8.png

2025-07-12 20:15:58 UTC

A near-perfect field guide image of a small harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex imberbiculus, from west Texas. Walking is not the most exciting ant behavior, but I'm happy with this shot. #ants #insects #pogonomyrmex
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/842/097/483/138/813/original/0a5bf9f2e5eeec52.png

2025-07-10 23:09:45 UTC

Honored to have a cover photo on a French book about apocalypse fungi.
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/114/831/456/248/531/172/original/e1c5977453c8fd22.png

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 22:23:32 UTC

I didn't know it was possible for Twitter to go even more Nazi.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/08/elon-musks-grok-ai-chatbot-is-posting-antisemitic-comments-.html?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=686d93336b59ab00018d5190&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_content=main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky

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