So there's this Greek myth that says Zeus was fed by bees when he was born. In gratitude, he blessed them with the color of "shining bronze", and made them immune to cold and harsh winds. These bees lived in Zeus' sacred cave in Crete, and aggressively chased away anyone who tried to steal their honey.
Any #apiarist or #entomology expert out there who could tell me what these bees are by any chance?...
It's unfortunate that I have to contend with so many companies just swiping my photos for their marketing material without permission or payment. But this is the absolute weirdest: a live insect trafficking company, of dubious legality, has copied my self-portait from a few years back in Ecuador, and uses it on their "Our Story" page, as if I'm the dude out there poaching the ants for them.
Howdy! New to this whole Mastodon thing (I'm not even sure what instance I should be on) but eager. Name's Bug — I'm a queer master's student in an entomology lab, passionate about scientific outreach.
When I’m not staring at insects, I spend my time creating zines, comics, other art, and playing D&D. I want to learn how to make video games. Let’s connect if you think little critters are cool!
German entomologist, naturalist and scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian was born #OTD in 1647.
She was among the first naturalists to observe and document the metamorphosis of insects, particularly butterflies and moths. Merian's most famous works include "Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium" (Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname) and "The Caterpillars' Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food."
Ran an insect blacklight during the totality, with a control run the evening before. Got a ton of insects during both, but very different species. Fascinating. More later.
#Butterflies get all the love, but do not tell me that moths are not their equal if not their better … including these common #autumn wonders that visited last night
Merveille du jour (the mint choc chip #icecream of the moth world)
Bumblebees will nest in any suitable sized cavity, so I’m going use #InsertAnInvert2024 prompt “around logs” as my cue to talk about the rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis). The rusty-patched bumble is a pollinator native to North America and was common here in Ontario as recently as the 1980s. It is now sadly on the brink of extinction, 🧵1/n
An international research team including the University of Göttingen has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves. The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs,...
Job! An endowed professorship at Arizona State University in the systematics and taxonomy of ants. A rare opportunity for the right sort of ant nerd/desert rat.
If you love wasps or want to learn to love wasps, my free zine "to love a wasp" is full of facts about how wasps help us with balancing ecosystems, pollination, and plenty more wasp propaganda. There's a digital version and a version that you can print and fold yourself.
By the way, nearly all the specimen images we've been creating in the UT collection have been placed in the public domain, and are free to take and use for anything:
Set of insects and spiders stamps released from the US in 1999. Interesting choices here as they included some less appealing ones, which is cool. Cant believe a bee wasnt included though! Props for including a Hemiptera and scorpionfly, which I don't see in media ever. #stamps#insects#bugs#entomology
The honeybee brain hosts over 600,000 neurons, at a density higher than that of mammalian brains:
"Our estimate of total brain cell number for the European honeybee (Apis mellifera;
≈ 6.13 × 10^5, s = 1.28 × 10^5; ...) was lower than the existing estimate from brain sections ≈ 8.5 × 10^5"
"the highest neuron densities have been found in the smallest respective species examined (smoky shrews in mammals; 2.08 × 10^5 neurons mg^−1 [14] and goldcrests in birds; 4.9 × 10^5 neurons mg^−1 [16]). The Hymenoptera in our sample have on average higher cell densities than vertebrates (5.94 × 10^5 cells mg^−1; n = 30 species)."
Ants, on the other hand ...
"ants stand out from bees and wasps as having particularly small brains by measures of mass and cell number."
Arthropod Photo of the Week: May 22, 2024
Long-snouted weevil
Hammatostylus sp.
Coleoptera: Curculionidae
By Steve Long, Florida, USA #arthropodPOTW #entomology#insects#photography
Curious and cryptic: New leaf insects discovered (phys.org)
An international research team including the University of Göttingen has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves. The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs,...