@twizzt@sauropods.win
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twizzt

@twizzt@sauropods.win

I am naturalist and macro photography enthusiast. I want to share how I see the tiny things in this world that make life livable. I have a MS in biology which focused on the ecology of plants, their insect herbivores, and the parasitoids that preyed on them.

I may occasionally toot about #chronicPain or #dyslexia but generally only to commiserate with others. You needn't notify my about misspellings as I just don't care anymore...

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twizzt, to colombia
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Alien Ant!

Ant-mimicking Treehopper (Cyphonia clavata) From the side, this looks just like an ant. From above, it looks like an alien. I could have spent all day with this thing. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

#Insects #Colombia #Heteroptera #Mimicry

twizzt, to srilanka
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Major life changes... I am moving to #SriLanka in about two months time, if everything goes according to plan. I know no entomologists or scientists in general from the island. If you are Sri Lankan or know someone, please get a hold of me or put me in touch. I am so excited about this new adventure and would love to hit the ground running.

twizzt, to colombia
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How about a dead leaf? Well, it will tell you it's a leaf but it isn't. I believe this is a South American Boxer Mantis (Acanthops falcata) and is totally gorgeous. It was difficult to photograph as it really wanted to jump on my hand or camera. What amazing camouflage!

#Insects #Colombia #Nature

Another image of the same specimen from above and to the side to better show off its leaf mimicking ability. The wings are brown and veined and the wingtips are upswept just like a dead leaf. Even on a large green leaf this insect blends in looking all the world like a fallen leaf.

RamenCatholic, to Minnesota

OK, I am officially in love with the new & I submit it for the approval of the High Council.

twizzt,
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@RamenCatholic

This could have been yours MInnesota!!!

twizzt, to colombia
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Its everyones favorite day of the week again.

Perhaps not as bonkers as last week, but this is a rather large and slightly spiky flower weevil (Pteracanthus smidtii) hailing from the cloud forest in western Colombia

This is a 3/4 top side view of the same insect. It seems more red from the side and the setae on the legs and elytra seem to have a golden hue. The sides of its rostrum are an interesting cream color.

twizzt, to colombia
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My best shot of an orchid bee in flight. Taken at ~1.4x with the MP-E. Never have the right lens...

#Insects #Hymenoptera #Bee #Bees #Colombia

twizzt, to random
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The closest I can get to giving you all a Christmas gift. This is Compsus viridivittatus Its wearing its finest Christmas sweater for you. Several other shots of the same puppy bug can be seen here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194735891

twizzt, to srilanka
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Daily life of the Asian Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina). First, a couple of cute sisters. These inquisitive ladys had to poke their heads out to see what was approaching their nests. Moments later they were lined up with mandibles wide and abdomens flinging formic acid at me. But it started cute and intimate.

Next, an attentive farmer wondering why I am getting so close to its cattle.

#SriLanka #Ants #Formicidae #InsectInteraction #ShelterBuilding

An orange ant with large sythe like mandibles stands over a cluster of mealy bugs that are huddled at the center of the frame. The have a waxy exudate that covers most of their body.

twizzt,
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@NatureMC Thank you. These ladys are abundant and fun to watch. I'm going to have to do a little research and figure out the best way to spot the queens and even more intriguing would be to photograph or perhaps film the actual nest building. Not sure how it can be done without disturbing them though. I'm sure I'll be sharing much more of these though.

twizzt, to colombia
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Happy and for those who celebrate, a wacky to you too!

The insect pornographer strikes again. This seems to be one of the really odd couplings that don't seem like they should work yet somehow do. Is it just me or does it seem like they like the camera being there? I have no idea what species or even genus these are.

More of a 3/4 top down and side view. You can see these weevils have very broad snouts for being as long as they are. Both weevils seem to be looking at the camera.

twizzt, to photography
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Ant Battle! I believe these are Pavement ants (Tetramorium immigrans) which seem to be in a battle. The column of fighting was about 5 feet long from one sidewalk crack to the grass to the next sidewalk crack. I came back with my camera and most were dispersed but I was able to capture a few images.

#insects #macro #photography #nature

alt on first image

image/jpeg
image/jpeg

twizzt, to colombia
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I can't let die just yet... I'll keep it going with this tiny entry.

A straight on side shot of the same weevil clearly showing its long weevil snout. It's underside is even more densly packed with the silvery hairs. Unfortunately it isn't the clearest of images.

twizzt, to nature
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For today's #WeevilWednesday may I offer you this crazy thing from the cloud forest in Colombia. I believe its a Poecilogaster brevis. I'm going to call it the clown weevil.

#Weevils #Insects #Nature #Colombia

twizzt, to srilanka
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Seems appropriate at the moment.

This Large Oakblue caterpillar being tended by its Weaver ant overlords.

This photo won me my first weaver ant battle scar. ...not my caterpillar clearly

#Arhopala #amantes #Oecophylla #smaragdina #SriLanka #Insects #Arthropods #Lepidoptera #Ants #Formicidae #InsectInteraction

twizzt,
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@chris_hayes there's one lyceanid that has turned the tables though. It lives inside ant nests and feeds on the ant eggs and larvae. It is armored and well defended so the ants basically let it do its things. After it pupates, as an adult, it is more vulnerable but as a defense it has massive amounts of large scales which gum up any attacking ants jaws giving it time to escape. Imagine, a carnivorous caterpillar.

futurebird, to random
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Fact of The Day: Most photos of weaver ants show an ant angry that a photographer is too close to her tree.

twizzt, (edited )
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@futurebird

Hmm... I do have some good behavior pics but yeah...

twizzt, to colombia
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Happy Wednesday! This is a cactus eating weevil. I didn't have a lens that allowed me to zoom out to capture the plant better unfortunately.

futurebird, to random
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Some 'science' photo libraries are...questionable.

This photo claims to be "Ant carrying aphid egg, SEM" colorized to highlight the "egg" but look closely! (https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/370844/view/ant-carrying-aphid-egg-sem)

It's NOT an egg. That's just part of the ant's mouth! Take a look at the second set of photos by Hugo Darras. ( https://flickr.com/photos/fourmis/5004761756 ) you can see this is part of her maxillae, the part she uses to collect liquid.

How did they decide it was an aphid egg? Most aphids don't even lay eggs they give live birth!

Three photos of an ant's head as seen from below. The photos show how the maxillae can extend, it also shows that the "egg" in the other photo was just part of the ant's mouth.

twizzt,
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@futurebird @ColesStreetPothole

Here an unidentified aphid is nearly through live birthing a child. Another is out of focus in the foreground

twizzt, to Virginia
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Happy

This Granulate Ambrosia Beetle (Xylosandrus crassiusculusis) is out of the archives... Definitely one of the lesser weevils... Sorry about the poor quality. I will try to start processing (and hopefully taking) more photos in the near future. It's been too long.

twizzt, to Birds
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Beautiful new backyard friend came to visit. Greater coucal or Crow Pheasant (Centropus sinensis) is pretty massive but apparently primarily eats snails. Admittedly, the snails here are also huge.

#Birds #Aves #SriLanka

twizzt, to colombia
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Happy

It has been a while so I figured now was as good a time as any to fire it back up. I don't know for sure who this handsome stilt-legged fly is, but I love its face and its coloring.

twizzt, to srilanka
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This male Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) has a huge casque (beak extension). When vying for females, they do mid-air battle with them. So why do the females have them? You can tell the females apart because they have white skin around their eyes whereas the males are all black.

#Wilpattu #SriLanka #Birds #Aves #Bucerotidae

twizzt, to colombia
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Here's a cute caterpillar doing its best to disrupt your feed. This is the Shag Carpet Caterpillar Moth (Prothysana sp.). As an adult, it is sorta a drab triangular brown thing, but as a larva, I find it resplendent. Its larval scales are way cooler than the adult ones.

#Colombia #Lepidoptera #Moth #Insects #Arthropods #Apatelodidae

A side view of the same caterpillar. The White scales have a smokey black base and they look like a mohawk going down its back.

futurebird, to random
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I had the most awful nightmare that Candice Owens was doing a big musical number— with like … dancing in the streets (kinda like the music video for ‘uptown funk’) to the tune of “by strauss” into “I’d rather charleston” with Ben Shapiro singing the brother in that second one.

It was so disturbing.

Taking this as a sign not to fall asleep with youTube on EVER again.

twizzt,
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@futurebird

And I had just gotten thousands of ants singing "Holly and the Ivy" off key, off beat, and all at once out of my head.

futurebird, to random
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Can you blame me or be shocked for wanting to go to the place that has such signs?

A sign from a Sri Lanka nature preserve.

twizzt,
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@futurebird I will definitely be going there when my back is up to the hike. Surgery is in 9 days so here's hoping the fifth time is a charm. The locals definitely give all bees a wide berth. The Indian honey bees haven't bothered me while trying to photograph them but they also don't want me anywhere near them. I had to convince someone my life wasn't in danger trying to photograph the tiny stingless bees which I have also mainly failed at.

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