@twizzt@sauropods.win
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

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...

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

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,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@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
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

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,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird Which preserve? I must go! I have seen precious few wasps of any sort. I haven't seen a single parasitoid yet.

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@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.

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird there appear to be choke points along the path and at times, throngs of people.

I've seen a common theme in the US anyway where people out in nature feel the need to hit any man made object. Look a pole smack and a sign slap Those reverberating metal noises seem to trigger hymenopterans. Most three tourists I see are from Russia or the UK but humans are going to be human so I imagine they do the same...

harshad, to gardening
@harshad@sharma.io avatar

Guavas are maturing and wild birds have been enjoying the fruit with us ♥️

I would rather have birds feast on my produce because they won't be finding pesticide-free fruits elsewhere. Eat, thrive and have a good time my feathered friends.

A half eaten guava on the branch.

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@harshad that is one awesome fly!

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Have you ever heard the saying "you're just knitting a sweater of your own wool"

?

If so what does it mean?

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird

My great grandmother use to use this actually.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I had the most lovely dream. All of the emoji for every kind of ant were implemented, and for some reason this was a future were lots of people had free time to just observe nature. Everyone had fanned out to try to document each and every little creature.

There was this feed the emoji of ants people had seen-- and suddenly the emoji for the female forms of Aenictogiton showed up! And this makes no sense since how could there be an emoji of an ant no one has ever seen?! 1/

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird It's on you now to illustrate it so everyone else can know what to look for

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

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,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird @ColesStreetPothole

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

twizzt, to srilanka
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

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,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@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,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@alexwild @futurebird @NatureMC

That makes sense. Unfortunately there is no legal way for me to do that. Basically a local professor needs to get a permit which even then is routinely denied.

The Sri Lakan government doesn't seem to understand that collection can actually help insects and that it is rarely done intensely enough to change population levels. I really don't understand denying catch and release permits.

I will just have to visit often and get lucky.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I haven't seen the queen of my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony for months. Her daughters built her a secret chamber deep in the log where nosey ant-keepers can't poke lights or cameras (to be fair she HATES light, good for her.)

Nice to see signs she is still around as the colony endures winter (simulated by me sticking them in a wine fridge)

She produced a small clutch of larvae: "openers" the extra crew needed to open the cocoons for the spring population boom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rARH3raP8Y

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird do their feet have sensilla? Are they actually treating each other? I know some wasps do which makes more sense, but it seems plausible.

18+ twizzt, to srilanka
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

I keep finding these funny little eight legged ants all over, and couldn't be happier about it. I've found two crawling up my leg even. Like ants, they seem very sociable. I think they resemble the Arboreal slender ants more than their namesake myself. Both types of ants are super abundant where I photographed this spider.

Red Weaver Ant-mimicking Spider (Myrmaplata plataleoides)

#SriLanka #Spider #Ant #Arachnid #Mimicry

A side view of the same spider.
The same spider viewed from straight above.

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

Arboreal Bicolored Slender Ant (Tetraponera rufonigra) Likely on the same tree and certainly in the same area.

twizzt, to random
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

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 colombia
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

Here is a tachinid for today. I believe it is Cholomyia sp. but please correct me if you think otherwise.

Happy #FlyDay

#Diptera #Flies #Fly #Insects #Arthropods #Colombia

RamenCatholic, to Minnesota

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

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@RamenCatholic And to think, A loon with laser eyes was on the table and didn't win... C'mon Minnesota. It was a slam dunk! Or whatever the appropriate hockey equivalent might be...

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@RamenCatholic

This could have been yours MInnesota!!!

twizzt, to colombia
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

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
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

Here's a head scratcher. I have this unidentified beetle that seems to closely resemble some Vexing Rove Beetles (Atheta sp.)

It really looks to me to be eating this leaf. There was a similar track in the same leaf with two of them in it. I couldn't get my camera in close enough to get pictures though. The problem is, I have never heard of rove beetles being herbivores. What gives? Are they eating mold?

#Insects #Beetles #Entomology #Colombia #Arthropods #Herbivory #InsectInteraction

gay_ornithischians, to random
@gay_ornithischians@sauropods.win avatar

I don’t get honest signaling in sexual selection. Like is it not more likely that the choosy animal chooses the mate on the basis of what they find attractive? Is the peahen really thinking about how impressive it is that the peacock survived with such a large train and that her kids will inherit his badassery and continue her dynasty?

twizzt,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@gay_ornithischians She's just thinking "I'm going to bump cloacas with that!"

futurebird, (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Oak trees are anchors of species diversity in the temperate forests of the Americas and Europe. A single oak growing in a sidewalk well behind my apartment in the Bronx is home to seven species of ants and countless other insects, birds, fungi and small mammals.

Oak trees host the widest array of galls. (I have a theory about galls being a kind of sign post for complex ecologies.)

In Australia it's the Eucalyptus trees that host the most diverse collections of galls. 1/

twizzt, (edited )
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird This makes me feel obligated to give a shotout to Douglas Tallamy. He has several books out now but I would encourage everyone to read Bringing Nature Home. It will equip you to answer the constant What good are bugs for anyway? question and give you a greater appreciation for the trees around you.

twizzt, to random
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

If you like my photos but don't like to read my nonsense, just add /media to the URL of my profile. This works with anyone posting lots of media

#FediTips

twizzt, to colombia
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

Bite my shiny metal abdomen.

Here's to a happy #FlyDay to those who celebrate. I don't really know who either of these are, but the gold and black one is bristle fly and the one with the huge eyes is a hoverfly that is likely a Bromeliad Fly (Copestylum sp.)

#Diptera #Insects #Flies #Colombia #Nature

A top down view of an orange fly with giant reddish eyes.

twizzt, to nature
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

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 colombia
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

I've always enjoyed skippers, but then I went to Colombia... Now I am a bit obsessed with them. This Apyrrothrix hygieia is one of the firetips. I don't photoshop most of my photos, but for this, I did some heavy manipulation to remove a nasty looking piece of debris from under the hind wings. Is this information appreciated?

#Insects #Skippers #Lepidoptera #Colombia #Nature #Photography

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