An orange sawfly crouches over a pile of larvae. The larvae are oblong and have translucent yellow bodies and shiny black ends.

An orange sawfly crouches over a pile of larvae. The larvae are oblong and have translucent yellow bodies and shiny black ends.

An orange sawfly crouches over a pile of larvae. The larvae are oblong and have translucent yellow bodies and shiny black ends.

An orange sawfly crouches over a pile of larvae. The larvae are oblong and have translucent yellow bodies and shiny black ends.

A sawfly — species Pseudoperga lewisii — and its many, many larvae. There are only about 50 iNaturalist observations of this species so far!

George Melika wearing a "crown" made from oak galls

Sad to report the passing of George Melika, the prolific world authority on gall wasps and the unofficial "king of the galls". He will be sorely missed.

To see some of his contributions to the world of cynipidology: scholar.google.com/citations?us...

Monopis moth with grey background (speckled dust of grey and white mist), it's long thin body with golden abdomen and defined black wings neatly folded. It has beautiful yellow marigold scales that glistened when lights hit on its body and its legs.

Few months back, took up the #SciArt challenge! In conjunction with #YearOfTheMoth
.
.
Here's the 12th moth. Meet the little bright Monopis moth! (Monopis laevigella) 💙 #monopis #moth #teamMoth #mothweek2026 #mothweekart26 #mothweek mothing with
@dinalab.bsky.social @amnh.org

A VERY LARGE pinkish tardigrade on green mossy surface, all from cake.

Another shot of the cake, plus info tags.

Gotta show you this tardigrade cake I saw at the American Museum of Natural History.

Garlic cloves and bread from a fresco originally from Herculaneum and now at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN), Italy. Photo by Sophie Hay

Happy National Garlic 🧄 Day! Greeks & Romans loved garlic—but Mesopotamians loved it 1000s of years before them. The Greek ἄγλις (Latin alium) is an Akkadian loan word. At Pompeii, there was even a garlic seller (aliarii) workshop ( 📸 by @pompei79.bsky.social): pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpic...

I am not a podcast person by any means, but I'm excited about this series, and starting strong with my long time mentor Mike Gates!

Josephiella leaf and stem galls

Josephiella manana

Gibsonoma kuewa

The Chinese banyan stem gall first found in Hawaii in 2012 finally has a name! Meet Josephiella manana, and its associate Gibsonoma kuewa. Fun small project with @kmagnacca.bsky.social in sorting out some of these introduced micro wasps of Hawaii. Link to paper: tinyurl.com/ych93swd

In the footsteps of Linnaeus: scientists share their passion for species from tiny wasps to hairy plants – in pictures For his project ‘De Oförtrutna’ (The Relentless), photographer Christer Björkman pictured Swedish scientists working in the spirit of Carl Linneaus, the botanist who created the modern taxonomic syste...

This is lovely:
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#science #biology

Nature Today | Aziatische hoornaar wordt geelpoothoornaar In 2017 werd Vespa velutina voor het eerst in Nederland waargenomen. Deze soort werd in eerste instantie aangeduid als de Aziatische hoornaar. Om een aantal redenen is het beter deze grote wesp voorta...

www.naturetoday.com/intl/nl/natu...

Holacanthella paucispinosa on the cover of this month's issue of Nature Ecology and Evolution. Photo by Frank Ashwood

Breaking news: giant springtail from Aotearoa NZ made the cover of @natecoevo.nature.com!

This amazing pic of H. paucispinosa by @frankashwood.bsky.social should lure readers to the global study by @zheng-zhou.bsky.social et al on soil animal trophic diversity 🌍🌿🕷️🪱🪳🧪
www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

A large green aphid fills the whole screen. Magenta splotches of the symbiont Buchnera are in the posterior end of the aphid

I've been working to visualize the biogeography of the aphid's intracellular symbiont within whole insects. The pink bacteria live in the host's specialized bacteriocytes and embryos. Really excited about where this work is going! #FluorescenceFriday

EXCELLENT staph photo aside, this is a point I'm constantly trying to make when we do education/outreach: you don't have to go to the rainforest/desert/tundra to observe "an ecosystem," you can also look at one (1) flower in your local park or pollinator garden

A fly with red eyes that are shaped upward like horns. The fly has pale legs and underside with brown on the top of the head and a brown and tan striped scutum. It is standing on an off white mushroom.

Two flies with red eyes that are shaped upward like horns. The flies have pale legs and undersides with brown on the top of the head, a brown and tan striped scutum, and a dark brown and pale striped abdomen. The fly on the left is getting ready to shove the fly on the right with his front leg.

Two flies with red eyes that are shaped upward like horns. The flies have pale legs and undersides with brown on the top of the head, a brown and tan striped scutum, and a dark brown and pale striped abdomen. The fly on the left is shoving the fly on the right with his front leg.

Just a lil guy defending his mushroom.

We found a log covered in mushrooms and spotted some small hammerhead flies on it. Turns out these are feisty fruit flies and the males are serious about defending their patch. One of our coolest finds so far! #invert
(Zygothrica sp.) Intag Refugio, Ecuador

Kurator/in (m/w/d) für Ichthyologie gesucht — Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart, ab sofort; naturkundemuseum-bw.de/en/jobs

The Natural History Museum Stuttgart is seeking to fill a position as
Curator / Researcher (m/f/d) in Ichthyology

Permanent, full-time (80–100%)
Remuneration in accordance with TV-L E13

Application deadline: 17/05/2026

➡ Further information: https://t1p.de/3svwg

We just turned 4 and we wanted to celebrate with you! 🥳 🐜🎁 🪲

Between now 🎂 (April 14) and Earth Day 🌎️ (April 22) we will be having a 10% off promotion on all online orders. Use code BIRTHDAY2EARTHDAY26

!!!

initially thought they were an oribatid beetle mite... then freaked out upon taking a few photos - realizing they were BAEUS - a *tiny* (~600µm) parasitic wasp!

Lost them after trying to stop lens down for a bit more depth of field! Underneath a log, NE Oklahoma

Nyakatura-Lab for Comparative Zoology | News See what’s been happening in the Nyakatura Lab. News: discover our latest publications, recent events, and research highlights.

2 PhD Opportunities! 🤩
We are recruiting two highly motivated PhD students to join an ambitious project advancing Robotic Paleontology—a rapidly emerging field that fuses paleontology, biomechanics, simulation, and robotics.

nyakaturalab.com/news/

Please share!!

Mollusc of the Year 2026 Click here to see previous Mollusc of the Year winners.

Vote for Mollusc of the Year 2026. The winner will have its complete genome sequenced. There are some cool species in the running this year! www.unitasmalacologica.org/mollusc-of-t...

A 310-year old dried pressed plant in a bound herbarium with the label "Jacea fl. albo | In Esqr Daeths grounds"

A white-flowered form of Common Knapweed from "Esqr Daeths grounds" in the Hortus Siccus Anglicanus of London apothecary James Petiver (NHM HS151 f. 136). His journal shows this was gathered at Knowlton, Kent, 22 August 1714 (OS).

#wildflowerhour @kentfieldclub.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social

We’re hosting a BHL symposium at the @tdwg.org conference in Oslo this September.

Working with BHL data, tools, or content? We’d love you to be part of it. In-person and virtual talks welcome.
🔗 www.tdwg.org/conferences/...

Our Changing World: Building an army to stop a stink bug invasion The brown marmorated stink bug is high on New Zealand's least wanted list. The Bioeconomy Science Institute in Auckland is hoping to curb an invasion of these unwanted insects.

#InTheNews RNZ's Our Changing World meets scientists Dr Gonzalo Avila and Karina Santos who are figuring out how to build an army of Samurai Wasps to protect Aoteaoroa New Zealand against a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) invasion.

Listen to the full story: bit.ly/4mA6AMz

Supersterk spinsel 💪🐛
Niek Boele uit Wilnis keek vreemd op toen hij de plankjes in zijn houtopslag niet van elkaar kreeg. Ze zaten aan elkaar vast door… tja, door wat eigenlijk? 🤔

Diagramm zeigt ASIP‑Mutation, Introgression und Hybridisierung als Ursache verschiedener Gefiedermuster bei Steinschmätzern.

#SaveTheDate
14.04.2026 | 16:00 Uhr | Museum am Löwentor & Online

Research Colloquium:
Racing evolution: How populations rapidly adapt and repeatedly evolve colour
by @niloofaralaei.bsky.social , Natural History Museum Stuttgart
➡️ https://t1p.de/wk02h

📷: N. Alaei Kakhki

Jobs | Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart Open positions

🐟 Are you an ichthyologist driven by collection-based research? 🧑‍🔬
Apply by May 17 ⏰

At SMNS, we extend our collections integrating genomes 🧬, distributions 🗺️, and species interactions 🕸️ to understand and conserve biodiversity 🌱🐞🦎🦅

Join us! Please share 🔁

www.naturkundemuseum-bw.de/en/jobs/deta...

Hey #iNaturalist people! I created a new "traditional project" for invertebrates found in or reared from vertebrate (mostly bird) nests. Please add your observations if relevant!
www.inaturalist.org/projects/inv...

New paper: Australian biosecurity invertebrate interceptions An exciting new paper by Charlotte Lassaline, Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, and collaborators has just been published, presenting the first nine-year overview of terrestrial invertebrate biosecurity interc…

#NewPaper alert! What factors affect incursions of non-native invertebrates across Australia's borders? 9 years of interception data show arrivals follow trade, travel, and seasonality... but species diversity still isn’t plateauing. #bugsky
invertebratelab.com/2026/04/13/n...

This photograph showcases a cluster of Hepatica nobilis, also commonly known as liverleaf or liverwort. These delicate wildflowers are a signature sign of early spring, often found blooming on the forest floor before trees have their leaves. The vibrant violet-blue or purple flowers feature 6 to 10 petal-like sepals surrounding a center of numerous white and yellow stamens. Each flower rises on its own slender, reddish-brown stem, which is noticeably covered in fine, silky hairs. The flowers are shown emerging from a bed of dry, brown leaf litter and moss, typical of their natural deciduous woodland habitat.

It's time! 💙
The most beautiful messenger of spring, the liverwort
(Hepatica nobilis), now adorns the forest slopes.
It's always a special feeling to capture the first bloom in a picture.

#ForestFriday
#bloomscrolling
#flowers

photo of a green caterpillar with antlers with its mouth against a metal tube

lol apparently those cute little japanese emperor butterfly (sasakia) caterpillars that have antlers and a :3 face have such bad breath that they scare away predatory wasps. look they're making them take breathalyzer tests. the results are in: stinky!!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Harpalinae, one of the largest subfamilies of beetles in the world with ~19,000 species, but not as you know it! #taxonomy #systematics #entomology #MuseumCollections resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...