Fossil of Pincer-Wielding Crawler Reveals Origins of Spiders, Scorpions and Others The Trilobites column over at the New York Times has a interesting story about the origin of chelicerates - spiders, scorpions, mites, horseshoe crabs, and others. Chelicerates are a diverse group of arthropods that consists of more than 120,000 known species. Member of this group are classified by having a pair of appendages called chelicerae. These appendages are adapted for various purposes like snatching prey, injecting venom, and even spinning silk.

Fossil of Pincer-Wielding Crawler Reveals Origins of Spiders, Scorpions and Others #fossils #paleontology #WheelerShale #Utah #arthropods #chelicerates #Cambrian

Short-winged Marauder -- one of the robber flies, also called assassin flies since they prey on other insects. A fascinating-looking fly with wings shorter than its tan abdomen, bright red-orange legs, and a dark central stripe on top of the tan thorax. The fly is perched on a bristly dead flower head waiting for its next meal to come by. The background is green and bright beige and part another flower head is in the lower right corner.

Short-winged Marauder (Proctacanthus brevipennis). I'm always happy to see a robber fly I've never seen before. Found at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve during a butterfly walk.
#arthropods #Florida #robberfly #insect #KissimmeePrairie

I'm glad this mourning cloak posed so well for me, kind of annoying though that it chose to pose on some dung. Still, looking beautiful. Albany County, New York, April 2026
#insects #arthropods #butterflies

Our Better Nature: Legs May Limit Love | The Saturday Evening Post Paul Hetzler tests his hypothesis that the more legs an animal has, the less loveable it is (to humans, at least).

Love Those Legs! My latest essay: #centipedes #arachnids #millipedes #arthropods #inverts #nature #invertebrates #bugs #pets #oxytocin #dopamine #writingcommunity #science 🌎🧪🌍🌏🇨🇦📖
www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2026/04/our-...

Tailless whip spider on woman’s hand

Species ID

Was told it was Damon diadema but it (he?) only has 2 bands on the legs instead of 3 distinct ones. My thought it Damon medius. (Subadult)

If anyone knows for sure please let me know! :-)

#arachnids #speciesID #arthropods #blueskyspiders

A blurry digital drawing of a house centipede on a purple background

Drawing Critters 62/100

House Centipede!
#art #arthropods

A 500-million-year-old clawed predator rewrites the origin of spiders and horseshoe crabs Harvard researchers reveal the earliest known Chelicerata in a new study published in Nature. The 500-million-year-old fossil, named Megachelicerax cousteaui, provides unequivocal evidence of chelicera, a feature never before seen in Cambrian arthropods. The discovery pushes back the origin of chelicerates by at least 20 million years and proves their distinctive body plan emerged during the Cambrian explosion.

1-Apr-2026
A 500-million-year-old clawed predator rewrites the origin of #spiders and #horseshoeCrabs

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121624

#science #evolution #ecology #arachnids #arthropods

New work in #RESAgForestEnt

Epigeal #arthropods in small-scale oil palm #plantations of Central America driven by landscape-scale habitat disturbance
doi.org/10.1111/afe.70046

#Biodiversity
@jordancuff.bsky.social @chrisranger.bsky.social @ukladybirds.bsky.social

Photo credits: Alessia Pilati

Surprise in amber: exotic harvestmen once lived in Europe A German-Bulgarian research team led by SNSB paleontologist Christian Bartel has discovered a new species of harvestman in 35-million-year-old Ukrainian and Baltic amber. The animal is related to harvestmen that are now extinct in Europe. The researchers published their findings in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

27-Mar-2026
Surprise in #amber: exotic harvestmen once lived in Europe

#arachnid order #opiliones aka #DaddyLongLegs

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121689

#science #ecology #evolution #arthropods #fossils

Hyloniscus riparius. Photo courtesy of article authors.

Mesoniscus graniger - Galeria Melia. Photo courtesy of article authors.

Researchers collect data in a cave. Photo courtesy of article authors.

New #OpenAccess research in #RESEcolEnt

Beyond species #diversity: Functional responses of #cave #arthropods to microclimatic stability & structural complexity
doi.org/10.1111/een.70080

@sheborg.bsky.social @robwilsonmncn.bsky.social @callomac.bsky.social

Photos courtesy of article authors

This is a drawing of multiple pink arthropods on a light pink background. In the middle of this drawing there's a text "pink bug club". Each arthropod is labeled with their scientific name. Bugs shown are: gyponana gladia, phromnia rosea, asphaera quadrifasciata, cheilomenes aurora and cheilomenes bidentata,thomisus onustus, microphotus angustus, cubaris cherry blossom, dryocampa runicunda (aka rosy maple moth), hymenopus coronatus (aka orchid mantis),aedophron rhodites,cithaerias aurorina snd brachycybe rosea

I know beauty exists because bugs are so full of it💞
.
#bugs #myart #arthropods #biology #art

TY for sharing this great piece of art & all your efforts, ‪@instascience.bsky.social‬!
Speaking of #arthropods: These live under a rotting log. A fascinating #microcosm is filled with creatures of whom we can see just a few.
#bugs #EastCoastKin #macroPhotography
#strongerTogether: #ALText:)

Today we have the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Brandon Cooper from the University of Montana, USA to our Department seminar
#unifrbiology #biology #biologyseminar #fribourg #unifr #endosymbionts #wolbachia #insects #arthropods

“Orange Assassin Bug”
Digital Painting, Made in Procreate
1839x2387px

#digitaloil #digitalpainting #artwork #artist #procreate #procreateoil #realism #bugs #insects #arthropods #bug

My dictator scorpion halfway through its molt. Its fresh body emerges from the head of its former exoskeleton, a purple-black hue in comparison to the molts brown.

My dictator scorpion nearing the 3/4 mark of its molt. All four legs have made it out and half its abdomen and the tail remain.

My dictator scorpion in the final stages of its molt with less than a 1/4 of its abdomen and its tail remaining.

My dictator scorpion, fully molted and relaxing next to its coffin-shaped water dish as it finishes forming and hardening. The soft tissues are a cool and pale purplish grey.

Today was an exciting day for me when I woke up! First time I've ever been able to document a molt and it seems to have gone smoothly as well. Even have a fully intact molt for the jar 💚

🦂: Pandinopsis dictator- Dictator Scorpion

#Bugs #arthropods #arachnids #buglife #scorpion #invertebrates

A blurry digital painting of a Seychelles forest scorpion on a pale brown background

Drawing Critters 57/100

Seychelles Forest Scorpion!
#art #arthropods

Digital flat color illustration of an acorn weevil. It is standing behind a wooden table trying to make white chocolate but seems to be struggling, it looks distraught. It is holding a pink measuring cup with one of its legs, a spatula with another leg and checking a cookbook with another leg. There are three metallic heart shaped bowls on the table, one containing cacao butter, the other containing powdered sugar and the other containing milk powder. There is also a metallic heart shaped chocolate mold. There are yellowish stains all over the table. On the upper right corner it says "Happy White Day 2026! I have no idea what I'm doing" in elegant font. The background is light yellow with a pattern of striped rectangles in orange.

Since I drew weevils for Valentine’s Day I figured I might as well draw White Day weevils too :) #eli's-art #art #digital-art #procreate #drawing #illustration #original-art #white-day #animals #invertebrates #arthropods #insects #bugs #coleoptera #curculionidae #weevils #weevil #weevil-wednesday

Macro of an Isopod traversing a landscape of lichen-covered bark in the bloom of latest winter

Macro of an Millipede traversing a landscape of deadwood; tiny patches of algae and neonate bryophytes in the bloom of latest winter

啓蟄 Diptych
Ann Arbor, MI 3/8/26 #Photography #Macro #Arthropods 90s Sigma 50 2.8 Macro #Vintagelens #Nature

Another find down at #thepeoplescoast this past weekend were these delightful little Striped Shore Crabs; we found them down among the rocks on one of the jetties! #Nature #Photography #Crabs #Arthropods #Oregon with @sirisharmony.bsky.social

Photo en gros plan d'une zoropsis spinimana, une araignée commune dans les maisons. Celle ci est dehors, au pied de jeunes pousses de plantes. Elle est de trois quart face. On distingue ses yeux.

Ma meilleure photo de Zoropsis spinimana 🕷️
#spiders #bugsky #arthropods #naturephotography #macrophotography #arachnids

Bird nests support a diverse, dynamic and distinctive macroarthropod community on the forest floor Nests built by vertebrates, such as birds and mammals, constitute diverse microhabitats that are inhabited by many arthropod taxa and represent important hubs of local biodiversity. Compared to leaf...

ℹ️ Full article available via the link in our bio or at: bit.ly/4unuxu6

❓ Had you ever thought of nests as small biodiversity hotspots for arthropods, including ants? We look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments.

#AIM #Myrmecology #Ecology #Biodiversity #Arthropods

“Unlike Anything We’ve Ever Seen” – Bizarre New Insect Discovered in South America Stuns Scientists A newly identified termite species with a whale-like head reveals unexpected diversity within the Cryptotermes genus.

Meet "Cryptotermes mobydicki"!!
#insects #termites #arthropods
Source: SciTechDaily
search.app/4dYW8

🎉 Enjoy our new publication about these interesting ecological network of interactions between #arthropods, #birds, #parasites, and #environmental_resources inside #forest-floor bird nests!

A rotting log that had been encased in ice for months is beginning to melt and is crawling with springtails.

While you’re out checking your footprints, make sure to check your dead trees too. #springtails #arthropods #bugsky

Robberfly, an effective Hymenoptera predator from the family Diptera. In other words, the is a fly that hunts bees and wasps.

Some sort of assassin bug, never ID’d species or genus

African wall spider found in a home in Zambia. They are shy and are flat enough to live behind furniture that are against the wall.

Bumble bee going about its busy bee business

Hi, please have some bug pics (insects and spider) because I’m a bug enjoyer, okay byeeee

#bugphotography #arthropods #insects #arachnids

Digital photography of a silver argiope spider on its web. Green leaves can be seen in the background.

Silver argiope spider (Argiope argentata). Size of the subject: approximately 1,2 millimtres (not counting the legs).

From 2022 #photography #digital-photography #original-photography #nature #nature-photography #garden #plants #green #animals #invertebrates #arthropods #arachnids #spiders #spider

Brasilana spelaea, an ovigerous adult female.

#NewSpecies!
New isopod from #brazil just came in:

Brasilana spelaea

Treatment: treatment.plazi.org/id/03B587F8-...
Publication: doi.org/10.11646/zoo...
#Zootaxa #BrasilanaSpelaea

#FAIRdata
#taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #arthropods #crustacea #isopods

A blurry digital painting of a Rocky Mountain tick on a dull yellow background

Drawing Critters 51/100

Rocky Mountain Tick!
#art #arthropods

Another exciting preprint by @nextstrain, with one of the coolest animals out there, the horseshoe crab! #EvoDevo #HorseshoeCrab #Arthropods

Athelges pileus, holotype female. Habitus, ventral view.

#NewSpecies!
New #isopod from #japan just came in:

Athelges pileus

Treatment: treatment.plazi.org/id/9663C94B-...
Publication: doi.org/10.3897/zook...
#ZooKeys #AthelgesPileus

#FAIRdata
#OA #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #arthropods #crustacea #parasite