Ainsley S
@americanbeetles.bsky.social
I hope you like pictures of bugs.
Curating at CMNH, teaching at CMU, beetling everywhere
Curating at CMNH, teaching at CMU, beetling everywhere
Pinned
The Pest Is Still To Come
YouTube video by Dan Warren
www.youtube.com
I'm proud of our li'l Schoolhouse Rock for Insect Taxonomists cartoon, but if you're not in Bug World here are some annotations for you... www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYSI... cc @danlwarren.bsky.social
Reposted by Ainsley S
🚨Good news, everyone!
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
November 22, 2025 at 4:53 PM
🚨Good news, everyone!
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
Reposted by Ainsley S
“I asked ChatGPT” “I asked Claude” I asked this horseshoe crab and he said your ass wouldn’t have lasted two seconds in the Triassic
November 23, 2025 at 9:50 PM
“I asked ChatGPT” “I asked Claude” I asked this horseshoe crab and he said your ass wouldn’t have lasted two seconds in the Triassic
Reposted by Ainsley S
I love Northern Australia, and it breaks my heart what's happening and is planned for this region. More people need to know why this place is so special and what's at risk, so I wrote about it. My first article for @australiainstitute.org.au's The Point. thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Northern Australia is extraordinary, and it’s under severe threat
Right now, this region, is under siege, in large part due to insatiable corporate and government desires to ‘develop’ the North.
thepoint.com.au
November 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
I love Northern Australia, and it breaks my heart what's happening and is planned for this region. More people need to know why this place is so special and what's at risk, so I wrote about it. My first article for @australiainstitute.org.au's The Point. thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Reposted by Ainsley S
I found a big sign at the thrift shop with some live/laugh/love stuff on it, so I painted over that with my to-do list. Feel free to make it yours, too.
November 23, 2025 at 3:26 AM
I found a big sign at the thrift shop with some live/laugh/love stuff on it, so I painted over that with my to-do list. Feel free to make it yours, too.
Reposted by Ainsley S
For all of those entomologists wondering what book Dr. Frankenstein is holding up in Guillermo del Toro's new cinematic masterpiece: www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/...
November 23, 2025 at 3:10 AM
For all of those entomologists wondering what book Dr. Frankenstein is holding up in Guillermo del Toro's new cinematic masterpiece: www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/...
HUGE NEWS, SICB is *thee* biomechanics conference, the queen of sciences, the funniest and most confusing videos you will see in your life
ARTISTS!
I need your help!
In collab. w/the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology, I'm organizing a group of artists to come to our Jan. meeting! We're looking for artists to create based on what they learn at the conference. $1000 stipend.
Application is V short! forms.gle/ah1i8KwNJinZ...
I need your help!
In collab. w/the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology, I'm organizing a group of artists to come to our Jan. meeting! We're looking for artists to create based on what they learn at the conference. $1000 stipend.
Application is V short! forms.gle/ah1i8KwNJinZ...
November 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
HUGE NEWS, SICB is *thee* biomechanics conference, the queen of sciences, the funniest and most confusing videos you will see in your life
Reposted by Ainsley S
AI works* like "I have a friend who knows how to do that, I'll ask her"
you still don't know how
if the friend isn't there, you still can't do it
you won't learn how. why would you, your friend can do it
(ps you have to pay your friend, the cost will go way up it's run at a loss)
*when it works
you still don't know how
if the friend isn't there, you still can't do it
you won't learn how. why would you, your friend can do it
(ps you have to pay your friend, the cost will go way up it's run at a loss)
*when it works
glad to see pushback
learning and skill growth happen when what we knew going into a problem weren't enough to answer and move on. AI flatters you to feel you know enough to get an answer out (often not right, but even if it were!), user doesn't have to become more capable, becomes dependent on it.
learning and skill growth happen when what we knew going into a problem weren't enough to answer and move on. AI flatters you to feel you know enough to get an answer out (often not right, but even if it were!), user doesn't have to become more capable, becomes dependent on it.
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
November 9, 2025 at 3:01 PM
AI works* like "I have a friend who knows how to do that, I'll ask her"
you still don't know how
if the friend isn't there, you still can't do it
you won't learn how. why would you, your friend can do it
(ps you have to pay your friend, the cost will go way up it's run at a loss)
*when it works
you still don't know how
if the friend isn't there, you still can't do it
you won't learn how. why would you, your friend can do it
(ps you have to pay your friend, the cost will go way up it's run at a loss)
*when it works
lest we think that tenebs are the only beetles who like to get weird with it, here's the brentid weevil Calodromus with his signature defensive move (stick he leggy out)
November 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
lest we think that tenebs are the only beetles who like to get weird with it, here's the brentid weevil Calodromus with his signature defensive move (stick he leggy out)
Reposted by Ainsley S
I reckon you can learn a lot about the atmosphere in various Oxford colleges by looking at what they choose to name their cats (courtesy of @oxfordclarion.bsky.social ). We should all aspire to the energy of a Teabag, Isambard Kitten Brunel, or an Admiral Flapjack
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
November 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I reckon you can learn a lot about the atmosphere in various Oxford colleges by looking at what they choose to name their cats (courtesy of @oxfordclarion.bsky.social ). We should all aspire to the energy of a Teabag, Isambard Kitten Brunel, or an Admiral Flapjack
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
personally I think highly selective cannibalism could solve a lot of today’s problems
Did Neandertals choose their prey when practicing cannibalism?🍖
Check out our new study, just published in Scientific Reports - @natureportfolio.nature.com!
We provide the strongest evidence to date for a highly selective cannibalism at the end of Neandertal lineage, 41-45.000 years ago.
1/7
Check out our new study, just published in Scientific Reports - @natureportfolio.nature.com!
We provide the strongest evidence to date for a highly selective cannibalism at the end of Neandertal lineage, 41-45.000 years ago.
1/7
Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey
doi.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:27 PM
personally I think highly selective cannibalism could solve a lot of today’s problems
hey if you need a pleasant visual experience this AM, consider the exquisite beetle portraiture of Kenji Kohiyama stulab.jp/gallery_cate...
Micropresence Photograph – Kenji Kohiyama
stulab.jp
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
hey if you need a pleasant visual experience this AM, consider the exquisite beetle portraiture of Kenji Kohiyama stulab.jp/gallery_cate...
Hymenopterists, what’s up? Sleeping in pairs? Weighing down the seed head for Bee Reasons?
Anyone know what’s going on with these ( maybe dead?) pairs of leafcutter bees in Australia?
November 21, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Hymenopterists, what’s up? Sleeping in pairs? Weighing down the seed head for Bee Reasons?
Reposted by Ainsley S
I just completed my carbon dust course offered by the Lyme Art Association. Walrus mandible which is still in progress. If you’re interested in learning this technique, I’ll be offering a 6 week course and a one day workshop starting in the new January. Stay tuned for more details. #SciArt
November 21, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I just completed my carbon dust course offered by the Lyme Art Association. Walrus mandible which is still in progress. If you’re interested in learning this technique, I’ll be offering a 6 week course and a one day workshop starting in the new January. Stay tuned for more details. #SciArt
Reposted by Ainsley S
#UBC Botany is hiring an Assistant Professor in Non-Seed Plant Diversity - come work with us in beautiful #Vancouver, BC! Please repost!
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
University of British Columbia, Botany
Job #AJO31140, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN NON-SEED PLANT DIVERSITY (BRYOPHYTES, FERNS, LYCOPHYTES), Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CA
academicjobsonline.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:10 PM
#UBC Botany is hiring an Assistant Professor in Non-Seed Plant Diversity - come work with us in beautiful #Vancouver, BC! Please repost!
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31140
Reposted by Ainsley S
New hypothesis: I think teachers can stop AI cheating in schools by making all their assignments about nuclear weapons enrichment. Chatgpt is vigilant about this topic even when you try to mask it with other terms. I have saved the children
November 21, 2025 at 2:36 AM
New hypothesis: I think teachers can stop AI cheating in schools by making all their assignments about nuclear weapons enrichment. Chatgpt is vigilant about this topic even when you try to mask it with other terms. I have saved the children
Reposted by Ainsley S
"get out the jar of gumption and pry open the jaws of Treasury to make sure that our national science agency is funded in the way that will be good for the country into the long term. If you want to find the money, you can find it.
I mean, we found $600m for a football team in Papua New Guinea."
I mean, we found $600m for a football team in Papua New Guinea."
‘Pry open the jaws of Treasury’ to fund CSIRO amid hundreds of job losses, Labor MP Ed Husic tells own party
Husic, who oversaw CSIRO cuts as the former science minister, said some in government see scientific agency funding as a ‘cost’ not an ‘investment’
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:20 AM
"get out the jar of gumption and pry open the jaws of Treasury to make sure that our national science agency is funded in the way that will be good for the country into the long term. If you want to find the money, you can find it.
I mean, we found $600m for a football team in Papua New Guinea."
I mean, we found $600m for a football team in Papua New Guinea."
Reposted by Ainsley S
SOUND ON.
Instead of a photo, here's a short video from Borneo. Normally I don't condone handling of wildlife, but something was obviously stuck beneath our truck. You might say we were a bit surprised about what our guide pulled out...
Instead of a photo, here's a short video from Borneo. Normally I don't condone handling of wildlife, but something was obviously stuck beneath our truck. You might say we were a bit surprised about what our guide pulled out...
November 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
SOUND ON.
Instead of a photo, here's a short video from Borneo. Normally I don't condone handling of wildlife, but something was obviously stuck beneath our truck. You might say we were a bit surprised about what our guide pulled out...
Instead of a photo, here's a short video from Borneo. Normally I don't condone handling of wildlife, but something was obviously stuck beneath our truck. You might say we were a bit surprised about what our guide pulled out...
Birdos the world over tugging nervously at their collars
Despite Austria’s declared neutrality and its refusal to send weapons to Kyiv, the country’s Swarovski Optik has continued supplying high-end rifle scopes to Russia throughout the full-scale war.
meduza.io/en/feature/2...
meduza.io/en/feature/2...
How Swarovski Optik is still sending sniper scopes to Russia, despite Austria’s policy of ‘permanent neutrality’ — Meduza
Despite Austria’s declared neutrality and its refusal to send weapons to Kyiv, the country’s Swarovski Optik has continued supplying high-end rifle scopes to Russia throughout the full-scale war,…
meduza.io
November 20, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Birdos the world over tugging nervously at their collars
Reposted by Ainsley S
Reminder that my lab is seeking graduate students for fall 2026. As part of @oupaleobiology.bsky.social, my lab uses a combination of fossils, statistical phylogenetics, fieldwork, & computational approaches to investigate macroevolutionary dynamics in the marine biosphere. Link w/ more info below:
November 12, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reminder that my lab is seeking graduate students for fall 2026. As part of @oupaleobiology.bsky.social, my lab uses a combination of fossils, statistical phylogenetics, fieldwork, & computational approaches to investigate macroevolutionary dynamics in the marine biosphere. Link w/ more info below:
Reposted by Ainsley S
Team fish - we need your help! We are trying to build a database of all the fish chromosome-scale genomes where sex chromosomes have been identified. Have you build one or some? Do you know someone who has? Can you post the link in the comments? Please spread the word and repost! Thank you!
November 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Team fish - we need your help! We are trying to build a database of all the fish chromosome-scale genomes where sex chromosomes have been identified. Have you build one or some? Do you know someone who has? Can you post the link in the comments? Please spread the word and repost! Thank you!
leggy
🐆 Transactions of the American Entomological Society and proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Philadelphia: The Society, 1878-1889
[Source]
Philadelphia: The Society, 1878-1889
[Source]
November 20, 2025 at 1:42 AM
leggy
Reposted by Ainsley S
This is not what the problem is. We have many excellent, talented, engaging science communicators.
Their reach is deliberately truncated by the social media companies, and billionaire-owned news outlets do not platform them.
Their reach is deliberately truncated by the social media companies, and billionaire-owned news outlets do not platform them.
Scientists are partly to blame by not learning to effectively communicate in lay language on modern communication channels. That information void is then ripe for disinformation to fill.
Embed lay comms & accessibility skills into academia.
Embed lay comms & accessibility skills into academia.
November 19, 2025 at 11:18 PM
This is not what the problem is. We have many excellent, talented, engaging science communicators.
Their reach is deliberately truncated by the social media companies, and billionaire-owned news outlets do not platform them.
Their reach is deliberately truncated by the social media companies, and billionaire-owned news outlets do not platform them.
Pleasingly dynamic Catocala as well
November 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Pleasingly dynamic Catocala as well