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Shloop 𓅃

@bugwizardshloop.bsky.social

950 followers 550 following 480 posts

🇭🇰Nature photography w/ a TG | Volunteering at HKU School of Biological Sciences | interested in Lucanidae rearing and Vespinae ecology | He/they 🏳️‍🌈

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Pinned

Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Nov 30

I know the majority of my circle consists of entomologists, but I also wanted to revisit my pinning guide on Twitter. So now I’m not active there, here is a more comprehensive guide on how to start your own collection! Focusing on hard-bodied insects big enough to be pinned.

White frame of various moths, butterflies, bees, wasps and beetles.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 1d

#Invertober Day 4: Palm weevil (Rhycnhophorus)

A messy ink drawing of a robustly shaped weevil. It has club-like antennae and three thick black stripes on its pronotum.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 1d

schizomida are awesome you’re lucky

Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 1d

They’re quite hard to find… only time is when I found one under a longhorn beetle. You can try sifting leaf litter though they are more easily found this way

A tiny (2mm) brown scorpion-like bug (with no tail) on the side of my index finger

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 8d

It doesn’t matter if one only buys captive bred, by engaging with this trade you also increase the demand for wild animals. This is because fresh bloodlines need to be introduced for a healthy captive population and they will keep coming.

Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 8d

So many reptiles are made endangered PRIMARILY because of the pet trade. Your inbred, contaminated animal isn’t fit for release either.

We also can’t guarantee the sustainability of collecting. There is little study done on the actual impact of collecting especially on big insects w low turnover.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 8d

A few things for those engaging in the wildlife trade but care about conservation to make peace with:

While exotic pet trade helps understanding the habits of animals , it doesn’t directly help conservation.

This is a rhetoric I’ve seen a lot of herp keepers buy, but it’s crazy cope.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 8d

Would love to see this genus in the wild one day, I thought seeing a dead one in a vial of leaf litter sent to me was already very cool!

Reposted by Shloop 𓅃

The Wild @thewild.news · 8d

Pristine areas see insect decline. New research points to climate change as a primary factor.

#Insects #Climate #Environment

Insect populations drop even without direct human interference, a new study finds

Research published this month found that even in pristine, untouched areas, insect populations are still on the decline. Climate change is a likely culprit.

n.pr

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 16d

Hello Bluesky.
Contrary to its name, i am typing this when Hong Kong is hit by a super typhoon.
Last Sunday, I got my hands on this gorgeous stag beetle (Odontolabis stevensi duivenbodei), endemic to Sangihe Island. I look forward to breeding them. #inverts

A male stag beetle with a black head. It has short, curved mandibles. Its pronotum and the centre of its elytra are blood red. It has an orange border on its elytra, and between the two colours is black.

The female stag beetle has the same pattern, but it has a smaller head.

Reposted by Shloop 𓅃

Marshal Hedin @mhedin.bsky.social · 17d

let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts

I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??

here she is at her burrow entrance.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · 22d

FYI tying is unnecessary for Phalacrognathus. Usually reserved for much more powerful species such as large Dorcus, Hexarthrius, some Prosopocoilus.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Sep 2

Most leaf insects start of like this in their first instar, always in a different colour from the normal green or yellow 🧐

Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Sep 1

People often say that hummingbirds take the niche of insects, but few know that the closest actual analogue are paper wasps. I wont elaborate further.

Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Aug 31

Correct, at Tai Mo Shan Rd.

Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Aug 30

Tonight I saw 3 moon moths (Actias ningpoana) in a single walk. This is the third brood of the year, with the last one coming in October.
#invertefest

A pale green moth with long “tails” on each hindwing. It rests upside down on a tree.

Another of the same species of moth. In this photo you can see a red border on the anterior margin of its forewings, and its white body. It suffered some wear and tear, including a missing “tails” on the right hindwing. Its normally pink tail has faded. It rests on the ground.

Side view of the same moth, now on a grey fabric (my pants).

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Aug 27

In my trip to Taiwan I visited a few beetle stores including Insect Jungle, which offers an incredible variety of pet beetles and supplies. They include Rhaetus westwoodi, one of the most prized stag beetles, and Dynastes satanas which is rare in the wild, among other uncommon species. #invertefest

The entrance of Insect Jungle inside a garage. It has glass doors with beetle posters plastered all over the entrance.

The interior of the store. There are shelves of labelled, transparent plastic boxes where beetles live. There also are display cases of dead beetles and pet beetle/entomological supplies Posters of beetles are seen all over the walls.

A black rhinoceros beetle with thoracic and cephalic horns of similar length. On the bottom of its thoracic horn and below is a dense, orange pubescence. It is labelled as “Dynastes satanas”, 74mm. A pair of the beetles costs 2000 NTD.

Side view of a jet black stag beetle with its head poking out of some sphagnum moss. Its downwards-curving mandibles have a rhomboid “shield” at the base, a protrusion in the middle and ends with a fork. It is labelled R. westwoodi westwoodi, 85.5mm along. One single male beetle costs 32000 NTD.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Aug 26

For #invertefest here’s a lovely specimen of what is IMO one of the coolest stag beetles in Taiwan - Neolucanus maximus. Found at midnight when summer comes to an end, their unique mandibles have earned the nickname “dragon’s tooth” given by enthusiasts.

Top view of a splayed specimen of a shiny black stag beetle with a small, trapezoid head. It has large mandibles which curve slightly and end with around 5 serrations

When viewed from the side, the mandibles has two points which protrude upwards and outwards, one large point at the base and a smaller one near the end, somewhat like the horns of a dragon

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Reposted by Shloop 𓅃

CuttleDreams 🪱🪳 @cuttledreams.bsky.social · Aug 26

Bug time!! Got this one done just in time for #Invertefest ~

An illustration of the earwig Oreasiobia fedtschenkoi. It is swooping down wings outstretched. Around it is a wavy golden boarder and star shapes. The background is waves of pastel purples pinks and greens with glitter-like sparkles.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Aug 25

With larvae weighing over 250 grams and adults weighing only a quarter of its larval weight, Megasoma rex is the heaviest insect in the world.

It is split from Megasoma actaeon in 2018, based on small morphological differences and geographical isolation.

#invertefest

A marker drawing of a rhinoceros beetle with a bulky body. It has large, conical thoracic horns protruding parallel to its cephalic horn, with has an inner “tooth” pointing outwards and ends with a fork.

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Aug 24

That was exactly what I said when I examined it closely.

This was a photo taken in July. I forgot about bluesky for a while, remembered about invertefest and I knew I had to share this

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Aug 24

Leaf insects are one of the rarest phasmids in HK, with no specimens in museums and only a few photos online. They have been high on my wishlist, then I saw what looked like a bizarre assassin bug. I still couldn’t believe what I found.

Happy #InverteFest !!!!

A red stick insect with a flat abdomen and lobed legs (leaf insect). It stands idle among brown and green leaf litter.

Head shot of the stick insect, with its arms extending forwards. It hangs upside down on a branch.

The insect, viewed from the roof on my hand. It’s around a centimetre long.

Lateral view of the same bug on a stick, upside down. There are white patches on its legs.

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Reposted by Shloop 𓅃

! Jupiter's Wasp House ! @jupiterswasphouse.bsky.social · Aug 18

American carrion beetles, which carry the unfortunate name of Necrophila americana! These were hard to get photos of, between how active they were and how much the rabbit carcass they were likely looking to lay some eggs in was stinking :P

#Silphidae #beetles #coleoptera #insects #bugs #photos

A photo of a black and beige american carrion beetle in the sandy soil around a carcass that's mostly off screen

Another photo of a black and beige american carrion beetle, a different individual that's a bit darker, in the sandy soil around a carcass that's mostly off screen

Another photo of a black and beige american carrion beetle, the same one from the first image, in the sandy soil around a carcass that's mostly off screen

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Jul 19

Largest cicada in the world! Megapomponia imperatoria (empress cicada) came to the moth sheet at Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia.

#bugsky #inverts

Rusty brown, long bodied cicada with transparent wings with a few spots. It is on a white sheet.

The cicada zoomed in. On the centre of the thorax is a black •w• mark.

Cicada next to band. Its body alone is as long as my middle finger

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Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Jun 30

I do this a lot when showcasing insect specimens for some reason… one of the alarm clocks is active and the other reads 7:10. So yes in both cases it is moth o’clock.（:

Shloop 𓅃 @bugwizardshloop.bsky.social · Jun 30

I found this beauty dead by the road. It is Amplypterus panopus, one of the largest sphingids in HK. As a male, it only has a wingspan of 13cm, but females can reach 17cm. As it likely lived a long life, the moth is a bit battered and lost much of its striking colours.
#teammoth #inverts

A tan moth with a large body and long wingspan. It has a dark brown thorax, body and base of wing. At the middle section of the forewing and the apical margins of the hind wing creates of dark brown, somewhat straight border. It has eye spots at the lower end of its forewings. It has a large patch of pink on each of its hindwings.

The underside of the moth is tan, brown and near the body, yellow, resembling fallen autumn leaves.

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