Cotinis
@cotinis.bsky.social
26 followers 47 following 67 posts
Naturalist/photographer. Find me as @cotinis on BugGuide, Flickr, iNaturalist, Instagram, Mastodon, Blue Sky, and pixelfed.social. My professional background is in public health, especially environmental health.
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cotinis.bsky.social
Happy #Arachtober the 8th! Something different for today, a public domain image from McCook's American spiders and their spinning work (1889). Original at:
www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42190084
The illustrator is Elizabeth Fearne Bonsall (1861 - 1956).
I cleaned up the image in GIMP.
Plate 12 from American Spiders and their Spinning Work (1889).
cotinis.bsky.social
Alcohol pretty much overshadows all other preventable causes of cancer except tobacco. Environmental pollution, yes, of great concern. Alcohol is literally, "hold my beer". The carcinogenic risk of alcohol consumption is not hypothetical--it's been proven over and over for the past eighty years.
cotinis.bsky.social
Giant Otter - Pteronura brasiliensis (26 October 2024, Encontro das Águas State Park, Brazil)
This one was spotted bathing and splashing across the river channel, swam over to investigate us, then caught an eel and consumed it noisily.
Giant Otter - Pteronura brasiliensis (bathing) Giant Otter - Pteronura brasiliensis (crunching down on an eel) Giant Otter - Pteronura brasiliensis (crunching down on an eel) Giant Otter - Pteronura brasiliensis (crunching down on an eel)
cotinis.bsky.social
Happy Fly Day Friday, plus bonus critters. All from Gorges State Park in North Carolina.
Southern Gray-cheeked Salamander - Plethodon metcalfi
Shiny-sided Bladetail - Machimus sadyates
Caterpillar (Noctuoidea) found on Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
Compost Fly - Ptecticus trivittatus
Southern Gray-cheeked Salamander - Plethodon metcalfi Shiny-sided Bladetail - Machimus sadyates Caterpillar (Noctuoidea) found on Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) Compost Fly - Ptecticus trivittatus
Reposted by Cotinis
jamellebouie.net
kennedy is going to kill a lot of people
phillewis.bsky.social
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he will cancel $500 million in vaccine development projects.
cotinis.bsky.social
Worst decision ever. The mRNA vaccine platform in general produced vaccines that are safer and easier to develop--perfect for emergency use in the case of an emerging disease.
youtu.be/FMLhcACHF_g?...
BARDA and mRNA Vaccines Announcement
YouTube video by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
youtu.be
cotinis.bsky.social
Insects from an event at Chapel Hill Public Library (North Carolina) on 26 July 2025: #nationalmothweek.
Luna Moth - Actias luna (from other side of the sheet!)
Treehopper - Glossonotus acuminatus
Bold-feathered Grass Moth - Herpetogramma pertextalis
Beautiful Mantidfly - Leptomantispa pulchella
Treehopper - Glossonotus acuminatus Luna Moth - Actias luna (from other side of the sheet!) Bold-feathered Grass Moth - Herpetogramma pertextalis Beautiful Mantidfly - Leptomantispa pulchella
cotinis.bsky.social
Happy World Snake Day! (26 July 2025)
Snakes I have photographed over the years...
Red-tailed Boa - Boa constrictor constrictor; Emas NP, BR
Black-Tailed Rattlesnake - Crotalus molossus; Cave Creek Canyon, AZ USA
Tiger Rattlesnake - Crotalus tigris; Santa Rita Mountains, AZ USA
#worldsnakeday
Red-tailed Boa - Boa constrictor constrictor; Emas NP, BR Red-tailed Boa - Boa constrictor constrictor; Emas NP, BR Black-Tailed Rattlesnake - Crotalus molossus; Cave Creek Canyon, AZ USA Tiger Rattlesnake - Crotalus tigris; Santa Rita Mountains, AZ USA
cotinis.bsky.social
Jagged Ambush Bug - Phymata species (nymph, 4-5 mm)
13 July 2025, Durham NC (USA)
A couple of these were found on fleabane (Erigeron species). They were brought in on their flowers for some studio shots. Such little tanks!
Jagged Ambush Bug - Phymata species (nymph, 4-5 mm) Jagged Ambush Bug - Phymata species (nymph, 4-5 mm) Jagged Ambush Bug - Phymata species (nymph, 4-5 mm) Jagged Ambush Bug - Phymata species (nymph, 4-5 mm)
cotinis.bsky.social
All shorebirds are the best shorebird, but somehow my fave is the Marbled Godwit. I guess I just love that silly upturned beak.
cotinis.bsky.social
That is a nice one--never seen it. My current motto is "I try to enjoy each taxon equally". I can afford to do that, though, being an amateur.
cotinis.bsky.social
Certainly seems plausible. Perhaps some epidemiologist out there is studying cancer incidence in post-Covid patients.
cotinis.bsky.social
Oh, "right after this time we need help". Just like the power failures a few years ago, and how many hurricanes. And Texas might just secede if federal overreach does not stop--right after you help us with our latest disaster.
www.click2houston.com/news/local/2...
‘Texas is ready’: Abbott responds to Trump’s FEMA exit strategy
A major change in federal disaster response could soon reshape how states prepare for and recover from natural disasters.
www.click2houston.com
cotinis.bsky.social
President T is declaring a disaster and calling in FEMA, as is totally appropriate for any state of the union. Of course, he has promised to get rid of FEMA "after this hurricane season". Gov. Abbott has said he is ready for FEMA to be eliminated just a couple of weeks ago. Why wait?
cotinis.bsky.social
One Texas official blames the NWS: “Listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service, right?” Kidd said. “You all got it, you’re all in media, you got that forecast. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.”
www.texasobserver.org/trump-texas-...
Trump’s DOGE Cuts Are a Texas-Sized Disaster
Reckless agency layoffs and the dismantling of federal relief programs could leave the Lone Star State in peril.
www.texasobserver.org
cotinis.bsky.social
Birds from the Old Bynum Bridge area, Chatham County NC (USA), 18 April 2025.
1-Prothonotary Warbler - Protonotaria citrea (female)
2-Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor (male and female)
3-Ruby-throated hummingbird - Archilochus colubris (female on nest)
Ruby-throated hummingbird - Archilochus colubris (female on nest) Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor (male and female) Prothonotary Warbler - Protonotaria citrea (female) Prothonotary Warbler - Protonotaria citrea (female)