Charles Wallace
@chwallace.bsky.social
PhD candidate at ASU in hist/phil of biology, dissertation on Dictyoptera. One half of @asabpod.bsky.social. Particular fan of Dictyoptera, Diptera, and freshwater macroinvertebrates.
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/cockroacharles
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/cockroacharles
Reposted by Charles Wallace
Researchers in China detail their discovery of the earliest known wormlion in 99‑million‑year‑old amber, closing a large gap in the fossil record and revealing how these rare fly pollinators evolved alongside ancient plants.
Missing Link in Amber: Wormlion Fossil Fills in Knowledge Gaps
Researchers in China detail their discovery of the earliest known wormlion in 99‑million‑year‑old amber, closing a large gap in the fossil record and revealing how these rare fly pollinators evolved…
entomologytoday.org
January 14, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Researchers in China detail their discovery of the earliest known wormlion in 99‑million‑year‑old amber, closing a large gap in the fossil record and revealing how these rare fly pollinators evolved alongside ancient plants.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
🪰Sketch of a Eutrichotid fly🪰
Decided to add some color to a loose little ink drawing in the travel sketchbook. Flies look so comical with their cute space cadet faces and short aristate antennae.
🎨🪲🪳🐡
Decided to add some color to a loose little ink drawing in the travel sketchbook. Flies look so comical with their cute space cadet faces and short aristate antennae.
🎨🪲🪳🐡
January 9, 2026 at 5:21 PM
🪰Sketch of a Eutrichotid fly🪰
Decided to add some color to a loose little ink drawing in the travel sketchbook. Flies look so comical with their cute space cadet faces and short aristate antennae.
🎨🪲🪳🐡
Decided to add some color to a loose little ink drawing in the travel sketchbook. Flies look so comical with their cute space cadet faces and short aristate antennae.
🎨🪲🪳🐡
Reposted by Charles Wallace
Finally published! "Thirty-three new species of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from the United States and Canada, with new host and distribution records for 154 additional species." Now I've got some updating to do on BugGuide and iNaturalist...
Thirty-three new species of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from the United States and Canada, with new host and distribution records for 154 additional species
| Zootaxa
mapress.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Finally published! "Thirty-three new species of Agromyzidae (Diptera) from the United States and Canada, with new host and distribution records for 154 additional species." Now I've got some updating to do on BugGuide and iNaturalist...
Reposted by Charles Wallace
Can't recommended this piece enough. A few years ago I wrote about how police use self-justifying language that helps to create situational violence, but @patblanchfield.bsky.social's much bigger and better piece is about coptalk, violence blue identitarianism, and police victimhood.
January 7, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Can't recommended this piece enough. A few years ago I wrote about how police use self-justifying language that helps to create situational violence, but @patblanchfield.bsky.social's much bigger and better piece is about coptalk, violence blue identitarianism, and police victimhood.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
important message to all bluesky users
January 7, 2026 at 7:53 PM
important message to all bluesky users
Reposted by Charles Wallace
my last giant(ish) centipede had a clutch of babies a few months ago, here she is cuddling them right after they hatched
January 5, 2026 at 2:53 AM
my last giant(ish) centipede had a clutch of babies a few months ago, here she is cuddling them right after they hatched
Reposted by Charles Wallace
NYT:
The death toll for the US attack on Venezuela has risen to 80, including civilians and members of security forces, and could rise further.
The death toll for the US attack on Venezuela has risen to 80, including civilians and members of security forces, and could rise further.
January 4, 2026 at 7:17 PM
NYT:
The death toll for the US attack on Venezuela has risen to 80, including civilians and members of security forces, and could rise further.
The death toll for the US attack on Venezuela has risen to 80, including civilians and members of security forces, and could rise further.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
Karl the merchant, purveyor of the finest cheeses, worm sausages, insect pupae, and sundry delectables and delicacies around
another art collab with my partner
another art collab with my partner
January 4, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Karl the merchant, purveyor of the finest cheeses, worm sausages, insect pupae, and sundry delectables and delicacies around
another art collab with my partner
another art collab with my partner
Reposted by Charles Wallace
This is part of the Systematic Biology 75th anniversary collection: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
This collection was put together by our excellent Legacy Committee to celebrate the Society’s accomplishments and future!
This collection was put together by our excellent Legacy Committee to celebrate the Society’s accomplishments and future!
January 2, 2026 at 7:40 PM
This is part of the Systematic Biology 75th anniversary collection: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
This collection was put together by our excellent Legacy Committee to celebrate the Society’s accomplishments and future!
This collection was put together by our excellent Legacy Committee to celebrate the Society’s accomplishments and future!
Reposted by Charles Wallace
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry
In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...
transnews.network
January 1, 2026 at 6:32 PM
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
what a shocking turn of events
who could’ve seen this coming
who could’ve seen this coming
OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT "Prioritize" Advertisers in Conversation
OpenAI employees working on ChatGPT report plans to unleash sponsored advertisements above organic results.
futurism.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:07 AM
what a shocking turn of events
who could’ve seen this coming
who could’ve seen this coming
I'm watching The Thing for the first time and it's really validating my instinct never to get in a situation (Antarctic outpost, cruise ship, etc.) you can't easily get out of.
December 30, 2025 at 2:47 AM
I'm watching The Thing for the first time and it's really validating my instinct never to get in a situation (Antarctic outpost, cruise ship, etc.) you can't easily get out of.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
We are behind schedule for hitting our end of year goal, making it very likely that we’ll be starting 2026 off with a closed intake line.
We need your help to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Give before December 31 → tinyurl.com/PSAFSupport
We need your help to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Give before December 31 → tinyurl.com/PSAFSupport
Palmetto State Abortion Fund: End-of-Year Fundraiser | Palmetto State Abortion Fund (Powered by Donorbox)
Give for freedom. Give for care. Give before December 31st.2025 tested us — and our community showed up.Because of people like you, the Palmetto State Abortion Fund helped more than 1,500 Southerners ...
tinyurl.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM
We are behind schedule for hitting our end of year goal, making it very likely that we’ll be starting 2026 off with a closed intake line.
We need your help to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Give before December 31 → tinyurl.com/PSAFSupport
We need your help to make sure this doesn’t happen.
Give before December 31 → tinyurl.com/PSAFSupport
Reposted by Charles Wallace
the people NEED roach pix 😤
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
December 29, 2025 at 1:43 AM
the people NEED roach pix 😤
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
Reposted by Charles Wallace
how about a little candy cane feather pede on this Christmas Day!
December 25, 2025 at 7:18 PM
how about a little candy cane feather pede on this Christmas Day!
Reposted by Charles Wallace
Day 24 of #InsectAdvent and the flying reindeer have arrived!
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 24, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Day 24 of #InsectAdvent and the flying reindeer have arrived!
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Oh no they haven’t…
It’s a Ricardia sp (Richardiidae) that I collected from Honduran Cloud Forest, one of the many species of antlered flies.
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Reposted by Charles Wallace
You’d love it! Some world class Diptera here too.
December 22, 2025 at 8:07 PM
You’d love it! Some world class Diptera here too.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".
December 22, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Wildly different things, tasks, techniques, subspecialties being lumped into "AI" and then being conflated with each other, doesn't help. Different types of models vs the techniques to train them vs the tasks they are supposed to accomplish, all under "AI".
Reposted by Charles Wallace
In case you missed this on Friday, at @unbreaking.org we updated our trans healthcare explainer with a timeline (100+ events) and a totally rewritten explainer (20k words, 150+ footnotes) to help people understand the many diverse attacks on gender affirming care, and where they currently stand:
Transgender Healthcare: Explainer — Unbreaking
How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
unbreaking.org
December 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM
In case you missed this on Friday, at @unbreaking.org we updated our trans healthcare explainer with a timeline (100+ events) and a totally rewritten explainer (20k words, 150+ footnotes) to help people understand the many diverse attacks on gender affirming care, and where they currently stand:
Reposted by Charles Wallace
New Ant Lab video today about pincer wasps and a new research project. This one has some really cool, newly-filmed insect behavior in it! youtu.be/9osTBzQ0zbk
Spring-Loaded Claws on a Wasp – Parasitoid Pincer Wasps
YouTube video by Ant Lab
youtu.be
December 22, 2025 at 3:19 PM
New Ant Lab video today about pincer wasps and a new research project. This one has some really cool, newly-filmed insect behavior in it! youtu.be/9osTBzQ0zbk
Reposted by Charles Wallace
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
Seems like it's worth posting this one again.
Why Do Historians Still Have To Go To Archives?
Why do historians go to archives? Hasn’t everything already been digitized?
contingentmagazine.org
December 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
This gets at something important that is in danger of being lost not only in the AI conversation but in any efficiency-focused, assembly-line model of academia. A lot of the best scholarship needs wayward paths. It's time-intensive, unpredictable, odd. The process is what produces the knowledge.
One of many things the pro-AI crowd doesn't seem to understand is the very important distinction between academic scholarship and the production of papers. Of course they can be related but they're not necessarily the same thing
December 21, 2025 at 11:56 PM
This gets at something important that is in danger of being lost not only in the AI conversation but in any efficiency-focused, assembly-line model of academia. A lot of the best scholarship needs wayward paths. It's time-intensive, unpredictable, odd. The process is what produces the knowledge.
Reposted by Charles Wallace
Day 20 of #InsectAdvent
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
December 21, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Day 20 of #InsectAdvent
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Nearly there, eyes on the prize of Christmas Day. Talking of eyes, some of the best eyed creatures are stalk-eyed flies including Plagoiocephalus latifrons (image @bertonemyia.bsky.social) we saw in Costa Rica
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social
Reposted by Charles Wallace
it is almost Christmas which means it’s Muppet Christmas Carol season and that, in turn, means it is time to revisit this delightful interview with Michael Caine, who loves everything about that movie even more than you do
Michael Caine Loves 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' as Much as You Do
God bless us, every one! But especially Michael Caine.
www.gq.com
December 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
it is almost Christmas which means it’s Muppet Christmas Carol season and that, in turn, means it is time to revisit this delightful interview with Michael Caine, who loves everything about that movie even more than you do
Reposted by Charles Wallace
