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Isa Betancourt

@isabetabug.bsky.social

2.8K followers 280 following 150 posts

entomologist, photographer, environmentalist. Documenting, protecting, & making the fascinating world of insects accessible is my mission🪲✨ •NEON Insect Collection Mngr @ASU •Fulbright-NatGeo Fellow in the Indonesian peat swamp🔍 Cornell Alum, twin, surfer

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 19d

Definitely cuter as an adult 😅

Reposted by Isa Betancourt

Ileana Betancourt @ileanabeta.bsky.social · Aug 18

The bees are loving the flowering Cup Plant! They seem to like resting or sleeping on it too.

#NativePlants #bugsky #cupplant
@isabetabug.bsky.social

Two bees visiting two separate flowers of the cup plant. One bee has tons of pollen on its hind legs.

A bumblebee resting on the underside of a cup plant.

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

Overall, I would give the Salt River water trail in Arizona a solid Odonata-boosted thumbs up. Highly recommend!

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

And then there was this damselfly who had a majorly bent abdomen. I’ve never seen that before either! I do not know how or why it’s that way. 🤔

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

I also discovered that Veliids bite!!
News to me! I was bit by quite a few that day.
Did YOU know that they bite?

I’m guessing it’s a casual..’let me taste this bc why not’ kind of thing rather than a targeted attack (like in mosquitoes).
Still hurt tho😬
Here is one that had JUST rudely bit me😡:

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

I was sitting there watching her and another female for 20minutes. By the end, my submerged right food had accumulated quite a number of leeches!! One was latched, the others were chilling. I do wonder if they were blood suckers or just were there because I was a piece of furniture after 20min.

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

I watched the male damselfly drop her off at the water’s surface! And the whole time I was recording, he was hovering above, I’m guessing waiting for her to resurface?

I haven’t seen that behavior before. I always thought they stayed attached the whole time and for paternity reasons.

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

Thank you! It was so exciting to see

Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

That previous photo is me taking a video of an adult, winged, female damselfly who is underwater and laying eggs in the stems of the underwater plants. Here is the view. You can watch her curl her abdomen around and insert the two eggs!! 🥚 🌿

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · 20d

Me this past Sunday on the Salt River, east of Phoenix, AZ.
Can you guess what I’m taking a video of?? 🔍✨

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Jun 30

Tomorrow we are hiking to a waterfall in the cloud forest. It is a half hour hike to the waterfall but they are giving us four hours for the hike because… well, bugs! Iykyk
🦋🐞🐜🦗🪲🪰🕷️🔍

Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Jun 30

Camera flipped and it’s me, @beetlequeen.bsky.social and @arthropodabbey.bsky.social on the other side!
#CricketCourse

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Jun 30

Thanks! We are at a station by the Children’s Eternal Rainforest

Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Jun 30

The classroom! With Dr. Hojun Song getting us oriented. 🇨🇷🦗
We will be learning Ensifera (katydid and cricket) phylogeny, behavior, morphology, and acoustics this week.
#CricketCourse

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Jun 29

Greetings from Costa Rica!
I made it through immigration and customs. I am now on the group bus and headed to the field station with the 13 other students and our lead instructor for this cricket and katydid course.

Isa smiling at the camera and pointing to a “welcome to Costa Rica” tourism sign that is in the background.

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Jun 29

I’m headed to Costa Rica for a cricket course!
No not the sport but the insect!
Can’t wait. I’ll bring you along - posting tidbits, encounters, and updates here in BlueSky :)
🦗🦗🦗🦗🎶

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · May 29

Nice job!

I was happily surprised by this one though at first I wasn’t sure if it might mean computer code buggy!

Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · May 29

My friends, you must do the @nytimes.com’s Strands game today (Thursday May 29)
✨🪲😉
www.nytimes.com/games/strands

Play Strands, our newest word-search game with a twist.

Find hidden words and uncover the day’s theme.

www.nytimes.com

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Apr 30

😂😂❤️

Reposted by Isa Betancourt

Ileana Betancourt @ileanabeta.bsky.social · Apr 30

Hey look, @isabetabug.bsky.social - it's a picture of me and you! 🤗👯

macaulaylibrary.org/asset/633750...
#buggirl #birdgirl #naturesky

ML633750074 - Spotted Towhee - Macaulay Library

macaulaylibrary.org

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Reposted by Isa Betancourt

Ileana Betancourt @ileanabeta.bsky.social · Apr 25

Monitoring and protecting birds and bees. news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...

Check it out @isabetabug.bsky.social

With new tool, birds can help track – and save – wild bees | Cornell Chronicle

A new publicly available tool uses data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird program to track and estimate the diversity of wild bees across the eastern and central U.S. - with implications for...

news.cornell.edu

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Apr 16

Thanks! I just noticed you are with ASU too. Are you here in Tempe?

Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Apr 16

Thanks Leocadio! What ethanol percentage and do you care if it is denatured or undenatured?

Reposted by Isa Betancourt

Entomological Collections Network @entcollnet.bsky.social · Apr 15

📢 JOB KLAXON!

The Yale Peabody Museum is hiring a permanent, full-time Museum Assistant in #Entomology 🦋

Full details & how to apply: sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Sear...

#EntoJobs #InsectCollections

Museum Assistant 2 - Yale University - Job Details

Job Details: A job opportunity at Yale University

sjobs.brassring.com

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Isa Betancourt @isabetabug.bsky.social · Apr 16

@blancobercial.bsky.social hi! Are you familiar with freshwater zooplankton archival collection practices?