Kevin Keegan
LightNews LightNews
banner
mothpotato.bsky.social
Kevin Keegan
@mothpotato.bsky.social
860 followers 650 following 580 posts
I study moths so YOU don't have to. Lepidopterist at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A. All opinions are my own.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
mothpotato.bsky.social
Kevin Keegan @mothpotato.bsky.social · Mar 3
One of the boxes of moths I brought to Lund University when I crossed the pond back in 2015 at the beginning of my PhD to work with @lepphylo.bsky.social to generate the first DNA data I would use for my PhD. These things were all classified together at the time. The DNA told us that was VERY WRONG.
A box with 100+ moths on insect pins with their data labels also on the pins. The moths are all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors.
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
lepphylo.bsky.social
One of the most exciting projects I have ever been involved in: Project Psyche! Read all about our ambitions and aims. It's ground breaking stuff, just mind blowing and even surreal (27 years ago we did single genes for lep phylogenetics)! @projectpsyche.bsky.social
www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...
Project Psyche: reference genomes for all Lepidoptera in Europe
Project Psyche is a transnational initiative to generate and study chromosome-level reference genomes of all ~11 000 species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) found in Europe. Here, we describe t...
www.cell.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
rdmpage.bsky.social
“Overall, these findings suggest that the value of natural history collections as global research infrastructure is eroding due to decreased collecting of specimen data across species, locations, and time.“ doi.org/10.1038/s414... Interesting analysis based on @gbif.org data.
Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections - Nature Communications
Natural history collections hold over two billion specimens representing Earth’s biodiversity, but their scientific value depends on continued specimen collection and digitisation. This study demonstr...
doi.org
November 26, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
daveyfwright.bsky.social
In an era marked by rapid climate change and biodiversity loss, it is imperative that we continue to invest in the unique value of natural history collections data

"Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections" 🧪
Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections - Nature Communications
Natural history collections hold over two billion specimens representing Earth’s biodiversity, but their scientific value depends on continued specimen collection and digitisation. This study demonstr...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
prisonculture.bsky.social
More of this kind of reporting. Thank you.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Brand-new activists are discovering political movements – and each other: ‘You feel the camaraderie’
Organizers are breaking down barriers and creating clever campaigns to welcome people new to protesting
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
19thcenturybucs.bsky.social
Alexander Williams, the person behind the first Black owned and operated ballpark, was in an unmarked grave for decades in Highwood Cemetery. No more. Thanks to the Josh Gibson Fndtn and donors, he now has a headstone.
Words and images from Vincent Ciaramella. The Josh Gibson Foundation does it again. Born in Barbados, Alexander McDonald “AM” Williams opened the first Black owned and operated baseball stadium in the United States, predating Greenly Field by a decade and some change. He was in an unmarked grave until this week but no more, thanks to the generous donations to the Josh Gibson Memorial Markers Project. Words and images from Vincent Ciaramella. The Josh Gibson Foundation does it again. Born in Barbados, Alexander McDonald “AM” Williams opened the first Black owned and operated baseball stadium in the United States, predating Greenly Field by a decade and some change. He was in an unmarked grave until this week but no more, thanks to the generous donations to the Josh Gibson Memorial Markers Project.
November 22, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
jamestaite.bsky.social
beaut of a Dutchman on the return stop of a bellcast wash

look at how well the tooling carries from the old piece to the new just fucking beautiful
November 19, 2025 at 1:34 PM
mothpotato.bsky.social
Done for the day.
Many pinned and spread moths on many wooden spreading blocks. Each moth has ~pins associated with holding different body parts in place until they dry and become rigid.
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
mothpotato.bsky.social
Spreading moths for the people✊ in the museum's Visible Lab in the new Bringing the World to Pittsburgh exhibit
A variety of items spread on a table. Boxes with pinned moths, spreading blocks, and a digital microscope with screen so the people can see how I'm spreading specimens.
November 20, 2025 at 9:34 PM
mothpotato.bsky.social
Absolutely exquisite handwriting in this hundred year old letter in our Hugo Kahl archive. He worked at our museum roughly from 1920–1940. Always love to see his handwriting here and there around the collection.
November 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
rosariolebronentomology.com
The Acarology Summer Program (71 years strong!) returns to Univ of Arkansas summer 2026:
Soil Acarology: May 25-June 12
Medical & Veterinary Acarology: June 15-20
Limited to ~15 students for personalized instruction.
Registration: training.uark.edu/portal/train...
#Entomology #bugsky #invert 🧪
Acarology Summer Program | Professional and Workforce Development | University of Arkansas
For 70 years, the Acarology Summer Program has trained researchers in mite identification, biology, and collection. Join this intensive, hands-on course to build your expertise in acarology.
training.uark.edu
November 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
mikebarthelauthor.com
Fish have committed credit card fraud
Credit card fraud Black neon tetras committed credit card fraud during a 2023 livestream by "Mutekimaru Channel" on YouTube. The owner was using motion-tracking software to turn the fish's movements into Nintendo Switch inputs, letting them "play" video games. 8 In 2020, the fish beat Pokemon Sapphire after 3,195 hours, a feat that takes about 30 hours for a typical human. 9/ 181 On January 14, 2023, Pokémon Violet crashed at 1,144 hours, giving the fish free access to the main menu. They entered inputs that opened Nintendo eShop, added 500 yen ($3.85 USD) to their owner's account, and exposed his credit card details on the livestream. 10) 11) Mutekimaru later requested a refund of the 500 yen from Nintendo. l12) "Fish eagerly read the terms and conditions. Many of us humans don't read the terms of service, but fish are smarter than we are" - caption from Mutekimaru in a video about the incident 12) The fish also downloaded an N64 emulator, set up PayPal, used reward points to buy an avatar, and changed Mutekimaru's Nintendo account name to "ROWAWAWA*". 13, After about seven hours, their movements shut down the Switch. 14)
November 19, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
richelord.bsky.social
The Roberto Clemente Bridge: A great walk, or an essential drive? Architect Nathan St. Germain knows which side he's on. www.publicsource.org/roberto-clem...
The Roberto Clemente Bridge should become a linear park
The Pittsburgh bridge’s real power comes out when it’s closed to automotive traffic. So why not make that permanent and create a new attraction, like Dallas and New York have done?
www.publicsource.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
yawaguchi.bsky.social
I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/

Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
PhyloWeaver – Interactive phylogenetic tree editor
Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.
yawak.jp
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
pensoft.net
🆕 Fresh off the Press: the 2nd fascicle treating New World apameine #fauna!

🔓 Published as an Advanced Book on our #openaccess platform: doi.org/10.3897/ab.e..., the monograph presents complete revisions of genera, 77 #species treatments, 11 #newspecies, numerous new life histories & more!
November 14, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
baseball-reference.com
134 days until Opening Day
November 11, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
pghgraffiti.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
wormsgreenrealm.bsky.social
“You can sit in a basement with weird people and say weird things. It’s a free country.”
A shot five older white men seated around a table in front of a simulacrum of a nature scene—it is the Christmas Adventurers, the underground white supremacist organization from Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.
November 6, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
jamellebouie.net
very lovely day in alexandria, va. this morning
November 6, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
mcaterino.bsky.social
I will have an opening for a Ph.D. student (M.S. required) to begin Summer 2026, studying impacts to high Appalachian arthropod communities following Hurricane Helene.

I'll be at Ent. Soc. America meetings next week. Please point interested students my way.

More: sites.google.com/site/caterin...
The Caterino Arthropod Biodiversity Lab - OPPORTUNITIES
OPPORTUNITIES Ph.D. research assistantship Start date: Summer (preferred) or Fall, 2026 Compensation: · $35,000 per year (plus 2% annual cost of living increase) for up to 5 years · Ful...
sites.google.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
cooperlund.online
If I can get a little too sincere: Tonight is the first time where I can believe with my whole heart that I can live in the place I love for the rest of my life, and live in the way I want to, and I am jubilant at the possibility. This is what politics is supposed to feel like.
November 5, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
npr.org
JUST IN: Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblymember, will make history as the first Muslim and South Asian person — as well as the youngest in over a century — to serve as New York City mayor.
Mamdani wins New York City mayoral race, in a historic victory for progressives
Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblymember, will make history as the first Muslim and South Asian person — as well as the youngest in over a century — to serve as New York City mayor.
n.pr
November 5, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
lauraolin.bsky.social
An “all you fascists bound to lose” sort of night
November 5, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
therickydavila.bsky.social
FUCK YES:

Democrats have retained a 5-2 seat majority in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

This is what democracy looks like.
November 5, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Kevin Keegan
codifybaseball.bsky.social
maybe the most brutal strikeout in baseball history
November 5, 2025 at 12:28 AM