Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Craig B

@mutillidae.bsky.social

890 followers 340 following 160 posts

Principal Investigator of impedimental temporal phenomena. Hymenopterist. Keeper of secrets. he/him Curator of a university insect collection located in the Midwest (USA). I am passionate about velvet-ants.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Craig B

International Society of Hymenopterists @hymenopterists.bsky.social · 1d

🇬🇧
📢 THE 11TH CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF HYMENOPTERISTS WILL BE IN MEXICO CITY IN 2026!

🇪🇸
📢 EL XI CONGRESO DE LA SOCIEDAD INTERNACIONAL DE HIMENOPTERISTAS SE CELEBRARÁ EN LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO EN 2026!

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 9d

He is not wrong.

Brad Gall @bradgall.bsky.social · 9d

Hayao Miyazaki's reaction to AI generated art.

"I am utterly disgusted. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself. I feel we are nearing the end of times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves"

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 9d

Good onya mate! That's the right way to go on holiday... 😀

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 9d

Hi Jill! I've been designing and printing a bunch of things to use in the field and in the collection. Field curation kits, aspirators, vial racks, pinning blocks, imaging stages, etc. etc...

If you're going to Portland, I'm giving a 3D printing talk on Tuesday afternoon. 🙂

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 9d

I'll never not be amazed at how transformative 3D printing has been for insect collecting & curation.

I can make just about anything (that fits inside the printer) out of virtually nothing (i.e., a spool of inexpensive thermoplastic).

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf

Photo inside the open door of an enclosed 3D printer. Attached to the print bed is an angled chute, printed out of fluorescent orange ABS filament. Good times.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 10d

I mean...

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#CurationSunday
#Madagascar
#Buprestidae

Metallic blue jewel beetle (family Buprestidae) on an insect pin. The specimen is resting on top of a 3D printed, rainbow colored pinning block. The beetle has yellowish/orange/red maculations on the pronotum and the elytra have scattered tufts of pale setae. The background is a neutral grey bench top.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 11d

Sure, let's burn down the planet using AI to generate fantastical imaginary creatures

...because the natural world isn't fantastic enough?

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#MacroPhotography
#FocusStacking
#NoAIUsedHere
#Tanzania
#JewelBeetle
#Buprestidae

Mostly lateral, slightly front-ish view of a jewel beetle on a neutral grey background. It's a chonky specimen, the integument is various dark metallic shades of blue, green, bronze, purple, and black. Pale ivory/yellowish tufts of hair (setae) are regularly covering the pronotum and elytra. The ones on the elytra are shorter and arranged in longitudinal rows. At the corner of the elytron there is a dense appressed patch of brownish orange setae.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 12d

I did. I found by increasing the size of the pins ("stage_axis" & "stage_pin") I could get a tighter fit & less spin. I did this in the slicing software—I increased the print size (for just the stage axis) to 104% and it's a much tighter fit.

The amount of tweaking will depend on the filament type.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 13d

Yes! I have two AMS units daisy-chained together...so no spool swapping whatsoever. 🙂

Reposted by Craig B

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 14d

For labeling a diverse group of insects...

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#3DPrinting

A 3D printed insect pinning block on a textured white background. The pinning block has six differently colored layers of filament: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 14d

For labeling a diverse group of insects...

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#3DPrinting

A 3D printed insect pinning block on a textured white background. The pinning block has six differently colored layers of filament: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 20d

Pro tip:
You can use an inexpensive punch to cut out plugs of foam to use in your manipulators.

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#Curation
#MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf

Picture of a black self-healing cutting mat, with a grid of white lines and additional white lines marking 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90° angles. There's a rectangular piece of white Plastazote foam with a series of holes punched out of it. The punched out foam plugs are next to the rectangle and there is a black and sliver punch laying in front of the mat.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 20d

Here's my one-off manipulator. I like it because it is the only one in the world made like this...and I think it looks kinda steampunk-ish. 🙂

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#Curation
#MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf

Insect specimen manipulator on a neutral grey background. The piece is mostly metal: the base and upright is aluminum, the specimen holder is brass/copper, the handle is bronze, and there are a couple of black machine bolts holding the bits together. There is some clear plastic tubing over the brass handle and there's a black rubber o-ring on the specimen holder.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 20d

If you ever get the chance...do it! The course was amazing and the site (AMNH SWRS) even more so. 👍

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 20d

Yes! This design is by Western Entomological; it's on their GitHub site: github.com/western-ento...

I don't think they are still active as a group/company but their designs are still available for download.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 20d

Yes, entirely 3D printed! (Well, except for the small foam plug that will hold the specimen pin.)

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 20d

My former step-dad was a machinist and he had an apprentice from the local tech college looking for a project. I lent one of the nice rose manipulators to use as a model and he made one for his project. I like it as much as the original! (I'll share a picture when I get to the lab.)

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 21d

me: Do you have any preferences for color or material?

them: Any color will work for me

Alrighty then.... 😂

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#3DPrinting
#MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf

Twenty-four 3D-printed insect specimen manipulators sitting on a neutral grey bench top. The manipulators were made with a variety of filament colors, including yellow, blue, metallic red, metallic purple, lime green, brass, and matte grey. They are arranged in a somewhat pleasing set of concentric circles.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 27d

Hey Hymenoptera students! Here’s your chance to win a great book by presenting during #Hymathon2025! Talk about awesome wasps and have the chance to win a book…what could be better?!

International Society of Hymenopterists @hymenopterists.bsky.social · 27d

📢CHALCIDOIDEA STUDENTS!📢
🧨Here is your chance to win a physical copy of the “Chalcidoidea of the World” book by Prof. John Heredy & Prof. James Woolley!
👉All you have to do is give the best Chalcidoidea talk during the #hymathon2025 online symposium, held on 4-5 December 😁

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · Aug 28

The 2025 Bee Course wrapped up on Sunday after 10 amazing days of lab & field work in the Chiricahua Mountains in AZ.

We collected bees representing about 42 genera of bees! This is Holcopasites (prob. H. minimus) I collected during the course. 🐝 👀 ♥️

#Apidae
#Nomadinae
#NaturalHistoryCollections

Small, point-mounted red and black bee on a grey background. The first three metasomal segments are reddish and the rest of the integument is black. Though quite small, the bee appears stout and robust. The body is densely punctate and there are dense patches of white appressed setae, mostly on the sides of the mesosoma and on the apical fringes of the tergites.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · Jul 30

I got nuthin' new to offer anyone today so I'm reposting this composite image of a velvet-ant and a true ant (or, as I like to call them, false velvet-ants... 😀 ).

I like the convergent metallic color pattern.

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#FocusStacking
#Mutillidae
#Formicidae
#Australia

A composite image of two small insects against a neutral gray background. A velvet-ant (Mutillidae) is above a true ant (Formicidae). Both are dark metallic, with shades ranging from purplish on the head and mesosoma, to shades of dark green on the metasoma. The velvet-ant also has dense apical fringes of appressed setae on the abdominal tergites.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · Jul 28

Sweet!!!

Nicole 🪲 @fossilforager.bsky.social · Jul 28

Velvet Ants of North America! 🐜

An illustrated poster showing 9 different species of velvet ants, which are actually female flightless wasps. They are mostly brownish, yellow, orange, and red in color, with various degrees of black markings. They are illustrated on a vibrant orange background.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · Jul 27

When three rows of seating still isn't enough...

[Grab of Ggl street view while researching a road trip]

#GoogleFail

Picture of a full size dark blue SUV...maybe a Suburban (?) going down the highway. This is a screen grab from Ggl maps and the SUV has six wheels and six doors. Whoops.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · Jul 25

Right?!

"Do you need some tape or glue to attach the pin & minutens to the card?"

"Nope, I have a better idea..."

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · Jul 25

Nightmare fuel for insect collection curators.

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#ItTakesAllKinds
#HappyWeekend

Close up of a standard insect pin, stuck in a piece of white foam. There is a hand-written collection label a small distance above the foam—fairly normal—but above that is a rectangle of lined index card. The insect pin has been inserted (somehow) in between the top and bottom layers of the card, so the card is sticking out like a flag from the side of the insect pin. Opposite the end with the insect pin, there are three minutens, also inserted into the edge of the card rectangle. Two of the minutens hold small red clerid beetles. The third has just a small piece of one elytron, presumably from a third beetle, now lost.