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Today I have something really special for you guys! Not too far from the caiman I posted recently, I found something MIND BLOWING
This is a butterfly pupa, and it mimics the head of a snake. And not just any snake, but specifically the head of a boa snake!!! Probably Opsiphanes, an owlet butterfly.
This is a butterfly pupa, and it mimics the head of a snake. And not just any snake, but specifically the head of a boa snake!!! Probably Opsiphanes, an owlet butterfly.
December 24, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Today I have something really special for you guys! Not too far from the caiman I posted recently, I found something MIND BLOWING
This is a butterfly pupa, and it mimics the head of a snake. And not just any snake, but specifically the head of a boa snake!!! Probably Opsiphanes, an owlet butterfly.
This is a butterfly pupa, and it mimics the head of a snake. And not just any snake, but specifically the head of a boa snake!!! Probably Opsiphanes, an owlet butterfly.
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I haven't been taking many pictures the last couple of weeks, (and today it's pouring rain), but here's a photo I took on Christmas Eve three years ago, of a single green lacewing egg in my garden. Think of it as a wrapped present with a bug in it.
🎁🌿🐙📷 #bugsky
🎁🌿🐙📷 #bugsky
December 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I haven't been taking many pictures the last couple of weeks, (and today it's pouring rain), but here's a photo I took on Christmas Eve three years ago, of a single green lacewing egg in my garden. Think of it as a wrapped present with a bug in it.
🎁🌿🐙📷 #bugsky
🎁🌿🐙📷 #bugsky
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Diplomoceras (the clippy) and Pseudocenoceras
December 23, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Diplomoceras (the clippy) and Pseudocenoceras
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Hippasteria booty cheeks, Hygrosoma, munidopsis. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 884 #argentiniandeepseeps #MarineLife #CONICET
December 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Hippasteria booty cheeks, Hygrosoma, munidopsis. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 884 #argentiniandeepseeps #MarineLife #CONICET
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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
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Been a while since I’ve done a salmon ceramic 😊
December 23, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Been a while since I’ve done a salmon ceramic 😊
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Pervushovisaurus and Baculites friends
December 22, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Pervushovisaurus and Baculites friends
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A pair of leaf-mimicking katydids (Typophyllum mortuifolium) from Ecuador displaying mate guarding to ensure paternity. Sometimes females carry *two* males simultaneously. Regardless of how we interpret this, I think we can all appreciate the physical and emotional labor the female is doing 🤗
December 23, 2025 at 3:08 PM
A pair of leaf-mimicking katydids (Typophyllum mortuifolium) from Ecuador displaying mate guarding to ensure paternity. Sometimes females carry *two* males simultaneously. Regardless of how we interpret this, I think we can all appreciate the physical and emotional labor the female is doing 🤗
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I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.
December 23, 2025 at 1:51 AM
I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.
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The Seasquare 😂
📸 Prof Michael Sweet
📸 Prof Michael Sweet
December 23, 2025 at 3:52 AM
The Seasquare 😂
📸 Prof Michael Sweet
📸 Prof Michael Sweet
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Finally got some photos of Australia’s “blue ant”, Diamma bicolor, which is not an ant at all but a shockingly large metallic blue thynnid wasp, wingless and solitary, that hunts mole crickets. Been meaning to shoot this thing for years.
December 22, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Finally got some photos of Australia’s “blue ant”, Diamma bicolor, which is not an ant at all but a shockingly large metallic blue thynnid wasp, wingless and solitary, that hunts mole crickets. Been meaning to shoot this thing for years.
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Monitoring monarch movement with tiny Bluetooth transmitters! 🦋 From @xercessociety.bsky.social www.kqed.org/science/1999...
Monarch Butterflies Now Wear Tiny Tags — for Scientists to Track Them in Real Time | KQED
Plus, where you can see the beauty of monarch butterflies for yourself in the Bay Area.
www.kqed.org
December 23, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Monitoring monarch movement with tiny Bluetooth transmitters! 🦋 From @xercessociety.bsky.social www.kqed.org/science/1999...
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Orthoceras (big) and Lituites
December 23, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Orthoceras (big) and Lituites
I'm sick of california politicians saying they're going to address the affordability crisis but then not doing anything to remove or lower the state tax burden on the bottom 50% of earners, introduce any kind of ubi, or medi-cal for all (things that would actually address the affordability crisis)
December 23, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I'm sick of california politicians saying they're going to address the affordability crisis but then not doing anything to remove or lower the state tax burden on the bottom 50% of earners, introduce any kind of ubi, or medi-cal for all (things that would actually address the affordability crisis)
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A spectacular Ghost Slug (Selenochlamys ysbryda) found by my daughter in N Cardiff - within a mile of the home of the late Bill Symondson who first described the species, along with Ben Rowson of @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social It is one of the few species with a Welsh scientific name (ysbryd = spirit)
December 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM
A spectacular Ghost Slug (Selenochlamys ysbryda) found by my daughter in N Cardiff - within a mile of the home of the late Bill Symondson who first described the species, along with Ben Rowson of @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social It is one of the few species with a Welsh scientific name (ysbryd = spirit)
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my modest collection of flies with WIDE heads 🙇
a hammer-headed Richardia (Ecuador),
a stalk-eyed Chaetodiopsis (Mozambique),
a pointy-eyed Ophthalmoptera (Colombia),
and an antlered Richardia (Colombia)
why though? male-male competition? sexual selection? chime-in if you know!
a hammer-headed Richardia (Ecuador),
a stalk-eyed Chaetodiopsis (Mozambique),
a pointy-eyed Ophthalmoptera (Colombia),
and an antlered Richardia (Colombia)
why though? male-male competition? sexual selection? chime-in if you know!
December 22, 2025 at 6:53 PM
my modest collection of flies with WIDE heads 🙇
a hammer-headed Richardia (Ecuador),
a stalk-eyed Chaetodiopsis (Mozambique),
a pointy-eyed Ophthalmoptera (Colombia),
and an antlered Richardia (Colombia)
why though? male-male competition? sexual selection? chime-in if you know!
a hammer-headed Richardia (Ecuador),
a stalk-eyed Chaetodiopsis (Mozambique),
a pointy-eyed Ophthalmoptera (Colombia),
and an antlered Richardia (Colombia)
why though? male-male competition? sexual selection? chime-in if you know!
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that time of the year when this little species (Habronattus ustulatus) becomes active
found this little male yesterday in eastern San Diego County, In-Ko-Pah County park, perched on little pieces of granite and quartz along wash edges
found this little male yesterday in eastern San Diego County, In-Ko-Pah County park, perched on little pieces of granite and quartz along wash edges
December 22, 2025 at 4:40 PM
that time of the year when this little species (Habronattus ustulatus) becomes active
found this little male yesterday in eastern San Diego County, In-Ko-Pah County park, perched on little pieces of granite and quartz along wash edges
found this little male yesterday in eastern San Diego County, In-Ko-Pah County park, perched on little pieces of granite and quartz along wash edges
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hard to fully articulate how much this image has changed the way my partner and i talk about food
December 21, 2025 at 9:16 PM
hard to fully articulate how much this image has changed the way my partner and i talk about food
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california why can't we get a governor candidate who's willing to run on real things like lowering healthcare costs w/ statewide universal healthcare, abolishing state income tax for the bottom 50% of earners & raising it for upper brackets, & reducing homelessness through housing first initiatives
December 21, 2025 at 6:35 PM
california why can't we get a governor candidate who's willing to run on real things like lowering healthcare costs w/ statewide universal healthcare, abolishing state income tax for the bottom 50% of earners & raising it for upper brackets, & reducing homelessness through housing first initiatives
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Follow @cshimala.bsky.social for snowy owl gems like this
December 21, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Follow @cshimala.bsky.social for snowy owl gems like this
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So reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) can't fly, but they are VERY MAGICAL.
For example, their EYES CHANGE COLOR during the year & they're one of the few large mammals that can see UV. Golden brown in summer, deep blue in winter.
Let's talk about the unique visual adaptations of Rudolph and company.
For example, their EYES CHANGE COLOR during the year & they're one of the few large mammals that can see UV. Golden brown in summer, deep blue in winter.
Let's talk about the unique visual adaptations of Rudolph and company.
December 20, 2025 at 11:36 PM
So reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) can't fly, but they are VERY MAGICAL.
For example, their EYES CHANGE COLOR during the year & they're one of the few large mammals that can see UV. Golden brown in summer, deep blue in winter.
Let's talk about the unique visual adaptations of Rudolph and company.
For example, their EYES CHANGE COLOR during the year & they're one of the few large mammals that can see UV. Golden brown in summer, deep blue in winter.
Let's talk about the unique visual adaptations of Rudolph and company.
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Lol, she thinks I can't see her. 🪶
December 21, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Lol, she thinks I can't see her. 🪶
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