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Reposted by Steve

Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 11h

A textbook image I did a few years ago showing a trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus rixosus) with her mandibles held open and trigger hairs forward, and then in the closed position.

The snapping shut of the trap is one of the fastest measured animal movements.

A split-screen image showing (top) a face view of an elongated ant standing on a reflective surfave, facing us with toothy brown jaws held 180 degrees open, and (bottom), the same ant with jaws closed, the bluntly toothed tips held together.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 18h

Definitely, it’s a lovely drink.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 19h

Drinking Pineau looking over the terroir where the grapes grow!

#Pineau is not well known drink. A wine that is ‘killed’ early in the fermentation by the addition of #Cognac.
#wine
#France

A bottle and glass of Pineau backlit by the sun over vineyards.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 21h

Update: DID drink wine later!

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 21h

Any #diptera people interested in a couple of #flies from France? These turned up in my pitfall samples from #leaflitter, along with some other inverts.

Also at least four spp. of #ants (which is what I was looking for).

@dipteristsforum.bsky.social @teamdiptera.bsky.social

A white lid ~50mm diameter contains some of the invertebrates collected in a baited pitfall trap in France.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 21h

It’s a crime against #arthropods! Their column should always win!

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 1d

One for @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social , @drtobydriver.bsky.social or anyone else keen on #megaliths, #menhirs or ancient architecture. The Kercado dolmen or cairn in Brittany. Middle to late #Neolithic.
I used the LIDAR on my iPhone to try to scan the structure. Reasonably successful for a 1st go!

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 1d

A lovely place to pick #fieldwork samples; my friends old French farmhouse!

#Leaflitter #pitfall traps being checked using my lab-in-a-box. Unfortunately I have not got a ‘proper’ microscope with the depth of throat to use a normal picking tray but making do… may drink wine later!

The back terrace of an old French farmhouse near Cognac. Strewn with entomology ‘stuff’ which lives in a 12”x12”x5” plastic box in our campervan.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 1d

1st samples from my new pitfall traps from #leaflitter , which have the option of baits.

Driven 6hrs further down France to a friend’s house. May start sorting here.

Baited with raspberry jam on the LHS: more ants (at least 2spp.).

Baited with chicken paste on the RHS: less ants, more opiliones.

Two views looking onto transparent pots containing the results of leaf litter pitfall traps. On the left, with raspberry jam bait, the sample contains mainly ants, at least 2spp. dominated by Myrmica. On the right, with a chicken paste bait there are less ants but a number of Opiliones.

Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

Colletes hederae or the Ivy #Bee feeding on Herdera helix in Brittany, France. Common in mainland Europe they have only spread across the UK in the last few years.

Colletes hederae, the Ivy Bee feeding on Ivy flowers. It has a distinctive black and yellow striped abdomen.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

Pinned! I just collected my new 3d printed pitfall traps from leaf litter while visiting France.

4 out of 4 test pots scored ants 👍

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

This is powerful and worth watching all the way to the end!

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 2d

Earlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall sat down for an interview for Brad Falchuk’s new Netflix series, Famous Last Words.

The premise of the series is to interview people on the condition that the interview not air until the subject has passed away.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

Hummingbird #HawkMoth ,Macroglossum stellatarum, feeding on Salvia. Fuzzy photos snatched from video hurriedly taken on iPhone.
#Moths

A Hummingbird Hawk moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) feeding on bright scarlet Salvia flowers.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

The European #Hornet, Vespa crabro feeding on #ivy, Hedera helix flowers behind our campervan in France.

Ivy is a really important food source for #invertebrates into the Autumn, so don’t hack it off your trees!

#WaspLove

Vespa crabro the European Hornet laps nectar from ivy (Hedera helix flowers). A very wasp-like hamster in black and yellow. The thorax and head are reddish brown with huge beautiful eyes.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

Very stylish beetle!

And one of Alex’s photos of course

Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 2d

A leaf beetle, Stolas sp., in a Belizean rainforest.

Macro photo of a round, metallic blue beetle with six red spots standing alert on a backlit green leaf tip against a pure black background.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

Buggy Sunday! #Hemiptera found in Brittany, France.

Firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, found under a hedge.

#Bugs

A striking red/orange and black bug. Two owl-like black ‘eyes’ on its back.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 2d

I believe that there is a 72 hour abstinence rule for alcohol if eating those?

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 3d

Is it unpleasant or an immersive multimedia experience that you would miss if it disappeared?

[c.f. The constant dialogues in my ADHD head that I would miss if they went silent]

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 3d

That’s really interesting. I hadn’t come across temporal synaesthesia before. Brains are brilliant… weird but brilliant!

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Reposted by Steve

WA Orchids @wa-orchids.bsky.social · 4d

Endemic to southern parts of Australia, the carnivorous Pimpernel Sundew (Drosera glanduligera) with its lovely orange flower. This one was growing on a lush bed of moss and was covered in early morning dew drops

#ozflora #wildoz #fierceflora #nativeplants #inaturalist #nature

A picture of a small sundew with carnivorous leaves at the base and an orange flower at the top of a short stem. This plant is growing on a lush bed of moss and is covered in early morning dew drops

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Reposted by Steve

Maik Bischoff @maikbischoff.bsky.social · 5d

My entry for today’s #FluorescenceFriday: a pupal #Drosophila testis with muscles expressing
🔵 lifeact &
🔴 RFP-nls

Honored & grateful to receive an honorable mention at @healthcare.nikon.com Nikon Small World 🌍🔬✨

🔗 www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/20...

#NikonSmallWorld #Microscopy #ScienceArt

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Reposted by Steve

Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 4d

For those accused of having too many books Robinince.com #poetry #poem

UNREAD
There in a stack
Of irresistible potential
Mainly unread
But don't ask
"Why do you still buy When so many words
are not touched by your eyes"
Because
before the spine is cracked
Without my fingers touching pages, the ideas leak and spread around the room Seep through the ears
And into the synapses while I sleep
Listen carefully
You'll hear the hum
Of future thoughts becoming present

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 4d

Asian #Hornets! That’s exciting, Vespa crabro _&_ Vespa velutina in one day in Brittany, France.

Yellow leg tips, dark head+thorax, thin yellow band on abdomen, yellow/orange 4th segment on abdomen.

A pair seen foraging actively in a bank of washed up seaweed.

#AsianHornet
#WaspLove
#wasps

An Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina) foraging among washed up seaweed or algae on a beach in Brittany.

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Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 4d

Anyone know how #iRecord ‘s algorithm works? I have received an automatically generated email from iRecord stating, for my sighting in France:

“Coordinate outside know range for Vespa crabro”.

And yet, as far as I know, France is very much in the range for the European Hornet?

#insectRecording

Steve @stevetypesstuff.bsky.social · 4d

It’s #WeirdScienceSaturday
Still in bed in the campervan after Storm Amy has swept through, reading a paper about #diatoms that have been found living at -15C (5F) in #IceCores from the #Arctic.

Not just surviving but actively moving and living their lives!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Ice gliding diatoms establish record-low temperature limits for motility in a eukaryotic cell | PNAS

Despite periods of permanent darkness and extensive ice coverage in polar environments, photosynthetic ice diatoms display a remarkable capability ...

www.pnas.org