Ainsley S
@americanbeetles.bsky.social
I hope you like pictures of bugs.
Curating at CMNH, teaching at CMU, beetling everywhere
Curating at CMNH, teaching at CMU, beetling everywhere
Pinned
The Pest Is Still To Come
YouTube video by Dan Warren
www.youtube.com
I'm proud of our li'l Schoolhouse Rock for Insect Taxonomists cartoon, but if you're not in Bug World here are some annotations for you... www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYSI... cc @danlwarren.bsky.social
HOW
IS
THIS
STILL
HAPPENING
IS
THIS
STILL
HAPPENING
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
December 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
HOW
IS
THIS
STILL
HAPPENING
IS
THIS
STILL
HAPPENING
Oh heck yes we’re goin ham
OGHAM, THAT IS
OGHAM, THAT IS
December 9, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Oh heck yes we’re goin ham
OGHAM, THAT IS
OGHAM, THAT IS
Reposted by Ainsley S
Nearly half of all countries have fewer than ten active plant taxonomists, and in 41% of countries they're all male. Global review by Simões et al. (2025). 🌏🧪🌐 www.cell.com/trends/plant...
December 9, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Nearly half of all countries have fewer than ten active plant taxonomists, and in 41% of countries they're all male. Global review by Simões et al. (2025). 🌏🧪🌐 www.cell.com/trends/plant...
Very fancy lil beetle larva from Puerto Rico samples, I’m thinking Nitidulidae but never met one with those sclerotized lateral processes
December 8, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Very fancy lil beetle larva from Puerto Rico samples, I’m thinking Nitidulidae but never met one with those sclerotized lateral processes
Prepping more beetles from PR; love it when u find a ptiliid and then there’s an EVEN SMALLER PTILIID
December 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Prepping more beetles from PR; love it when u find a ptiliid and then there’s an EVEN SMALLER PTILIID
Reposted by Ainsley S
So, it's Monday, and there's no way to say this that doesn't sound stupid, so I'm just going to come out and say it: I've decided to Twitch stream the entire writing of an NIH R01 proposal, and you can follow along at twitch.tv/ColinDoesScience
ColinDoesScience - Twitch
I'm only doing this because they messed up science real bad forever
twitch.tv
December 8, 2025 at 5:03 PM
So, it's Monday, and there's no way to say this that doesn't sound stupid, so I'm just going to come out and say it: I've decided to Twitch stream the entire writing of an NIH R01 proposal, and you can follow along at twitch.tv/ColinDoesScience
Re:last RT, not a recent article but I will take any opportunity to share the perfect crustaceans of Australia. We had a pet Cherax destructor, who was ALSO electric blue
December 8, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Re:last RT, not a recent article but I will take any opportunity to share the perfect crustaceans of Australia. We had a pet Cherax destructor, who was ALSO electric blue
Reposted by Ainsley S
The blue marron crayfish is a low-maintenance native pet from Western Australia. The freshwater crayfish species can range in colour from jet-black to brown, striped and red, but it is cobalt blue marron that is becoming increasingly popular.
Article: www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2...
#crustmas
Article: www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2...
#crustmas
December 8, 2025 at 7:29 AM
The blue marron crayfish is a low-maintenance native pet from Western Australia. The freshwater crayfish species can range in colour from jet-black to brown, striped and red, but it is cobalt blue marron that is becoming increasingly popular.
Article: www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2...
#crustmas
Article: www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2...
#crustmas
LOOK AT HIM, what a celebrity encounter
Rhipidioides sp.
This very small male Rhipidioides sp. beetle was a new visitor to our moth light this week. This is the only recorded observation in Western Australia. The larvae of this species parasitises cockroaches🪳
#ausinverts #wildoz #beetle #coleoptera #inaturalist
This very small male Rhipidioides sp. beetle was a new visitor to our moth light this week. This is the only recorded observation in Western Australia. The larvae of this species parasitises cockroaches🪳
#ausinverts #wildoz #beetle #coleoptera #inaturalist
December 8, 2025 at 12:31 AM
LOOK AT HIM, what a celebrity encounter
Reposted by Ainsley S
“The Daily Nebraskan found in the leaked spreadsheet that every program eliminated appeared to be profitable…every program that the chancellor proposed eliminating generated more money from tuition dollars than the department costs to run”
December 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
“The Daily Nebraskan found in the leaked spreadsheet that every program eliminated appeared to be profitable…every program that the chancellor proposed eliminating generated more money from tuition dollars than the department costs to run”
Reposted by Ainsley S
Post a photo of an animal that looks Gen-AI but is 100% real.
Hegemona lineata, Belize.
Hegemona lineata, Belize.
December 6, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Post a photo of an animal that looks Gen-AI but is 100% real.
Hegemona lineata, Belize.
Hegemona lineata, Belize.
The gentle journey jars to stop
The drifting dream is done.
The long-gone goblins loom ahead,
The deadly, that we thought were dead,
Stand waiting, every one.
(Walt Kelly)
The drifting dream is done.
The long-gone goblins loom ahead,
The deadly, that we thought were dead,
Stand waiting, every one.
(Walt Kelly)
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 6, 2025 at 11:24 PM
The gentle journey jars to stop
The drifting dream is done.
The long-gone goblins loom ahead,
The deadly, that we thought were dead,
Stand waiting, every one.
(Walt Kelly)
The drifting dream is done.
The long-gone goblins loom ahead,
The deadly, that we thought were dead,
Stand waiting, every one.
(Walt Kelly)
omg what a perfect little man
A male rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage.
Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word.
A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).
Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word.
A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).
December 6, 2025 at 7:12 PM
omg what a perfect little man
thanks to @hellabarnes.bsky.social for alerting me to the existence of Thismia, another entry for my growing database of Deeply Weird Plants Visited By Tiny Beetles
December 5, 2025 at 9:48 PM
thanks to @hellabarnes.bsky.social for alerting me to the existence of Thismia, another entry for my growing database of Deeply Weird Plants Visited By Tiny Beetles
Reposted by Ainsley S
New paper out today w @dalmaijer.bsky.social @barbaraklump.bsky.social and @lucymaplin.bsky.social as part of the Phil Trans special issue doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... Over 2 years, we studied a population of cockatoos thought to be the source of the innovation of bin-opening.
December 4, 2025 at 1:31 PM
New paper out today w @dalmaijer.bsky.social @barbaraklump.bsky.social and @lucymaplin.bsky.social as part of the Phil Trans special issue doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... Over 2 years, we studied a population of cockatoos thought to be the source of the innovation of bin-opening.
Reposted by Ainsley S
YO.
Remember what I said about how the internet needs "Etsy, but not flooded with drop-shipper and AI trash?"
Good news! ✨It already exists✨! AND it's a CO-OP. 🎉
Check out @3psboyd.bsky.social's dice shop on there!
artisans.coop/pages/seller...
Remember what I said about how the internet needs "Etsy, but not flooded with drop-shipper and AI trash?"
Good news! ✨It already exists✨! AND it's a CO-OP. 🎉
Check out @3psboyd.bsky.social's dice shop on there!
artisans.coop/pages/seller...
Seller Profile
We are building a better handmade marketplace. We are a member-owned, member-run and member-benefiting co-op. We promote creativity, support artist livelihoods, and connect people through an equitable...
artisans.coop
December 5, 2025 at 6:06 AM
YO.
Remember what I said about how the internet needs "Etsy, but not flooded with drop-shipper and AI trash?"
Good news! ✨It already exists✨! AND it's a CO-OP. 🎉
Check out @3psboyd.bsky.social's dice shop on there!
artisans.coop/pages/seller...
Remember what I said about how the internet needs "Etsy, but not flooded with drop-shipper and AI trash?"
Good news! ✨It already exists✨! AND it's a CO-OP. 🎉
Check out @3psboyd.bsky.social's dice shop on there!
artisans.coop/pages/seller...
I, too, visited this exhibition and took pictures of my favorite guys
December 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I, too, visited this exhibition and took pictures of my favorite guys
it's scientifically true
The chuckwalla body shape is the pinnacle of evolution 🦎
📍 Joshua Tree, CA
📍 Joshua Tree, CA
December 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM
it's scientifically true
Reposted by Ainsley S
University of Birmingham, UK, are advertising a permanant position (Assistant or Associate Professor) in *Forests under Global Change*. A wide net has been cast - ecology, physiology, modelling, remote sensing, functioning, biodiversity, management... 🌲🌱🌳🌳🦌🌳🛰️🐿️🌲🔬🌳
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...
December 5, 2025 at 8:07 AM
University of Birmingham, UK, are advertising a permanant position (Assistant or Associate Professor) in *Forests under Global Change*. A wide net has been cast - ecology, physiology, modelling, remote sensing, functioning, biodiversity, management... 🌲🌱🌳🌳🦌🌳🛰️🐿️🌲🔬🌳
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...
Reposted by Ainsley S
My department at California State University Northridge is hiring! We're looking for a new colleague studying microbiology or molecular/cellular biology. I'm not on the search committee, but happy to answer questions about the department and campus, and life in LA
buff.ly/Pc1KOaC
buff.ly/Pc1KOaC
Career Opportunities
Applicant Log-In
careers.pageuppeople.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:19 PM
My department at California State University Northridge is hiring! We're looking for a new colleague studying microbiology or molecular/cellular biology. I'm not on the search committee, but happy to answer questions about the department and campus, and life in LA
buff.ly/Pc1KOaC
buff.ly/Pc1KOaC
Reposted by Ainsley S
Many of us need to keep writing federal grants (both for political reasons and as a Hail Mary to keep people employed) despite the feeling it's a waste of time, so... if you got an NSF or NIH grant funded this year, would you mind bragging about it in the replies, so it feels like the odds are >0%?
December 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Many of us need to keep writing federal grants (both for political reasons and as a Hail Mary to keep people employed) despite the feeling it's a waste of time, so... if you got an NSF or NIH grant funded this year, would you mind bragging about it in the replies, so it feels like the odds are >0%?
Reposted by Ainsley S
🚨New #behavioural #mimicry paper out in Proc B!🚨
In which we show that hoverflies have evolved to prefer the flower colour choices of their #bee models instead of their #fly relatives.
Conversation article here: theconversation.com/natures-grea...
Paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
In which we show that hoverflies have evolved to prefer the flower colour choices of their #bee models instead of their #fly relatives.
Conversation article here: theconversation.com/natures-grea...
Paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Nature’s greatest method actors: the insects that cosplay bumblebees
When you’re an animal undercover, sometimes it’s not enough just to look like someone else
theconversation.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
🚨New #behavioural #mimicry paper out in Proc B!🚨
In which we show that hoverflies have evolved to prefer the flower colour choices of their #bee models instead of their #fly relatives.
Conversation article here: theconversation.com/natures-grea...
Paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
In which we show that hoverflies have evolved to prefer the flower colour choices of their #bee models instead of their #fly relatives.
Conversation article here: theconversation.com/natures-grea...
Paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Reposted by Ainsley S
Voor #ElkeDagEenInsect nog een bladna-apende sprinkhaan met zogenaamde vraatsporen van Borneo: Ancyclecha fenestrata.
December 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Voor #ElkeDagEenInsect nog een bladna-apende sprinkhaan met zogenaamde vraatsporen van Borneo: Ancyclecha fenestrata.
Reposted by Ainsley S
1965 brochure for the Wild M5, “stereomicroscope most likely to be mistaken for an artillery shell”
December 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
1965 brochure for the Wild M5, “stereomicroscope most likely to be mistaken for an artillery shell”