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Katherine Oestmann

@koestmann.bsky.social

1.5K followers 1.7K following 75 posts

Evolutionary biology HDR student. Loves the unloved critters. She/her 🏳‍🌈

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · Feb 11

Really excited to share that the first paper I’ve contributed to has been published! With the help of citizen science, we described 34 new Australian parasitoid wasp species, including Apanteles darthvaderi. doi.org/10.3897/zook...
#Conservation #CitizenScience #DNAbarcoding #Entomology #Hymenoptera

Microscopic image of a dark brown parasitoid wasp with orange legs. The whole wasp is only a few millimetres long.

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

BHL Australia @bhl-au.bsky.social · Sep 9

There’s scientifically accurate illustration and then there’s charming. These images are from "A Voyage to New Holland" by William Dampier, published in 1703. We’re glad that he took some time to ensure that these creatures 🐙 were captured for posterity!

➡️ www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50441252

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

The Ass is the father of the legs @internethippo.bsky.social · Jul 19

It's Friday night baby

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · 25d

I'm glad you enjoy it as much as I do 😂

Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 27d

Say hi to Micropathus ditto and M. zubat, two #NewSpecies of cave cricket from forests in southern Tasmania! These crickets are threatened by climate change, land clearing, and logging. Giving them names is an important step towards their conservation. But why did we choose these ones? #bugsky 🧵 1/6

Macro photos of the morphology of Micropathus zubat, showing the head, ovipositor, and genital plates. Superimposed in the corner is a sprite of the Pokemon Zubat.

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · Aug 18

"A public call to the researchers and stakeholders [...] with an ambition of widening novel groundwater-based research beyond well-known global biodiversity hotspots."
Advancing subterranean conservation through Global Research on eDNA in Groundwaters (GReG) subtbiol.pensoft.net/articles.php...

Advancing subterranean conservation through Global Research on eDNA in Groundwaters (GReG)

NONE

subtbiol.pensoft.net

Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · Jul 18

How a small number of authors can cause chaos in biology’s system for naming species and what can be done about it. #taxonomy #bugsky thebiologist.rsb.org.uk/biologist-fe...

Taxonomic trolling

26 May 2025 Darren Naish looks at how a small number of authors can cause chaos in biology’s system for naming species and what can be done about it The term ‘taxonomy’ refers to the branch of sc...

thebiologist.rsb.org.uk

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · Jul 9

Amazing news from a member of our lab!

Nullarbor cave expedition unearths world's only known eyeless wasp

An eyeless wasp is just one of several new cave-dwelling invertebrates discovered within the proposed boundary of a massive renewable energy project.

www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Science Magazine @science.org · Jun 25

In what may be one of Earth’s craziest forms of mimicry, researchers in 2023 reported a species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it.

Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8

Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food

Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it

scim.ag

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · Jun 24

Congratulations Perry!!

Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Jen Cross @jencross.bsky.social · May 21

Holy smokes! I've got the male too! I'm tearing up. Just heard from the scientist that described the new species and this handsome lad is the male. So awesome!
(Chrysometa chuchaqui)

A skinny spider with swirly light sockets for pedipalps, a tan cephalothorax, cone shaped abdomen with shiny plates. He is sitting on a leaf.

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

pikaole @pikaole.bsky.social · May 16

Blue isopods with ribbons🎀

There are Powder Blue Isopods (Porcellionides pruinosus) of various sizes on a pastel pink background.
All of them are hanging with large and small ribbons. Happy and lovely atmosphere.

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · May 15

This is an awesome lab and everyone should definitely check it out! (yes I'm totally biased ☺️)

Invertebrate Systematics and Biodiversity Lab @invertebratelab.bsky.social · Apr 1

Hi, Bluesky! We're a research group from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. We've just launched a new website and are revamping our social media presence. It's good to be here. 🪲 #bugsky

For more lab news, check out our newsletter below. invertebratelab.com/2025/04/01/n...

New Year, New Lab Members, New Website!

2025 is well underway and the ISB Lab is in full swing! We’ve had plenty of new personnel join, with both staff and students joining the ranks of our avid research team. Staff joining our tea…

invertebratelab.com

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · May 6

2/2 Tragically, this species is now extinct. Its habitat, a groundwater-fed spring, was completely lost due to changes in water availability - linked to groundwater extraction from industry in the region.

Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · May 6

1/2 Ever wondered what 1,000 slaters in a jar looks like?
These tiny isopods were once abundant near Marree, south of Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre in South Australia.
#southaustralianmuseum #conservation #katithanda #lakeeyre

A large glass jar with a white label and filled with yellowish ethanol containing 1,000 preserved isopods

Close-up of the ethanol-preserved isopods, which are grey-pinkish in colour and curled up

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Squishy Fauna 🪲🐍 local bug dealer @squishyfauna.bsky.social · Apr 30

Last day of #invertefest so let’s end with one of my most popular pieces of art!

linktr.ee/squishyfauna

#invertebrates #bugsky #bugs #entomology #insects #herps #frogs #snakes #sciart #bsnm

A digital drawing with dark blue text above saying “protect the” and the bottom text saying “weirdos”.

There are four animals in between the text.

The top left is a green and brown horned frog (aka Pac-Man frog). The top right is a pink and white flea beetle. The bottom left is a yellow slug. The bottom right is a kingsnake with grey and red scales.

The background is light blue.

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

The Doctor of Spooktober Past @lucidillusions.in · Apr 30

I've never seen Barnacles being this active.

#InverteFest 🦑 #Nature #TidePool

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Emoji Meadow @emojimeadow.bsky.social · Apr 30

🌺🌸🍄🌸🌺🌺🌸🌻🌸
🌸🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄
🍄🍄🌱🌱🌱🍄🍄🌱🐢
🍄🌱🌱🍄🌱🌱🍄🌱🍄
🍄🌱🍄🍄🍄🌱🌱🌱🍄
🍄🌱🌱🥗🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄
🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🌸🌷🌺🌸

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Andrew Mountcastle @mounty.bsky.social · Apr 16

5/ Some wings have evolved strategies to help reduce damage resulting from collisions. For example, we learned a few years ago that wasp wings have a flexible joint that acts like a reversible crumple zone, allowing the wing tip to easily bend out of the way when it hits things...

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Julia Serano @juliaserano.bsky.social · Apr 16

Harry Potter $ helped pay for this ruling #boycott

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · Apr 16

"In a lawsuit backed by anti-transgender activist J.K. Rowling, the United Kingdom Supreme Court has ruled that the legal definition of “woman” under the 2010 Equality Act refers exclusively to the sex a person is assigned at birth."

Anti-Trans Ruling in UK Strips Protections From Trans Women

“Extremely devastating news for transgender people in the United Kingdom,” said transgender activist Erin Reed.

truthout.org

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · Apr 15

I'm definitely biased, but it always feels like a fun little journey saying Phreatomerus latipes. It's an isopod native to desert springs in South Australia and is the focus of my master's project.

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Corryn Wetzel @corrynwetzel.bsky.social · Apr 15

A colossal squid — the largest invertebrate in the world — has been photographed alive in its habitat for the first time. And it's just a baby. www.newscientist.com/article/2476...

First ever confirmed image of a colossal squid in the deep ocean

The colossal squid is the largest invertebrate on the planet, but it is also surprisingly elusive. An image of a 30-centimetre-long juvenile is our first glimpse of the animal in its natural habitat

www.newscientist.com

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Katherine Oestmann @koestmann.bsky.social · Apr 15

I kept forgetting isopod (slater) leg anatomy so I made a handy image to help me remember all of the segments in order. Credit to chatGPT for creating the mnemonic itself 😆 #isopods

The mnemonic on top reads "chewing bits in muck, crustaceans process debris." The text underneath lists leg segment names "coxa basis ischium merus carpus propodus dactylus" and in the centre is a line drawing of an isopod leg. The background is a murky green pond.

Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Riley Black 🦕 🏳️‍⚧️ @restingdinoface.bsky.social · Apr 9

Shrimps is bugs? No, it’s kinda the other way around. Insects are technically crustaceans, which highlights the importance of systematics in understanding how evolution unfolds. My latest for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social.

You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea. But a Remarkable Discovery Shows the Opposite: Bugs Are Actually Shrimp of the Land

A recent study suggests that insects branched out from crustaceans on the tree of life

www.smithsonianmag.com

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · Jan 12

📣 New preprint! We reconstructed the cave cricket family tree and found the Australian biota have not 1, but >5 independent evolutionary origins. 🇦🇺 is at the centre of a radiation in the S. Hemisphere that began in the Lower Cretaceous ~119 million years ago. 1/ #bugsky

Paper: tinyurl.com/bddev8kn

A plate of six photos of cave crickets from throughout the Southern Hemisphere: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Chile. All of the crickets are spindly and spider-like, with elongated legs and antennae for sensing in low-light environments. While they share the same body plan, each of the images has a slightly different colouration or pattern; some are mottled and sandy, others are dusky and appear almost covered in peach fuzz (setae). The species from Chile is almost jet black and matte.

Images © Jessa Thurman, Keith Martin-Smith, Greg Tasney, commoncopper via iNaturalist, Peter Swart, and Benjamin Silva Ahumada. Photographs reproduced under Creative Commons licences.

A phylogeny (evolutionary tree) with groupings of species coloured by their geographic location. In the tree are four different, unrelated groups from Australia, two from New Zealand, and one from South America. To the left is a zoomed-out schematic of the phylogeny showing that only half of the tree is shown in this figure.

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Reposted by Katherine Oestmann

Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · Apr 12

If you want to read one more dire wolf take this week, i can thoroughly recommend @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social's deep dive on what scientists make of the announcement, just why it broke like it did, and what that means for conservation work more broadly.
@cenmag.bsky.social 🧪

Dire wolf debate raises concerns on scientific overhype

Even de-extinction advocates say that Colossal Biosciences’ claims are misleading

cen.acs.org

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