Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Simon Cook 🏔❄🌊 @glaciocook.bsky.social · Nov 28

Good morning from #Dundee
❄️🥶🌅

A view over to the ice sheet-sculpted Devonian volcanic hills of Fife.

#geology #geography

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Dr Will Leo Hawkes @willleohawkes.bsky.social · Dec 8

One morning after strong winds from the Sahara to the south, an estimated one MILLION rush veneer (Nomophila noctuella) moths arrived to the tip of the Karpaz peninsula of Cyprus. All on their northward migration. #insectmigration

Full paper: nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

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Matt Berry @matthewberry.bsky.social · Dec 8

A Clouded Yellow #butterfly

Comments welcome. Reposts appreciated. Likes liked.

A Clouded Yellow butterfly nectaring on a pale blue flower in a meadow in Greece.

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Evolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social · Dec 9

Tempo and mode of winter diapause evolution in butterflies
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @EvolLetters by Sridhar Halali, Etka Yapar, Christopher W Wheat, Niklas Wahlberg, Karl Gotthard, Nicolas Chazot, Sören Nylin, and Philipp Lehmann

Tempo and mode of winter diapause evolution in butterflies

Abstract. Quantifying the tempo and mode via modern phylogenetic comparative methods can provide key insights into how selection and constraints shape trai

doi.org

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Rob Cruickshank @bugblokenz.bsky.social · Dec 10

Entomologists of Bluesky: Has anyone here tried sugaring as a method for attracting moths? If so, do you have any good recipes? I'm talking #entomology not hair removal. It's not an easy thing to Google!

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Aussie Moths @wa-moths.bsky.social · Dec 12

Moerarchis clathrata

Found in the south west of Western Australia, this beautiful #moth has white forewings that are yellow/orange at the margins and with a striking black pattern
#mothsmatter #teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #inaturalist

A moth with white forewings and a black lattice like pattern sits on a reflective surface

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Aussie Moths @wa-moths.bsky.social · Dec 14

Dichromodes personalis

I may have given a squeal of delight when this beautiful #moth came to the UV light last night. Found in the south west of Western Australia, this moth has pale brown forewings with very distinctive dark brown markings
#mothsmatter #teammoth #ausinverts #wildoz #inaturalist

A moth that is generally triangular in shape with pale brown wings that have a striking dark brown pattern mirrored across each forewing

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Paul Caplat 🌲🌳🐦🦋 @paulcaplat.bsky.social · Dec 15

So true. It doesn't mean being an expert in natural history, but at least having interest and curiosity (more goes a long way). I had a collaborator once who didn't have any interest in the study organisms...let's just say it didn't work out.

Anthony Ricciardi @ecoinvasions.bsky.social · Dec 15

Quote: "It is very hard to interpret big data in ecology in meaningful ways if you do not know anything about who the organisms are and what they do in the environment."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

A place for natural history in the 21st century

Natural history provides an important basis for observing interactions between organisms in their environments. Biotropica recently inaugurated a new paper category called “Natural History Field Note....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Dr Callum Macgregor @callumjmacgregor.bsky.social · Dec 20

Out today: my final paper from my postdoc at the @universityofhull.bsky.social, in which we explored the UK public's views on brownfield sites and biodiversity! So very excited to finally be publishing this paper - a labour of love.

*Please note: this is not BTO work.*

doi.org/10.3351/ppp....

Conservation priorities for development: survey of UK public’s views on brownfield sites and biodiversity - People, Place and Policy

People, Place and Policy is an online journal providing a forum for academic debate around issues of urban policy, social and economic regeneration, housing and the labour market. Articles deal with t...

doi.org

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 21

Really interesting stuff & relevant across countries
🦋🐛🪲🚜🚛

Dr Callum Macgregor @callumjmacgregor.bsky.social · Dec 20

Out today: my final paper from my postdoc at the @universityofhull.bsky.social, in which we explored the UK public's views on brownfield sites and biodiversity! So very excited to finally be publishing this paper - a labour of love.

*Please note: this is not BTO work.*

doi.org/10.3351/ppp....

Conservation priorities for development: survey of UK public’s views on brownfield sites and biodiversity - People, Place and Policy

People, Place and Policy is an online journal providing a forum for academic debate around issues of urban policy, social and economic regeneration, housing and the labour market. Articles deal with t...

doi.org

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martinswarren.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social · Dec 21

Butterfly fact 4. Caterpillars consume 27,000 times their body weight in their brief lives. And then they face an onslaught of predators and parasites. But they can fight back! To understand a butterfly, you need to know its caterpillar. Read all about them in ‘Butterflies' from Bloomsbury

Photo of a spiny caterpillar of the Heath Fritillary, Mellicta athalia

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orientbutterflies.bsky.social @orientbutterflies.bsky.social · Dec 21

Four hairstreaks from my European travels in 2024 . False ilex , Spanish purple , Blue spot , and Sloe.

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 20

Hehe but that light module in the mug is bespoke 😃🦋

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Les Evans-Hill @lesevanshill.bsky.social · Dec 20

For my final day working for @savebutterflies.bsky.social, plus I've not posted an image for while - Watsonalla uncinula (Spiny Hook-tip), ~12mm and I believe in it's 3rd instar (happy to be corrected). Bred ex ova from wild-caught, Oxfordshire female - not by me I should add. #MothsMatter

The larva of Watsonalla uncinula (Spiny Hook-tip)

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 20

That festive office feeling
🎉🥳🦋🎅🧑‍🎄🤶
@biologylu.bsky.social
@dagfjarilar.bsky.social
#teammoth
#teammothsweden
#mothsmatter

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 20

Yay sunny weather after weeks of rain and the #moths are back 🦋🐛🌞🥳 Six Black-spot Chestnut and a Diamond-back Moth in the trap since yesterday #teammoth #teammothsweden #mothsmatter

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · Dec 19

...London is constant effort in 1x20W actinic. Number of traps in Devon varies depending on opportunity, and has increased on average over the years. I was running 3 on some nights this autumn. So London more reliable indicator, but catches always low there. Make of that what you will! #TeamMoth 4/4

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · Dec 19

And here's Devon: log-transformed abundance on the left, richness on the right. Previous years in green, 2024 in black. Trend lines fitted using GAM (all years and just 2024). Take home message: fewer trap nights, but looks fairly typical. Except for a good few days in autumn, but... #TeamMoth 2/4

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · Dec 19

Here's London: log-transformed abundance on the left, richness on the right. Previous years in red, 2024 in black. Trend lines fitted using GAM (all years and just 2024). Take home message: 2024 was normal for London. Or, every year is a bad year in the Borough of Camden. #TeamMoth 2/4

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · Dec 19

Right, the numbers are in. What did my moth trap catch in 2024, and how does it compare with previous years, especially as many moth-ers seemed to be reporting low numbers this year? I mainly trap at two sites (my London flat and in-laws place in Devon), so will focus on those. #TeamMoth 1/4

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 17

Not sure about the pre-July 2012 population in Finland. In Sweden, volunteers discovered and reported the butterflies coming across the Baltic sea, reaching Gotland in the SE

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 17

This is the colonization process in Sweden, starting July 2012 (followed by 95% leaving in 2014-2015)

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 17

The invasion actually happened in July 2012, then the Scarce Tortoiseshell population stayed a couple of years before moving on so for Sweden, that map mixes the pre-2012 population with those that established during the invasion

The circled dots is where the only Swedish populations were found pre-2012

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Richard Lewington @rlewington2.bsky.social · Dec 15

I've joined Bluesky! Hoping to follow and be followed by many of my X/Twitter friends. Please Retweet/Repost or whatever the word is. #invertebrates #insects #moths #dragonflies #wildlife

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 15

A couple of days with empty #mothtraps the only nice finding recently was this leafhopper (Cicadellidae) bug last Tuesday, possibly a Tremulicerus #mothsmatter #teammoths

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Andrew Warren @andybugguy.bsky.social · Dec 15

The African Map Butterfly is very unique, being the only member of its subfamily in Africa. It is also super cool and breathtakingly beautiful!

Cyrestis camillus camillus, Kakamega Forest, Kenya.

White butterfly with orange and black stripes and short tails on the hindwings.

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Paul Leyland @paul51.bsky.social · Dec 15

I love the crazy names given to moths. A favourite is the day-flying moth Mother Shipton. Named after an infamous Yorkshire witch, if you look hard enough at the wing pattern you can make out the profile of an ugly old face. I found this one in the Yorkshire Wolds.
#teammoth #yorkshire #ukwildlife

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 15

Couldn’t agree more 💥 It also goes both ways — a welcoming attitude from natural history experts towards having data merged in new ways ought to go hand in hand with big data scientists having a firm natural history-based understanding of data, welcoming involvement by species experts

Paul Caplat 🌲🌳🐦🦋 @paulcaplat.bsky.social · Dec 15

So true. It doesn't mean being an expert in natural history, but at least having interest and curiosity (more goes a long way). I had a collaborator once who didn't have any interest in the study organisms...let's just say it didn't work out.

Anthony Ricciardi @ecoinvasions.bsky.social · Dec 15

Quote: "It is very hard to interpret big data in ecology in meaningful ways if you do not know anything about who the organisms are and what they do in the environment."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 14

Thanks, that sounds promising! I was thinking CartoDB first but haven’t seen them using rasters and now the free option seems gone too

Lars Pettersson @larspett.bsky.social · Dec 14

I was thinking of putting it online so that you could use positioning through your phone browser and locate yourself on the raster

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