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ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Ash Whiffin
@ashwhiffin.bsky.social
5.1K followers 1.4K following 270 posts
🪲 Entomologist, bonkers about beetles
🏛 Museum Curator
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Usually found turning over logs/stones or poking in dead stuff.

(she/her)

🔗 https://linktr.ee/Ash_Whiffin
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ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Since 2023, this pair have organised over 15 public events & reached thousands of attendees!

They create their own specimen displays & use these in combination with live insects to explore insect biodiversity & teach basics collection techniques.

Incredible efforts from this young duo! 👏 [3/3]
Cole & Conner at one of their events, teaching children about insects.
November 9, 2025 at 1:34 AM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
If you attended the @entcollnet.bsky.social meeting last year in Phoenix, you may have met some of our youngest attendees, Connor Hsu & Cole Crammer. Here they are with @drfirefly.bsky.social!

They’re now in 11th grade and this year they’re back to deliver their first ever ECN talk! [1/3]
ECN president Oliver Keller with Cole & Conner at ECN 2024. The duo at the podium delivering a talk about their work.
November 9, 2025 at 1:34 AM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
How the creation of a school insect collection project, led to the discovery of Amblycheila cylindriformis in Montana…
bioone.org/journals/the...

Marian Kirst reminds us of the value of being a “filthy generalist” and the importance of building strong local connections.

#ECN2025
Image montage of the tiger beetle and Marian holding one.
November 9, 2025 at 1:04 AM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
🧡 @americanbeetles.bsky.social has really delivered again, with stickers for our meeting.

Behold… the most adorable Rain beetle you have ever seen! 😍

#ECN2025
An utterly adorable illustration of a cartoon Rain beetle, complete with an orange umbrella and yellow rain boots.
November 8, 2025 at 10:44 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Super useful tips & tricks for insect specimen imaging from @andrewjohnston.bsky.social! He shares how to build an affordable focus stacking system on your own.

Handy guide available here:
www.insectid.org/post/focus-s...

#ECN2025 📸 🪲
Camera set up with Schmitt box for sense of scale. Photo credit: Andrew Johnston.
November 8, 2025 at 6:08 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
It’s time for #ECN2025 - my favourite annual meeting, entirely focused on #insect collections! This year we’re in Portland, Oregon. 🪲

Follow @entcollnet.bsky.social to keep up with the hot topics of the weekend.

(🤫 Yes, I’m a board member but no I am not biased!)
Printed program with a cute Rain beetle on the cover.
November 8, 2025 at 5:26 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Back in June, we hosted a team from #GardenersWorld to share how we’ve been improving the grounds of the National Museums Collection Centre for biodiversity. 🎬 🐞🪰🌿🌼

Catch it here:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

#NMCCbiodiversity
Behind the scenes from our day of filming. Here I’m crouched down in one of the grassland areas looking at an orchid, with camera operator Gavin and producer Charlotte.
October 4, 2025 at 9:41 AM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
A most welcome visitor to our site this week… A Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), soaking up the late September sun. It’s the first one recorded on our patch since 2021!

#NMCCbiodiversity
A Painted Lady butterfly rests on a red brick wall in the sunshine.
September 26, 2025 at 7:55 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Shhhh 🤫

*whispers* the moth meeting is in progress. They have very serious business to discuss.
Three Canary-shouldered thorn moths rest in a circle on my fingers, with heads all facing inwards.
September 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Very excited to say that we are seeking an Assistant Curator to join our entomology team! 😁🪲

For full details on this 2 year fixed-term post, head to our website:
➡️ careers.nms.ac.uk/job/727783

#Entomology #InsectCollection #EntoJobs #MuseumJobs
A close up of hands using pinning forceps to transfer an Emperor moth specimen to the main drawer which can be seen in the background.
June 30, 2025 at 9:31 AM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Repeat after me: There’s no such thing as ‘weeds’.

Example no. 1: Dandelions.

In the U.K., they are native #wildflowers, that provide vital pollen and nectar sources for more than 170 species of insect!

#NoMowMay #WildflowerHour
May 4, 2025 at 8:52 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
It’s that time of year again! The St. Marks Flies (Bibio marci) on our grounds, arrived right on cue… April 25th!

It’s super easy to tell apart the males and females of this species. It’s all in the eyes…
👀 ➡️ www.instagram.com/reel/DI4TNkG...

#NMCCbiodiversity 🪰
A female Bibio marci rests on my finger. This all black fly has a noticeably small head, featuring very small eyes. A male Bibio marci rests on my finger. It has a noticeably large head compared to the female, featuring very big eyes.
April 27, 2025 at 5:09 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
It’s not about the size of your green space… it’s what you do with it that counts. 🌿🌼🐛🐞

#NMCCbiodiversity #EarthDay
Photo from 2016. An area of the grounds at the National museums collection centre in Edinburgh, seeded with grass. The same area of the grounds at the National museums collection centre in Edinburgh. Photo taken in 2024. This space is now an urban meadow bursting with wildflowers and native grasses.
April 22, 2025 at 8:18 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
After the initial Disney princess feeling, I spotted the reason why this little one wasn’t flying away… it couldn’t, as one of its wings hadn’t properly formed 🥺

Still a privilege to have such a close-up look at one of these beautiful fluffy flies.

@uk-soldierflies.bsky.social
#BeeFlyWatch
A Dark-edged bee-fly resting on my outstretched finger, in this view you can see that its right wing is not fully formed.
April 18, 2025 at 8:32 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Happy Good FlyDay! 🪰

One of the best #SignsOfSpring has to be the arrival of the Bee-flies!! Here’s an encounter I had recently with a Bombylius major…
A Dark-edged bee-fly resting on my finger Me with a big open-mouthed smile and the bee-fly resting on my finger
April 18, 2025 at 8:32 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Yesterday I hosted a #CarrionBeetle workshop for the Holyrood rangers & volunteers. They’re now fully fledged members of the #CarrionClub! ☺️

#HolyroodPark 🪲💀
Our keep calm and carrion recording logo Ranger Jeff Boddy, examining a beetle specimen with a hand lens. The workshop in full swing, with participants trying to identify specimens.
April 18, 2025 at 7:09 AM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Returned to one of my favourite places in the whole of Scotland yesterday… the Isle of May 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Got my Puffin fix! 🧡

#SuperSeabirdSunday #Seabirds
@steelyseabirder.bsky.social
A puffin standing on a lichen covered rock, looking out to the sea, with another puffin in the background looking towards us. 4 puffins, 3 stood and 1 in loaf-mode, on a rocky cliff top, with pale blue sky behind.
April 13, 2025 at 7:49 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Life is better when you notice the little things… 🌱🪲

#BugSky #NMCCbiodiversity
A tiny hopper resting on the underside of a Primrose flower, with the sun setting behind a building in the background.
March 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Another sign of spring on the grounds of the National Museums Collection Centre…

The Colts-foot is flowering 😊

#NMCCbiodiversity #Edinburgh #WildflowerHour #SignsOfSpring
3 yellow blooms of Colts-foot peeking out from the grass.
March 23, 2025 at 10:03 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
An excellent day of talks and chatter at OUMNH today for the @britentsoc.bsky.social members day!

Wonderful representation for women in #entomology from @megabunus.bsky.social @beetlequeen.bsky.social & BENHS President Zoë Simmons 💁🏻‍♀️🪲🪰🕷️

#WomensHistoryMonth
Beulah Garner presenting at the British Entomology and Natural History Society members day. Zoë Simmons presenting at the British Entomology and Natural History Society members day. Meg Skinner presenting at the British Entomology and Natural History Society members day.
March 22, 2025 at 10:00 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Agnes Morton (formerly Freeland) [1863 -1943], received very little credit for her entomological contributions - so Craig is working to set the record straight, and shine a spotlight on her work.

We love to see it! 👏 [2/2]

#WomensHistoryMonth #TaxonomistAppreciationDay
The underside of a caddisfly specimen with the name “A. Freeland” visible.
March 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
The brilliant @bugsymac.bsky.social has been digging into the collection & archives of The Mortons (Kenneth & Agnes) - Scotlands most prolific insect collecting couple.

#WomensHistoryMonth #Entomology [1/2]
A black and white photo of Agnes and Kenneth Morton, courtesy of the Morton family. Craig Macadam examining the caddisfly collection at National Museums Scotland.
March 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
An unforgettable experience 🧡
Multiple clusters of Monarchs, roosting on the Oyamel fir trees. Thousands of butterflies. Zoomed in look at one of the clusters of roosting Monarchs.
March 18, 2025 at 9:31 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
A few more magical moments with the Monarchs…

📍 Sierra Chincua, Mexico (February 2025) 🦋
Several Monarch butterflies, nectaring in the sunshine. A cluster of Monarch butterflies on the branch of an Oyamel fir tree. Dense cluster of resting Monarch butterflies on a branch.
March 18, 2025 at 9:31 PM
ashwhiffin.bsky.social
Signs of Spring 🌱

The first of the Primroses are blooming on the grounds of the National Museums Collection Centre. #NMCCbiodiversity #Edinburgh #WildflowerHour
Focus is on a single primrose in full flower, with buildings in the background.
March 16, 2025 at 8:14 PM