Michael Palmer
@cosmopterix.bsky.social
Retired botanist but doing #entomology on a wildfire impacted landscape in Oregon.
INaturalist Ambassador.
INaturalist handle @cosmopterix
INaturalist Ambassador.
INaturalist handle @cosmopterix
I did get one of these too - I think a Monotomidae?
November 21, 2025 at 5:43 AM
I did get one of these too - I think a Monotomidae?
I made a trap out of lees (dead yeast slurry from making wine). I was expecting a lot of Drosophila, but I mostly ended up with Nitidulidae. I think there are at least 3 species here. #coleoptera #beetles
November 21, 2025 at 5:42 AM
I made a trap out of lees (dead yeast slurry from making wine). I was expecting a lot of Drosophila, but I mostly ended up with Nitidulidae. I think there are at least 3 species here. #coleoptera #beetles
I love these cute tiny lacebugs (Acalypta) associated with ruderal mosses. about 1.7mm. Blue River, Oregon #bugsky #hemiptera
November 11, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I love these cute tiny lacebugs (Acalypta) associated with ruderal mosses. about 1.7mm. Blue River, Oregon #bugsky #hemiptera
These guys show up whenever dead animals are around. These. ones from an unfortunate window-killed sparrow that I buried 10 cm deep in a makeshift belowground trap. Catops perhaps? #coleoptera #bugsky
November 11, 2025 at 5:13 PM
These guys show up whenever dead animals are around. These. ones from an unfortunate window-killed sparrow that I buried 10 cm deep in a makeshift belowground trap. Catops perhaps? #coleoptera #bugsky
The annual home invasion begins!
#coleoptera I particularly like the vernacular name “halloween beetle”
Because that’s when they start appearing by the thousands
#coleoptera I particularly like the vernacular name “halloween beetle”
Because that’s when they start appearing by the thousands
October 20, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The annual home invasion begins!
#coleoptera I particularly like the vernacular name “halloween beetle”
Because that’s when they start appearing by the thousands
#coleoptera I particularly like the vernacular name “halloween beetle”
Because that’s when they start appearing by the thousands
#fermentation
One of my favorite and well used kitchen gadgets is this inherited antique cabbage mandolin for sauerkraut
One of my favorite and well used kitchen gadgets is this inherited antique cabbage mandolin for sauerkraut
October 19, 2025 at 1:37 AM
#fermentation
One of my favorite and well used kitchen gadgets is this inherited antique cabbage mandolin for sauerkraut
One of my favorite and well used kitchen gadgets is this inherited antique cabbage mandolin for sauerkraut
A picture of some dirt. Litter Critter Getters, does anyone have any experience with flotation extraction of soil arthropods that doesn’t use centrifuges or chemicals harsher than epsom salts and soap? I am interested in expanding my limited repertoire of techniques.
October 15, 2025 at 8:11 PM
A picture of some dirt. Litter Critter Getters, does anyone have any experience with flotation extraction of soil arthropods that doesn’t use centrifuges or chemicals harsher than epsom salts and soap? I am interested in expanding my limited repertoire of techniques.
This moth (reared from Salix hookeriana on the Oregon coast) looks ready for a cold snowy winter.
October 1, 2025 at 5:21 PM
This moth (reared from Salix hookeriana on the Oregon coast) looks ready for a cold snowy winter.
These Phyllonorycter mines are from a Salix on the Oregon Coast, unless I mislabeled my photos from Area 51.
August 25, 2025 at 5:07 AM
These Phyllonorycter mines are from a Salix on the Oregon Coast, unless I mislabeled my photos from Area 51.
Stigmella says nom nom inside a cottonwood leaf
August 17, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Stigmella says nom nom inside a cottonwood leaf
A little floscularid rotifer doing rotifer things
July 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
A little floscularid rotifer doing rotifer things
a little clip of a freshwater bryozoan feeding
June 27, 2025 at 1:01 AM
a little clip of a freshwater bryozoan feeding
Them: “big craft supplies sale at the Senior Center! Including a room of rubber stamps!”
Me: “why would I want rubber stamps?”
Me an hour later with my $4 haul:
Me: “why would I want rubber stamps?”
Me an hour later with my $4 haul:
June 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Them: “big craft supplies sale at the Senior Center! Including a room of rubber stamps!”
Me: “why would I want rubber stamps?”
Me an hour later with my $4 haul:
Me: “why would I want rubber stamps?”
Me an hour later with my $4 haul:
Maybe this wing-clicker can figure out which species it belongs to. #2025OwlflyPhoto
May 27, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Maybe this wing-clicker can figure out which species it belongs to. #2025OwlflyPhoto
Phyllocnistis sp. feeding in a subcuticular mine on a Populus trichocarpa leaf. They have a liquid diet, and I think their mandibles are somewhat like canopeners to pry the top off of parenchyma cells.
#bugsky #moths #lepidoptera #insects
#bugsky #moths #lepidoptera #insects
May 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Phyllocnistis sp. feeding in a subcuticular mine on a Populus trichocarpa leaf. They have a liquid diet, and I think their mandibles are somewhat like canopeners to pry the top off of parenchyma cells.
#bugsky #moths #lepidoptera #insects
#bugsky #moths #lepidoptera #insects
May 3, 2025 at 3:44 AM
It's #flyweek!
This is either the male terminalia of a chironomid, or a woman with a long flowing dress in a bower rejecting a flower from a suitor.
This is either the male terminalia of a chironomid, or a woman with a long flowing dress in a bower rejecting a flower from a suitor.
May 2, 2025 at 5:04 AM
It's #flyweek!
This is either the male terminalia of a chironomid, or a woman with a long flowing dress in a bower rejecting a flower from a suitor.
This is either the male terminalia of a chironomid, or a woman with a long flowing dress in a bower rejecting a flower from a suitor.
It’s #Flyweek! (Not yet here, but elsewhere on the planet). Check out Pegomya bicolor eggshells. #diptera #bugsky #insects
inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/49643...
inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/49643...
April 30, 2025 at 1:36 AM
It’s #Flyweek! (Not yet here, but elsewhere on the planet). Check out Pegomya bicolor eggshells. #diptera #bugsky #insects
inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/49643...
inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/49643...
Happy #WeevilWednesday!
#coleoptera #bugsky #insects
Found in moist cobble under a rocky seep in Lane County, Oregon.
#coleoptera #bugsky #insects
Found in moist cobble under a rocky seep in Lane County, Oregon.
April 2, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Happy #WeevilWednesday!
#coleoptera #bugsky #insects
Found in moist cobble under a rocky seep in Lane County, Oregon.
#coleoptera #bugsky #insects
Found in moist cobble under a rocky seep in Lane County, Oregon.
In Eugene Oregon where even the murals have rainbow vision
March 19, 2025 at 12:38 AM
In Eugene Oregon where even the murals have rainbow vision
Happy #MidgeMonday!
here is part of the "caudal respiratory apparatus" of a meniscus midge, Dixella.
#insects #bugsky #diptera
here is part of the "caudal respiratory apparatus" of a meniscus midge, Dixella.
#insects #bugsky #diptera
March 17, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Happy #MidgeMonday!
here is part of the "caudal respiratory apparatus" of a meniscus midge, Dixella.
#insects #bugsky #diptera
here is part of the "caudal respiratory apparatus" of a meniscus midge, Dixella.
#insects #bugsky #diptera
March 15, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Here’s my first attempt. Thank you for the inspiration. Bait is a mix of peanut butter, sugar, and soaked cat food kibbles. Are you catching anything?
March 13, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Here’s my first attempt. Thank you for the inspiration. Bait is a mix of peanut butter, sugar, and soaked cat food kibbles. Are you catching anything?
A little (probable) Limnophyes viribus feeding inside a leaf mine made by (probable) Metriocnemus erythranthae, in Erythanthe in Oregon.. The frass of the Metriocnemus seems to be obstacles for little Limno.
#chironomids are so cool!
#diptera #insects #bugsky.
#chironomids are so cool!
#diptera #insects #bugsky.
March 13, 2025 at 1:03 AM
A little (probable) Limnophyes viribus feeding inside a leaf mine made by (probable) Metriocnemus erythranthae, in Erythanthe in Oregon.. The frass of the Metriocnemus seems to be obstacles for little Limno.
#chironomids are so cool!
#diptera #insects #bugsky.
#chironomids are so cool!
#diptera #insects #bugsky.
An underutilized feature of #iNaturalist: an observation field of "associated observations": good for the same individual in different life stages, host plants and animals, parasitoids, commensals, etc.
March 11, 2025 at 3:39 PM
An underutilized feature of #iNaturalist: an observation field of "associated observations": good for the same individual in different life stages, host plants and animals, parasitoids, commensals, etc.