I was off the path taking a picture in the bushes with my big zoom lens on, and a woman walked by and asked what I was taking a picture of. She was no doubt expecting a beaver, an otter, a cool bird.... But no. "A... a fly...." was all she got.

Little native bee anthro sketch! I'm trying to find a medium between accuracy and stylization. I want to get to the point where people can identify my characters down to species just from the drawing. If you can successfully tell what this is, extra brownie points to you! (I'll reveal the species in a couple of days anyway.) Hint: assume this bee lives natively in the northeastern US.

Is your ant getting enough sleep?

How can you tell if an ant is sleepy? they can’t blink so you might be boring your ant to death with a long-winded story and not even know it. Or maybe their room isn't comfy enough and they can't sleep well. Ants hate to complain. Solution?

Observe the antennae!

This past weekend I finally completed a silly challenge I gave myself a few years ago: Finding and shooting representatives of all 4 of our ant spood genuses in one day (bonus: at one location)! In order of appearance: Synemosyna (petrunkevitchi), Synageles (noxiosus), Peckhamia (americana), and Sarinda (hentzi). 🏆

small bird was VERY offended that I picked him up off the sidewalk like a potato chip. don't fall asleep on the sidewalk then

just a few geophilomorph centipedes today

found nearly anywhere with soil (their name means earth-lovers), these are the most successful and species-rich order of centipedes.

you’re unlikely to see any unless you dig, and this bunch was sifted out of old soil and put in a container for release. while geophilomorphs are caring mothers that guard their many babies, these juveniles and adults wouldn’t likely be associated so closely or touching one another naturally—but given that I only inspected three small pots, can coexist at very high densities!

Sometimes the little ant you see on the sidewalk has been to places and knows about things you will never know.

At night she travels down, deeper than your basement, deeper than the grave, deep as the deepest roots of the great trees, where the earth is always warm.

She may know of caverns and pockets of life, scale insects in root-lined galleries, hidden streams, seams of minerals.

For an ant? Secret riches beyond the wildest sugar dreams.

ok ok here's cobalt's (my ant sona) ref. be nice to it please

Insects are critical to the survival of most other animals, including humans. But many insect species, from beetles to dragonflies to butterflies, are declining in abundance due in part to human activity. For Earth Month, Insectarium host Dr. Jessica L Ware gives tips on small things each of us can do to make a lasting impact and help insects thrive for years to come.

Learn more about insects with Museum Curator Jessica Ware in Insectarium on PBS Terra's YouTube channel.

This was supposed to be simple but idk if I’m capable of that 🤭

🥬🐜🥬🐜

Tan Jumping Spider (Platycryptus undatus)

April 9, 2024

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, Tinicum, Pennsylvania

Polyrhachis Demangei are the most ant looking ants I've ever seen

May Flies - Botfly

Bug that is very pretty and is my favourite

woooo bug lesbians