Assassin bug laying eggs on a leaf. #insects #macro #nature

A very charming golden scarab beetle from cloud forest in Ecuador

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/149672208

@rspfau yeah, some people don't like that comparison because many of the things that could maybe help honey bees might also help native bees, like wildflower plantings and decreased pesticides etc. but even with that I think it's still a good and eluminating analogy

"save the bees" shouldn't be something associated with honey bees, they are agricultural animals and they get plenty of attention, it's native bees that need more study and protection. A good video by Vox about #beewashing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxHu46YKnZg

These tachinids from Colombia are bonkers!

These flies are parasitoids meaning the larvae develop inside the bodies of another bugs. I don't know if there has been any hypotheses about the spikes, maybe they are an adaptation for...something...?

@ubi oh, don't know, surprinsly I didn't post on iNaturalist... I don't get around to it sometimes

@nev oh strange, I thought I added alt text, I guess I didn't hit 'apply' or something...

The daily flood of climate crisis news is deeply distressing.

Here's a horny dung beetle from Florida.

@alexwild meltdown! edited by Simberloff, how appropriate :)

Anyone here?

Here's a nifty orchid bee I caught in Colombia recently

Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), iconic plant of the desert southwest, they look mostly dead throughout the year but following a rain they become covered with small leaves and they sprout long tubular flowers from the tips of their branches

Joshua Tree at sunset with crescent moon

Album of photos from recent holiday trip to LA, Joshua Tree, and Whitewater Preserve: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YSWEJwzb7tXbLhHE9

winter cattails

frozen lake with nifty triangular textures

11 turkeys in a farm field

winter birdwatching at an icy wetland

A group of river otters at a wetland near Orlando, FL.

Please help me spread the word: Applications are now open for the 2023 NSF-IRES Pollinators In Changing Climates Colombia https://lopezuribelab.com/2022/12/08/2023-nsf-ires-pollinators-in-changing-climates-colombia/

Lake Ontario ice world. January 2014

Over 350 wild bee species call #Vermont home, but 55 of those species need #conservation action. A new report from the VT Center for Ecostudies (VCE), in collaboration with Vermont Fish & Wildlife Dept, provides the first comprehensive assessment of VT bees. The VT State of Bees report, released last month by biologists working on VCE’s #vtatlasoflife, was created using >55 K observations of bees from 100s of volunteers and biologists across #VT. #pollinators https://val.vtecostudies.org/newsfeed/state-of-vermonts-wild-bees-report-assesses-conservation-status-for-first-time/