@flollop.bsky.social

@flollop.bsky.social

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Incorrigibly Plural Pollinators | Chemical ecology | Tropical biodiversity All photos are my own

An orange assassin bug with white dots (Heniartes spp.) strutting on a leaf
A metallic blue Cobalt Milkweed Beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus) and a Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) on a Showy Milkweed inflorescence (Asclepias speciosa). The Honey Bee is after the copious nectar these flowers produce, while the beetle is more interested in eating the flowers themselves.
Arrowhead Orbweaver (Verrucosa arenata) with a white and black arrowhead shaped body hanging in its web in Costa Rica
A Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) hanging off of and drinking from a flower of Narrowleaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis)
A Mediterranean Mantis (Iris oratoria) hanging upside-down from a bike tire
Five cicada molts on the end of a tree branch in the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
The ground beetle Opisthius richardsoni resting on the mud bank of the Queets river
A Crethon Daggerwing (Marpesia crethon) drinking from a sand beach
A giant Silk Moth (Rothschildia sp.) with transparent windows in each wing hanging on to a wire at a light trap
A green wandering spider (Gephyroctenus sp.) resting in green moss on the side of a tree
A screenshot from a paper with a sentence that reads "In total, our database contained 412,452 vegetation plots", followed by ~130 in-text citations
Duponchel's Sphinx (Cocytius duponchel) resting on sandy ground. Wingspan is ~11cm
A Broad-shouldered Leaf Beetle (Platyphora sp.) with brown and white stripes resting on my hand
A male Longhorn bee (Melissodes sp.) on a yellow rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) inflorescence
A Cactus Chimney Bee (Diadasia sp) after foraging in a pink prickly pear flower (Opuntia sp.)
A Snail-eating Beetle in the genus Scaphinotus walking on a rotten log
The Snakefly Agulla bicolor resting on the flowerhead of an Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)
A brown and yellow Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) resting on a leaf in the sun
Two Shoulder-streaked Firetips (Pyrrhopyge papius) with black wings and red racing stripes
Leaf cutter bee (Megachile sp., likely subgenus Megachiloides) on Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa).
A Long-Legged fly in the genus Condylostylus with an iridescent green body, standing on a leaf
A longhorn beetle (Grammoptera subargentata) feeding on pollen from a pink Anemone flower
Macrophotography of a snowbank in the sun, with light catching large ice crystals
A male Field Skipper (called Sachem in the US, Atalopedes campestris) feeding from Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa)
Two green and spiny caterpillars in the genus Gamelia, feeding on opposite sides of the same leaf
A large, grey and green katydid with striped antennae, resting on a wood table.
Text reads: "Chapter 36 offers a formula to repel the so-called apshai - insect, which states: “Begone from me, O Crooked-lips! I am Khnum, Lord of Shen, who dispatches the words of the gods to Ra, and I report affairs to their master” (Taylor 2010). Illustrations associated with this spell (e.g., Fig. 6) show the creature to be an exceptionally large beetle, which the deceased threatens with a knife or impales with a spear (its “crooked lips” thus possibly alluding to the asymmetrical biting cusps of coleoptera or the transverse movement of their mandibles when chewing; Chapman 2003)."
Male Sharptail bee (Coelioxys sp.) on narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis). Males are recognizable from the curved spines at the end of the abdomen. Females have "sharp", almost conical, final segments to their abdomens
An orange and black Salt Marsh Moth caterpillar on a branch of asparagus.
A White-cheeked Carpenter bee (Xylocopa aestuans). Females are black with golden backs, while males like this are entirely gold
Black mushrooms with white tips (Xylaria sp.) growing from a mossy log
Northern Scorpion (Paruroctonus boreus) on the sand
Astata wasp puddling in mud. Males of this genus are recognizable from their very large eyes which meet at the top of their heads
A large Golden Silk Spider (Trichonephila clavipes) female and tiny male. The name comes from the gold color of the silk they produce, not the color of the spiders themselves.
yellow-green Statira Sulphurs (Phoebis statira) puddling for nutrients
Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) on antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata). A very common Lycaenid butterfly in the great basin, but very charismatic!
“The robber fly” - Asilid species, face on
A large black tarantula hawk wasp with orange wings (Pepsis sp.) feeding from flowers of Horsetail milkweed (Asclepias subverticillata)
An iridescent Orchid Bee (Euglossa sp.) on a piece of white foam
A spiny, bark-colored walkingstick (Acanthoclonia sp.) climbing on a mossy fern leaf.
Harvestman at 365nm UV, showing glowing spines and bands. The moss it's crawling on also appears red at this wavelength
A spiny Morpho caterpillar on a stem. Toxins sequestered from the host plant in this life-stage will persist into adulthood.
A Sealaster on a barnacle and mussel encrusted rock. Typically only exposed like this at exceptionally low tides
A metallic earth boring dung beetle, Phelotrupes auratus ssp. auratus, crawling on some dead leaves
A spreadwing damselfly resting on a branch of rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) with a red and black insect in its mouth
A thumbnail sized, white and black striped Liturgusid mantis sitting on my thumbnail
A tiny bonnet mushroom growing from the side of a tree and surrounded by tufts of moss
Longhorn-cuckoo Bee (Triepeolus sp.) feeding on Rubber-Rabitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa)
A Lorquin's Admiral on a leaf, endemic to the western USA and south-west corner of Canada
Pacific Banana Slug on some moss. This individual was about 6 inches long, but they can grow to almost ten inches (25cm)
A very mushroom shaped mushroom growing on a log. There are about ten local genera that look like this, so no idea what the species might be
The Skokomish River winds through the fog, moss, and evergreens of the Olympics
An extremely bedraggled western sheep moth with a broken antenna sitting on the photographer's finger and looking at the camera