Hey SoCal folks - on 3/21-22 @mhedin.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-day macro workshop in Anza-Borrego Desert! We'll have Saturday class time to cover composition, equipment, lighting, etc., then field time Saturday afternoon, blacklighting that night, and reconvene for a morning bug-walk. 📷🐙🌿
Awesome lighting
Planthopper nymph?
First thing, pilgrim. You're new. And you look it. Here's 200 drakes. Go get yourself a decent weapon. Or armor. Or a spell.
First two ring true
Protect Our Public Lands from Oil and Gas Drilling! Write a letter to your rep here: actionnetwork.org/letters/prot...
🥈 Our 2nd place winner in the #InsectWeek Photography Competition is Dara Ojo (IG: explorewithdara) with a striking image captures a leafhopper overtaken by a green Metarhizium fungus, revealing the dramatic and often unseen interactions that shape tiny ecosystems.
Read more & view the galleries 🔽
Giant Shield Bugs (Pycanum rubens) near their egg casings
Is there a name for a collective of shield bugs?
#bugsky #entomology #macro
Ecitonides colossus, holotype, dorsal habitus.
#NewSpecies!
New myrmecophilous beetle from #brazil just snuck in:
Ecitonides colossus
Treatment: treatment.plazi.org/id/477586F4-...
Publication: doi.org/10.3897/zook...
#ZooKeys #EcitonidesColossus
#FAIRdata
#OA #biodiversity #nature #conservation #entomology #insects #coleoptera #beetles #bugs
Ah, so a local celebrity! Had no idea!
Two woodpeckers siting on a tree
Here is a leucistic acorn woodpecker I saw yesterday. Cellphone photo
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42. Post the second sentence.
"Larger spots frequently lie near the abdomen tip, perhaps serving as signal."
-- Dragonflies and Damselflies of the World, by KD Djikstra
Springtail riding a newt
Yup
California sky update
Global average temperature maps relative to average 1961-1990 baseline for every year since 1850. Red is above base, blue below.
Global average temperature maps relative to average 1961-1990 baseline for every year since 1850. Red is above baseline, blue below baseline. Notice the trend?
This is fossil fuel driven, friends.
7, even weight distribution, and a place for the thumb when picking up with one hand
Paragomphus alami, mature life male observed and photographed in the wild.
#NewSpecies!
New #dragonfly from #sudan just landed:
Paragomphus alami
Treatment: treatment.plazi.org/id/D282A66D-...
Publication: doi.org/10.3897/zook...
#Zookeys #ParagomphusAlami
#FAIRdata
#openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #conservation #entomology #insects #odonata
2025 was the third hottest year ever.
Trend is worrying and faster than expected a few years ago.
Only when we stop burning coal, oil and gas, temperature will stop rising.
www.ecmwf.int/en/about/med...
Registration is open for this year’s domestic BugShot macro photography workshop. I’ve attended a bunch of them, (both domestic and international versions) and have enjoyed every one. The instructors are awesome and I’ve made many friends among fellow attendees. www.bugshot.net/bugshot-new-...
“The data shows a planet warming faster than policy response, storms intensifying alongside rising seas, and economic losses concentrating where resilience is weakest. Climate risk is now a planning variable, rather than a forecast uncertainty.” www.forbes.com/sites/dianne...
The Amazon has more tree species in 2.5 acres than the entire US & Canada combined. The Congo is the only home to all 3 great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos.
We are losing libraries of life before we even read the books.
#Biodiversity
Ah, thanks!
The lighting is superb on this one. Offcamera flash?
Great White Heron (Ardea herodias ssp. occidentalis)
Apparently this is an endangered Great White Heron. Didn't know when I was photographing it. To more discoveries next year!
#birdphotography #birds #birdsky
Couple years ago it was all crypto 🤷♂️
Seems the case, since Covid people realized the futility of predicting the future
Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthamelii)
Magnificent swallowtail butterfly, Iberian Scarce Swallowtail
#butterfly #bugsky #bugpics
Two ancient creatures
