Ainsley S
@americanbeetles.bsky.social
I hope you like pictures of bugs.
Curating at CMNH, teaching at CMU, beetling everywhere
Curating at CMNH, teaching at CMU, beetling everywhere
Pinned
The Pest Is Still To Come
YouTube video by Dan Warren
www.youtube.com
I'm proud of our li'l Schoolhouse Rock for Insect Taxonomists cartoon, but if you're not in Bug World here are some annotations for you... www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYSI... cc @danlwarren.bsky.social
Reposted by Ainsley S
Reposted by Ainsley S
Rise and shine! It’s time for slimes!
#SlimemoldSunday
#SlimemoldSunday
February 1, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Rise and shine! It’s time for slimes!
#SlimemoldSunday
#SlimemoldSunday
Reposted by Ainsley S
With all the madness going on, a one-holed worm thing with a no brain or any identifiable organs is quietly crawling somewhere on the ocean floor--and it is named after a churro. #xenoturbella_churro
scripps.ucsd.edu/news/researc...
scripps.ucsd.edu/news/researc...
Research Highlight: Deep-Sea Churro Finds its Evolutionary Home
Churros, the delicious snacks covered with cinnamon sugar and served with hot chocolate, have a doppelganger in the deep sea. The deep-sea worm named after the deep-fried sticks of dough was recently ...
scripps.ucsd.edu
February 1, 2026 at 2:23 AM
With all the madness going on, a one-holed worm thing with a no brain or any identifiable organs is quietly crawling somewhere on the ocean floor--and it is named after a churro. #xenoturbella_churro
scripps.ucsd.edu/news/researc...
scripps.ucsd.edu/news/researc...
Reposted by Ainsley S
Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/
January 31, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/
Reposted by Ainsley S
You need a lot of confidence to rock a hairstyle like this 😆
A pink cockatoo at Kinchega National Park, New South Wales.
A pink cockatoo at Kinchega National Park, New South Wales.
February 1, 2026 at 12:58 AM
You need a lot of confidence to rock a hairstyle like this 😆
A pink cockatoo at Kinchega National Park, New South Wales.
A pink cockatoo at Kinchega National Park, New South Wales.
Reposted by Ainsley S
IMPORTANT: When transporting a giant puffball mushroom you have recently foraged, it is absolutely crucial that you ensure the mushroom is firmly strapped into the passenger seat of your car to guard against sharp braking and potential whiplash.
January 31, 2026 at 8:35 PM
IMPORTANT: When transporting a giant puffball mushroom you have recently foraged, it is absolutely crucial that you ensure the mushroom is firmly strapped into the passenger seat of your car to guard against sharp braking and potential whiplash.
Reposted by Ainsley S
I would like to read a novel where a wealthy person owns an island, and is kind and good-hearted, and flies people there so that they can work together to make things that will help humanity, and many people write letters to the wealthy person and they write back & have long & fascinating exchanges.
January 31, 2026 at 6:41 PM
I would like to read a novel where a wealthy person owns an island, and is kind and good-hearted, and flies people there so that they can work together to make things that will help humanity, and many people write letters to the wealthy person and they write back & have long & fascinating exchanges.
Reposted by Ainsley S
And finally, for my birthday a couple of years ago my wife got me some hawaiian shirts with George on them and got George a shirt with me on it.
January 31, 2026 at 4:10 AM
And finally, for my birthday a couple of years ago my wife got me some hawaiian shirts with George on them and got George a shirt with me on it.
Reposted by Ainsley S
And, just in case you were wondering how big Callitula pyrrhogaster is ...
#Hymenoptera #Wasps #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem
#Hymenoptera #Wasps #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem
January 28, 2026 at 5:54 PM
And, just in case you were wondering how big Callitula pyrrhogaster is ...
#Hymenoptera #Wasps #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem
#Hymenoptera #Wasps #VC55 #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem
Reposted by Ainsley S
If you are a student whose NSF GRFP application was returned without review for vague 'eligibility' reasons:
1) Let your department chair & Graduate School know. Encourage them to contact NSF & congress
2) Write to your congressional reps.
3) Write to grfp@nsf.gov to request re-consideration;
1) Let your department chair & Graduate School know. Encourage them to contact NSF & congress
2) Write to your congressional reps.
3) Write to grfp@nsf.gov to request re-consideration;
January 30, 2026 at 5:15 PM
If you are a student whose NSF GRFP application was returned without review for vague 'eligibility' reasons:
1) Let your department chair & Graduate School know. Encourage them to contact NSF & congress
2) Write to your congressional reps.
3) Write to grfp@nsf.gov to request re-consideration;
1) Let your department chair & Graduate School know. Encourage them to contact NSF & congress
2) Write to your congressional reps.
3) Write to grfp@nsf.gov to request re-consideration;
Reposted by Ainsley S
In addition to all the other things Greenland is facing, the climate has changed enough that they've now got invasive social wasps.
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:44 PM
In addition to all the other things Greenland is facing, the climate has changed enough that they've now got invasive social wasps.
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Ainsley S
Warnings about realistic but inaccurate #AI wildlife images & videos aren't slowing their spread which also provoke fear, panic & hostility, beside clicks: news.mongabay.com/2026/01/wild...
Almost worse, gen AI is also invading the value of camera trapping images, as many fakes are now surfacing:
Almost worse, gen AI is also invading the value of camera trapping images, as many fakes are now surfacing:
January 30, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Warnings about realistic but inaccurate #AI wildlife images & videos aren't slowing their spread which also provoke fear, panic & hostility, beside clicks: news.mongabay.com/2026/01/wild...
Almost worse, gen AI is also invading the value of camera trapping images, as many fakes are now surfacing:
Almost worse, gen AI is also invading the value of camera trapping images, as many fakes are now surfacing:
Reposted by Ainsley S
The college at which I'm employed, which has signed a contract with the AI firm that stole books from 131 colleagues & me, paid a student to write an op-ed for the student paper promoting AI, guided the writing of it, and did not disclose this to the paper. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
College approached and paid student to write op-ed in The Dartmouth
The Dartmouth ran the article on Nov. 17 without knowledge that the College had been involved.
www.thedartmouth.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:40 PM
The college at which I'm employed, which has signed a contract with the AI firm that stole books from 131 colleagues & me, paid a student to write an op-ed for the student paper promoting AI, guided the writing of it, and did not disclose this to the paper. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
Good article but disappointingly short on further details about the pet capybara
Animator and children’s book author Bill Peet was born on January 29, 1915. Here’s a link to the interview with Bill Peet that ran in Hogan’s Alley. Peet was expansive and quite candid, including about his time in Disney’s animation studio: www.hoganmag.com/blog/seldom-...
January 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Good article but disappointingly short on further details about the pet capybara
wow yeah Adobe, thanks for offering to use AI to summarize the "long document" I have personally assembled. It's 12 pages long and it's mostly photos of our friend Bob. I can tell from looking.
January 29, 2026 at 5:03 PM
wow yeah Adobe, thanks for offering to use AI to summarize the "long document" I have personally assembled. It's 12 pages long and it's mostly photos of our friend Bob. I can tell from looking.
Wait wait wait are they doing the metaphor we use to describe genomic sequencing
But for real, with paper and everything
But for real, with paper and everything
For those not familiar with "destructive scanning", this means Anthropic would buy up millions of physical books, use “hydraulic powered cutting machines” to chop them up, scan the pages on “high speed, high quality, production level scanners,” then send the pages to recycling companies!!!
Absolutely damning from @aaronschaffer.com, @willoremus.com, & @nitasha.bsky.social.
To get more data, Anthropic:
* "destructively scanned" millions of books
* downloaded the shadow library LibGen
* hailed another shadow library's arrival as "just in time!!!"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
To get more data, Anthropic:
* "destructively scanned" millions of books
* downloaded the shadow library LibGen
* hailed another shadow library's arrival as "just in time!!!"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
January 29, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Wait wait wait are they doing the metaphor we use to describe genomic sequencing
But for real, with paper and everything
But for real, with paper and everything
Reposted by Ainsley S
I'm hearing from multiple people that students who submitted ecology GRFP proposals are having those proposals rejected without review, despite ecology being listed as an eligible field. If this is a programmatic change, this is devastating. Ecology is the study of Earth's life support systems.
A number of our students got the following comment back on a rejection for the NSF GFRP. They are in an eligible STEM field. Is this something people in other places are getting too? Is it a quirk or targeted?
January 29, 2026 at 2:31 PM
I'm hearing from multiple people that students who submitted ecology GRFP proposals are having those proposals rejected without review, despite ecology being listed as an eligible field. If this is a programmatic change, this is devastating. Ecology is the study of Earth's life support systems.
JUSTICE FOR BUTTS
CORRECTION: The book is titled "I Need a New Butt!," not "I Have a New Butt!" We apologize for the error.
Educator Fired for Reading ‘I Need a New Butt!’ Must Be Reinstated, Mississippi Court Rules
Toby Price, a Mississippi educator who was fired for reading “I Need a New Butt!” to children, must be reinstated, the state appeals court ruled.
buff.ly
January 29, 2026 at 2:18 PM
JUSTICE FOR BUTTS
Reposted by Ainsley S
The word armadillo is borrowed from Spanish and simply means “little armored one.” But an even better word for an armadillo, in my opinion, is the Nahuatl ayotochtli. It means “turtle rabbit.”
January 29, 2026 at 12:03 PM
The word armadillo is borrowed from Spanish and simply means “little armored one.” But an even better word for an armadillo, in my opinion, is the Nahuatl ayotochtli. It means “turtle rabbit.”
Reposted by Ainsley S
ceramic grubs in their gribs (grub cribs) receiving their legs and soon to get more decor and become grub effigies
January 29, 2026 at 7:03 AM
ceramic grubs in their gribs (grub cribs) receiving their legs and soon to get more decor and become grub effigies
Reposted by Ainsley S
What time is it? It’s #Cheliceratime!
We travel back in time to the Permian period to meet Aphantomartus ilfeldicus, a poorly known trigonotarbid!
All the basic infos are here but if you want to learn more there’s more below!⬇️
#Chelicerate #Arachnid #Permian #sciart #bugsky #invert
1/3
We travel back in time to the Permian period to meet Aphantomartus ilfeldicus, a poorly known trigonotarbid!
All the basic infos are here but if you want to learn more there’s more below!⬇️
#Chelicerate #Arachnid #Permian #sciart #bugsky #invert
1/3
January 28, 2026 at 4:30 PM
What time is it? It’s #Cheliceratime!
We travel back in time to the Permian period to meet Aphantomartus ilfeldicus, a poorly known trigonotarbid!
All the basic infos are here but if you want to learn more there’s more below!⬇️
#Chelicerate #Arachnid #Permian #sciart #bugsky #invert
1/3
We travel back in time to the Permian period to meet Aphantomartus ilfeldicus, a poorly known trigonotarbid!
All the basic infos are here but if you want to learn more there’s more below!⬇️
#Chelicerate #Arachnid #Permian #sciart #bugsky #invert
1/3
Reposted by Ainsley S
**JOB ALERT‼️**
There’s less than a week left to apply to be a summer entomology learner/intern with the Farmscape Ecology Program! If you love bugs, we want you to join us in studying insects and their conservation in the beautiful Hudson Valley. To learn more, visit hvfarmscape.org/internships/
There’s less than a week left to apply to be a summer entomology learner/intern with the Farmscape Ecology Program! If you love bugs, we want you to join us in studying insects and their conservation in the beautiful Hudson Valley. To learn more, visit hvfarmscape.org/internships/
January 28, 2026 at 10:59 PM
**JOB ALERT‼️**
There’s less than a week left to apply to be a summer entomology learner/intern with the Farmscape Ecology Program! If you love bugs, we want you to join us in studying insects and their conservation in the beautiful Hudson Valley. To learn more, visit hvfarmscape.org/internships/
There’s less than a week left to apply to be a summer entomology learner/intern with the Farmscape Ecology Program! If you love bugs, we want you to join us in studying insects and their conservation in the beautiful Hudson Valley. To learn more, visit hvfarmscape.org/internships/
Reposted by Ainsley S
Funds available for grads and postdocs to visit @burkemuseum.bsky.social collections! Applications due Dec. 15th. Please share!
November 6, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Funds available for grads and postdocs to visit @burkemuseum.bsky.social collections! Applications due Dec. 15th. Please share!
Reposted by Ainsley S
![3-panel comic. (1) [Three small arthropods on ocean floor.] ARTHROPOD 1: Now that we’re multicellular, what are your plans? I’m gonna evolve little legs and swim around with them! ARTHROPOD 2: I’m gonna evolve sharp pincers and use them to crunch stuff! ARTHROPOD 3: I’m gonna evolve glands to make string from my butt and use it to construct elaborate geometric nets hundreds of times my size to catch other animals. (2) [Silence] (3) ARTHROPOD 1: *Dude.* ARTHROPOD 2: Can you *please* just be normal about this? ARTHROPOD 3: *What??!*](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreia3p425asp237hjolbn5lly6g6hzm2eoygqjpkd5dii6zrwqnp7qi@jpeg)
January 28, 2026 at 7:57 PM
I'm scanning some 1970s Pogo panels for a Thing, check out Kelly's linework on the rock forms here. His inks started out fantastic but he somehow found room to get even better at it?
January 28, 2026 at 6:04 PM
I'm scanning some 1970s Pogo panels for a Thing, check out Kelly's linework on the rock forms here. His inks started out fantastic but he somehow found room to get even better at it?