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
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?
"It's our blood and bones and whistles and phones against Miller and Noem's dirty lies"
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:34 PM
"It's our blood and bones and whistles and phones against Miller and Noem's dirty lies"
Reposted by Ainsley S
Netcasting spiders modulate silk thread stiffness via a tailorable multi-fibre meta-structure to construct a web that is hyperelastic and high load-bearing at the same time.
Read about our discovery in PNAS: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🔓 & with video content!
Read about our discovery in PNAS: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🔓 & with video content!
January 27, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Netcasting spiders modulate silk thread stiffness via a tailorable multi-fibre meta-structure to construct a web that is hyperelastic and high load-bearing at the same time.
Read about our discovery in PNAS: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🔓 & with video content!
Read about our discovery in PNAS: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🔓 & with video content!
Reposted by Ainsley S
#RodentOfTheDay Gundi (Ctenodactylus gundi)
"There are five species of gundis—North African, desert, Mzab, Felou, and Speke's—and they share certain characteristics. Topping out at a little over 7 ounces ... gundis move fast on short legs."
Ph/Inf: animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/gundi
"There are five species of gundis—North African, desert, Mzab, Felou, and Speke's—and they share certain characteristics. Topping out at a little over 7 ounces ... gundis move fast on short legs."
Ph/Inf: animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/gundi
January 27, 2026 at 2:28 PM
#RodentOfTheDay Gundi (Ctenodactylus gundi)
"There are five species of gundis—North African, desert, Mzab, Felou, and Speke's—and they share certain characteristics. Topping out at a little over 7 ounces ... gundis move fast on short legs."
Ph/Inf: animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/gundi
"There are five species of gundis—North African, desert, Mzab, Felou, and Speke's—and they share certain characteristics. Topping out at a little over 7 ounces ... gundis move fast on short legs."
Ph/Inf: animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/gundi
new LBB just dropped
#LiteratureNotice Tello & Tello-Arriagada. Aextoxicola pilolcurensis, a new genus and species of false skin beetles (Coleoptera, Biphyllidae) from the Chilean Valdivian rainforest doi.org/10.3897/zook... #Beetle #Beetles #falseskinbeetles
January 28, 2026 at 3:38 AM
new LBB just dropped
Reposted by Ainsley S
Interesting study, but coverage is undermined by using fake AI-generated fossils ("Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com") rather than authentic specimens. I am not aware of any actual Ediacaran fossils that look like this. To be clear, this is a criticism of Science Daily, not the authors of the study.
Silica-rich and iron-rich seawater in Ediacaran oceans enabled clay minerals to grow around the buried organisms, cementing sand into the shapes of the soft creatures, preserving impressions for all time ⚒️🧪🌊
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
Scientists finally explain Earth’s strangest fossils
The Ediacara Biota are some of the strangest fossils ever found—soft-bodied organisms preserved in remarkable detail where preservation shouldn’t be possible. Scientists now think their survival in sa...
www.sciencedaily.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Interesting study, but coverage is undermined by using fake AI-generated fossils ("Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com") rather than authentic specimens. I am not aware of any actual Ediacaran fossils that look like this. To be clear, this is a criticism of Science Daily, not the authors of the study.
Reposted by Ainsley S
Generate podcast??? Why the fuck is Adobe even giving me this option?? The document I have open is a receipt from the printers
January 27, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Generate podcast??? Why the fuck is Adobe even giving me this option?? The document I have open is a receipt from the printers
Thank goodness, the Lab of O has provided an antidote to the psychic damage inflicted by that mammal poster
MAJOR NEWS! We just launched an awesome new tool! The illustrated Birds of the World Phylogeny Explorer lets users trace any bird’s lineage, compare species relationships, and explore major evolutionary milestones with a click of a button. SHARE and EXPLORE! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/phy...
January 27, 2026 at 4:25 AM
Thank goodness, the Lab of O has provided an antidote to the psychic damage inflicted by that mammal poster
Finally, infuriating AI organisms for the vertebrate systematist
January 27, 2026 at 3:56 AM
Finally, infuriating AI organisms for the vertebrate systematist
Reposted by Ainsley S
Gotta say, it’s a bit surreal watching all these videos of Snowmageddon from North America when here in Melbourne we’re due to hit 110 Fahrenheit today
January 27, 2026 at 2:23 AM
Gotta say, it’s a bit surreal watching all these videos of Snowmageddon from North America when here in Melbourne we’re due to hit 110 Fahrenheit today
Reposted by Ainsley S
oh my god dude www.reddit.com/r/Tacoma/s/O...
From the Tacoma community on Reddit: Look what pulled into Tacoma
Explore this post and more from the Tacoma community
www.reddit.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:04 AM
oh my god dude www.reddit.com/r/Tacoma/s/O...
Reposted by Ainsley S
UVライトを当てると、まるで蒼炎のよう。
January 24, 2026 at 1:20 PM
UVライトを当てると、まるで蒼炎のよう。
Reposted by Ainsley S
Minnesota, my home, is carrying a heavy burden right now.
Being kind is not being weak. The strength to care for others, to love and protect our neighbors, to be a shield and not a sword, to be warmth in the cold is true Minnesota nice.
(Photo by local photographer Ricky Roman, MN)
Being kind is not being weak. The strength to care for others, to love and protect our neighbors, to be a shield and not a sword, to be warmth in the cold is true Minnesota nice.
(Photo by local photographer Ricky Roman, MN)
January 26, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Minnesota, my home, is carrying a heavy burden right now.
Being kind is not being weak. The strength to care for others, to love and protect our neighbors, to be a shield and not a sword, to be warmth in the cold is true Minnesota nice.
(Photo by local photographer Ricky Roman, MN)
Being kind is not being weak. The strength to care for others, to love and protect our neighbors, to be a shield and not a sword, to be warmth in the cold is true Minnesota nice.
(Photo by local photographer Ricky Roman, MN)
Reposted by Ainsley S
We are looking for a colleague with expertise in arthropod community ecology. Do you know someone with a PhD that has this background; please forward this position to them and they may just end up in Freising! 🐜🦋
We are currently looking for a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in community ecology to work in the Arthropods Core Project of the Biodiversity Exploratories @bexplo.bsky.social
Reposting is much appreciated for widest reach! Thanks.
More information here:
www.lss.ls.tum.de/fileadmin/w0...
Reposting is much appreciated for widest reach! Thanks.
More information here:
www.lss.ls.tum.de/fileadmin/w0...
www.lss.ls.tum.de
January 26, 2026 at 2:08 PM
We are looking for a colleague with expertise in arthropod community ecology. Do you know someone with a PhD that has this background; please forward this position to them and they may just end up in Freising! 🐜🦋
Reposted by Ainsley S
Because why not, I finally wrote it up:
"What’s the highest score we could get in Scrabble if we play a taxonomically valid genus/species name?"
mdahirel.github.io/posts/2026-0...
"What’s the highest score we could get in Scrabble if we play a taxonomically valid genus/species name?"
mdahirel.github.io/posts/2026-0...
January 25, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Because why not, I finally wrote it up:
"What’s the highest score we could get in Scrabble if we play a taxonomically valid genus/species name?"
mdahirel.github.io/posts/2026-0...
"What’s the highest score we could get in Scrabble if we play a taxonomically valid genus/species name?"
mdahirel.github.io/posts/2026-0...