Eric LoPresti
@ericlopresti.bsky.social
Bugs, Plants, Bikes
https://loprestieric.wixsite.com/lopresti-lab
https://www.strava.com/clubs/EEBikes - nature nerds on strava...
https://loprestieric.wixsite.com/lopresti-lab
https://www.strava.com/clubs/EEBikes - nature nerds on strava...
flannel moth caterpillars (megalopygids, puss caterpillars) are amongst the strangest we have. but, even stranger is the fact that they make LITTLE BOWL-SHAPED POOP. how have i not learned this? why does this not seem to be all over the internet?
October 30, 2025 at 4:40 PM
flannel moth caterpillars (megalopygids, puss caterpillars) are amongst the strangest we have. but, even stranger is the fact that they make LITTLE BOWL-SHAPED POOP. how have i not learned this? why does this not seem to be all over the internet?
google scholar alerted me to a paper citing a (great) Abronia paper - weirdly it was on fish biology. and with that i have happened into my first published and obviously used AI for referencing paper...
October 13, 2025 at 1:11 PM
google scholar alerted me to a paper citing a (great) Abronia paper - weirdly it was on fish biology. and with that i have happened into my first published and obviously used AI for referencing paper...
8 emails later, no resolution and the springer OA people are giving me the run around. $3900!
I had a solicited commentary "accepted" at a Springer Journal and now they are asking me to pay a publication fee. What an utterly sleazy move - here, do something for us and we'll make you pay for it.
October 9, 2025 at 1:17 PM
8 emails later, no resolution and the springer OA people are giving me the run around. $3900!
I had a solicited commentary "accepted" at a Springer Journal and now they are asking me to pay a publication fee. What an utterly sleazy move - here, do something for us and we'll make you pay for it.
October 6, 2025 at 12:18 PM
I had a solicited commentary "accepted" at a Springer Journal and now they are asking me to pay a publication fee. What an utterly sleazy move - here, do something for us and we'll make you pay for it.
A couple years ago, I found a weird wasp moth - sent it to Bill Taft and Anthony Cognato at Michigan State and lo and behold, it is a new species. Introducing Synanthedon nielseni!
September 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
A couple years ago, I found a weird wasp moth - sent it to Bill Taft and Anthony Cognato at Michigan State and lo and behold, it is a new species. Introducing Synanthedon nielseni!
A+ bike commuting and A+ bikes in the lab today (flat bar road bike! crosscheck with tri bars! old mtb gravel conversion! a small wheeled 80's Terry!)
June 4, 2025 at 4:47 PM
A+ bike commuting and A+ bikes in the lab today (flat bar road bike! crosscheck with tri bars! old mtb gravel conversion! a small wheeled 80's Terry!)
Psuedoscorpion hitching a ride on a moth that I pinned yesterday!
May 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Psuedoscorpion hitching a ride on a moth that I pinned yesterday!
Our research got a really nice write-up in the Post and Courier today (excellent work Toby for the article and Andy for the photos!!!)
May 20, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Our research got a really nice write-up in the Post and Courier today (excellent work Toby for the article and Andy for the photos!!!)
Reposted by Eric LoPresti
The legendary USGS Bee Lab is being shut down. The 2026 budget proposal defunds the Ecosystem Mission Area, which supported the lab. If their science helped your work, there’s still time to make your voice heard. Read below. (1/4)
🧪 #pollinators #Pollinators #USGS #Entomology #Hymenoptera 🪲🪳
🧪 #pollinators #Pollinators #USGS #Entomology #Hymenoptera 🪲🪳
USGS Bee Lab at the Eastern Ecological Science Center
The USGS Bee Lab supports research on native bees. As part of that program we and our co-located USFWS partners develop identification tools and keys for native bee species, take public access hi reso...
www.usgs.gov
May 8, 2025 at 6:20 PM
The legendary USGS Bee Lab is being shut down. The 2026 budget proposal defunds the Ecosystem Mission Area, which supported the lab. If their science helped your work, there’s still time to make your voice heard. Read below. (1/4)
🧪 #pollinators #Pollinators #USGS #Entomology #Hymenoptera 🪲🪳
🧪 #pollinators #Pollinators #USGS #Entomology #Hymenoptera 🪲🪳
I finally conquered Gravity's Rainbow during a many month field season in Peru (2011). I had to read it maybe 6 times to finally get through - and *get* - it, but ended up appreciating it. Wish I could spend days of undivided attention on this one.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/b...
Thomas Pynchon to Publish a New Novel This Fall
Featuring a Depression-era private eye, “Shadow Ticket” will be the 87-year-old writer’s first book since 2013.
www.nytimes.com
April 10, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I finally conquered Gravity's Rainbow during a many month field season in Peru (2011). I had to read it maybe 6 times to finally get through - and *get* - it, but ended up appreciating it. Wish I could spend days of undivided attention on this one.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/b...
If anyone in Charleston wants to see me blabber about moths and natural history, come say hi!
April 9, 2025 at 2:07 PM
If anyone in Charleston wants to see me blabber about moths and natural history, come say hi!
A tropical moth ended up in my trap in South Carolina last weekend! While these are known to occasionally wander, never really thought seeing one was a possibility. (Eudocima apta - a "fruit-piercing" moth).
April 1, 2025 at 4:07 PM
A tropical moth ended up in my trap in South Carolina last weekend! While these are known to occasionally wander, never really thought seeing one was a possibility. (Eudocima apta - a "fruit-piercing" moth).
First lab paper out in a long time - this one looking at pollination/pollinators/floral volatiles of an AWESOME species of sand verbena from South Texas. All credit to my wonderful grad student Sierra and collaborators. (more photos below) www.pollinationecology.org/index.php/jp...
March 24, 2025 at 7:13 PM
First lab paper out in a long time - this one looking at pollination/pollinators/floral volatiles of an AWESOME species of sand verbena from South Texas. All credit to my wonderful grad student Sierra and collaborators. (more photos below) www.pollinationecology.org/index.php/jp...
Even if most of what I am quoted here is for calling these caterpillars cute, I am a real scientist, I swear. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/n...
Don’t touch this ‘adorable’ insect, it’s one of the most venomous in NC. What to know
“They look like toupees.”
www.charlotteobserver.com
March 19, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Even if most of what I am quoted here is for calling these caterpillars cute, I am a real scientist, I swear. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/n...
Reposted by Eric LoPresti
As my friend @drshepherd2013.bsky.social says, asking why we need a National Weather Service when we have apps and the Weather Channel is like asking why we need potato farmers when we can buy fries at McDonalds.
March 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM
As my friend @drshepherd2013.bsky.social says, asking why we need a National Weather Service when we have apps and the Weather Channel is like asking why we need potato farmers when we can buy fries at McDonalds.
Reposted by Eric LoPresti
NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by giving grants. In a $10B budget request, NSF asked for $500M in 'Agency Operations and Award Management', so that's already HIGHLY EFFICIENT... >95% of funds go to research and STEM education programs nationwide.
nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00_NSF...
nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00_NSF...
"I don't know what NSF is going to be now, but it's not more efficient. It's just a mess."
My story on today's firings and their impact.
www.npr.org/2025/02/18/n...
My story on today's firings and their impact.
www.npr.org/2025/02/18/n...
National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce
NSF fired 168 employees, leaving the agency less equipped to fund a wide range of scientific research.
www.npr.org
February 19, 2025 at 4:24 AM
NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by giving grants. In a $10B budget request, NSF asked for $500M in 'Agency Operations and Award Management', so that's already HIGHLY EFFICIENT... >95% of funds go to research and STEM education programs nationwide.
nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00_NSF...
nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00_NSF...
Reposted by Eric LoPresti
Two Way Street.
A reworked version I made from a police produced victim and youth blaming PSA.
A reworked version I made from a police produced victim and youth blaming PSA.
February 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Two Way Street.
A reworked version I made from a police produced victim and youth blaming PSA.
A reworked version I made from a police produced victim and youth blaming PSA.
Ways I spelled this one moth's name in my database. None of them are right.
February 11, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Ways I spelled this one moth's name in my database. None of them are right.
Reposted by Eric LoPresti
Rest In Peace, Tom Robbins, and long live goofiness!
February 10, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Rest In Peace, Tom Robbins, and long live goofiness!
The world sucks, but my Gunnar is back on the road. Little victory.
February 9, 2025 at 11:29 PM
The world sucks, but my Gunnar is back on the road. Little victory.
Reposted by Eric LoPresti
Plants happy, protected from herbivores inside...
February 4, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Plants happy, protected from herbivores inside...
Reposted by Eric LoPresti
When I was younger, I naively assumed that every non-beetle species on earth had grad students doing this at some point, and it came as a great shock that there were bugs in my yard that NO ONE HAD STUDIED. I’m so glad the shrew got some!
January 27, 2025 at 5:11 PM
When I was younger, I naively assumed that every non-beetle species on earth had grad students doing this at some point, and it came as a great shock that there were bugs in my yard that NO ONE HAD STUDIED. I’m so glad the shrew got some!
New candidate for silliest common name for a moth: Hampson's Salad (thanks Tanner, for finding it)
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Hampson's Salad (Mittonia hampsoni)
Hampson's Salad from Mtindiri, Mozambique on January 21, 2025 at 08:25 PM by Tanner Matson
www.inaturalist.org
January 22, 2025 at 1:09 PM
New candidate for silliest common name for a moth: Hampson's Salad (thanks Tanner, for finding it)
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
My goal of this race was simply to keep an even pace - didn't think I'd nail it like that!
January 20, 2025 at 1:21 PM
My goal of this race was simply to keep an even pace - didn't think I'd nail it like that!