Craig B
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mutillidae.bsky.social
Craig B
@mutillidae.bsky.social
900 followers 350 following 170 posts
Principal Investigator of impedimental temporal phenomena. Hymenopterist. Keeper of secrets. he/him

Curator of a university insect collection located in the Midwest (USA).

I am passionate about velvet-ants.
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Reposted by Craig B
mementomorty.bsky.social
museums are cool because the people who work there are like look at this neat thing and you're like wow that is neat and you just do it over and over again until it is time to go
January 20, 2026 at 3:03 AM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Yup, my partner gets me.

#BestBirthdayPresent
Image of the back of a light blue t-shirt. There is a large circular logo, with a black stag beetle on a yellow background. The text says BEAUTY IS ONLY EXOSKELETON-DEEP
January 2, 2026 at 12:23 AM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Reposting and pinging @tdikow.bsky.social ...

...any chance you can point me in the right direction for an ID? 😬 😀
mutillidae.bsky.social Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · Dec 5
Perfect. Predaceous. Puppy.

Bycatch* collected this summer in Arizona.

(*bycatch because it was caught during Bee Course and bees were the primary target, I guess)

#Asilidae
#FlyFriday
#FlydayFriday
#FocusStacking
#NaturalHistoryCollections
Right quarter profile view of a small, pinned robber fly (Asilidae) on a white background. The body is black with thick pale yellow setae on the face, thorax, and forming apical bands on the abdominal segments. The legs are very bristly and are mostly orange. The large eyes are dark with a faint purplish tinge.
December 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Perfect. Predaceous. Puppy.

Bycatch* collected this summer in Arizona.

(*bycatch because it was caught during Bee Course and bees were the primary target, I guess)

#Asilidae
#FlyFriday
#FlydayFriday
#FocusStacking
#NaturalHistoryCollections
Right quarter profile view of a small, pinned robber fly (Asilidae) on a white background. The body is black with thick pale yellow setae on the face, thorax, and forming apical bands on the abdominal segments. The legs are very bristly and are mostly orange. The large eyes are dark with a faint purplish tinge.
December 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Even the lowly aspirator (or for those who prefer, pooter) hasn't escaped my attention!

Along with the 3D printed top, there's an attachment for the business end and a mouthpiece to make it easier to hold in one's mouth while in use.

#CuratorsCorner
#3DPrinting
#NaturalHistoryCollections
An insect aspirator, or pooter (an alternate name that will never not be funny to me), sitting on a grey lab bench. The top, dark blue cap of the vial has been 3D printed. It has a groove to hold an o-ring, to make the seal between the cap and the clear plastic vial. At the business end of the aluminum tube, there is a transparent 3D printed flared attachment, which works in a similar way to vacuum cleaner attachments that allow for sucking over a greater area. on the end of the tube that normally goes into the user's mouth, there is a blue 3D printed mouthpiece to make that end easier to bite/use. I think it's the kind of aspirator Dr. Seuss would prefer...
December 3, 2025 at 6:52 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
I wanted to see if I could design and 3D print an insert for Le Parfait bail jars that makes it easier to see the contents and labels in the smaller vials. What do you think?

#CuratorsCorner
#NaturalHistoryCollections
#3DPrinting
#SpiritCollections
#WetCollections
December 1, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Craig B
hymenopterists.bsky.social
📢 GRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES for HYMENOPTERISTS

📌Check out these PhD positions in Systematics, Phylogenetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and more, offered by American Universities!

📌More information in the new section on our website!

🔗Scan the QR code above or access the link in bio!
November 19, 2025 at 1:29 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
My two cents' worth...
Focus-stacked close up of two water pennies, one in dorsal and one in ventral view. These are larvae of beetles in the family Psephenidae. The thoracic nota and abdominal terga have laterally expanded flanges that create an oval shield above the body. This likely provides some camouflage and protection against predation as the larvae crawl across submerged rocks. Anyhoo, they are mostly mottled in yellows and browns. White filaments/gills can be seen laterally on the abdominal segments in ventral view.
October 26, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Craig B
hymenopterists.bsky.social
🇬🇧
📢 THE 11TH CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF HYMENOPTERISTS WILL BE IN MEXICO CITY IN 2026!

🇪🇸
📢 EL XI CONGRESO DE LA SOCIEDAD INTERNACIONAL DE HIMENOPTERISTAS SE CELEBRARÁ EN LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO EN 2026!
October 7, 2025 at 5:41 AM
mutillidae.bsky.social
He is not wrong.
September 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
mutillidae.bsky.social
I'll never not be amazed at how transformative 3D printing has been for insect collecting & curation.

I can make just about anything (that fits inside the printer) out of virtually nothing (i.e., a spool of inexpensive thermoplastic).

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf
Photo inside the open door of an enclosed 3D printer. Attached to the print bed is an angled chute, printed out of fluorescent orange ABS filament. Good times.
September 29, 2025 at 1:54 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
I mean...

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#CurationSunday
#Madagascar
#Buprestidae
Metallic blue jewel beetle (family Buprestidae) on an insect pin. The specimen is resting on top of a 3D printed, rainbow colored pinning block. The beetle has yellowish/orange/red maculations on the pronotum and the elytra have scattered tufts of pale setae. The background is a neutral grey bench top.
September 28, 2025 at 6:28 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Sure, let's burn down the planet using AI to generate fantastical imaginary creatures

...because the natural world isn't fantastic enough?

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#MacroPhotography
#FocusStacking
#NoAIUsedHere
#Tanzania
#JewelBeetle
#Buprestidae
Mostly lateral, slightly front-ish view of a jewel beetle on a neutral grey background. It's a chonky specimen, the integument is various dark metallic shades of blue, green, bronze, purple, and black. Pale ivory/yellowish tufts of hair (setae) are regularly covering the pronotum and elytra. The ones on the elytra are shorter and arranged in longitudinal rows. At the corner of the elytron there is a dense appressed patch of brownish orange setae.
September 27, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Craig B
mutillidae.bsky.social
For labeling a diverse group of insects...

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#3DPrinting
A 3D printed insect pinning block on a textured white background. The pinning block has six differently colored layers of filament: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
September 24, 2025 at 9:14 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
For labeling a diverse group of insects...

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#3DPrinting
A 3D printed insect pinning block on a textured white background. The pinning block has six differently colored layers of filament: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
September 24, 2025 at 9:14 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
me: Do you have any preferences for color or material?

them: Any color will work for me

Alrighty then.... 😂

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#3DPrinting
#MakeItYourOwnDamnSelf
Twenty-four 3D-printed insect specimen manipulators sitting on a neutral grey bench top. The manipulators were made with a variety of filament colors, including yellow, blue, metallic red, metallic purple, lime green, brass, and matte grey. They are arranged in a somewhat pleasing set of concentric circles.
September 17, 2025 at 9:59 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Hey Hymenoptera students! Here’s your chance to win a great book by presenting during #Hymathon2025! Talk about awesome wasps and have the chance to win a book…what could be better?!
hymenopterists.bsky.social International Society of Hymenopterists @hymenopterists.bsky.social · Sep 11
📢CHALCIDOIDEA STUDENTS!📢
🧨Here is your chance to win a physical copy of the “Chalcidoidea of the World” book by Prof. John Heredy & Prof. James Woolley!
👉All you have to do is give the best Chalcidoidea talk during the #hymathon2025 online symposium, held on 4-5 December 😁
September 11, 2025 at 11:31 AM
mutillidae.bsky.social
The 2025 Bee Course wrapped up on Sunday after 10 amazing days of lab & field work in the Chiricahua Mountains in AZ.

We collected bees representing about 42 genera of bees! This is Holcopasites (prob. H. minimus) I collected during the course. 🐝 👀 ♥️

#Apidae
#Nomadinae
#NaturalHistoryCollections
Small, point-mounted red and black bee on a grey background. The first three metasomal segments are reddish and the rest of the integument is black. Though quite small, the bee appears stout and robust. The body is densely punctate and there are dense patches of white appressed setae, mostly on the sides of the mesosoma and on the apical fringes of the tergites.
August 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
I got nuthin' new to offer anyone today so I'm reposting this composite image of a velvet-ant and a true ant (or, as I like to call them, false velvet-ants... 😀 ).

I like the convergent metallic color pattern.

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#FocusStacking
#Mutillidae
#Formicidae
#Australia
A composite image of two small insects against a neutral gray background. A velvet-ant (Mutillidae) is above a true ant (Formicidae). Both are dark metallic, with shades ranging from purplish on the head and mesosoma, to shades of dark green on the metasoma. The velvet-ant also has dense apical fringes of appressed setae on the abdominal tergites.
July 30, 2025 at 3:27 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Sweet!!!
fossilforager.bsky.social Nicole 🪲 @fossilforager.bsky.social · Jul 28
Velvet Ants of North America! 🐜
An illustrated poster showing 9 different species of velvet ants, which are actually female flightless wasps. They are mostly brownish, yellow, orange, and red in color, with various degrees of black markings. They are illustrated on a vibrant orange background.
July 28, 2025 at 11:41 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
When three rows of seating still isn't enough...

[Grab of Ggl street view while researching a road trip]

#GoogleFail
Picture of a full size dark blue SUV...maybe a Suburban (?) going down the highway. This is a screen grab from Ggl maps and the SUV has six wheels and six doors. Whoops.
July 27, 2025 at 5:34 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Nightmare fuel for insect collection curators.

#NaturalHistoryCollections
#ItTakesAllKinds
#HappyWeekend
Close up of a standard insect pin, stuck in a piece of white foam. There is a hand-written collection label a small distance above the foam—fairly normal—but above that is a rectangle of lined index card. The insect pin has been inserted (somehow) in between the top and bottom layers of the card, so the card is sticking out like a flag from the side of the insect pin. Opposite the end with the insect pin, there are three minutens, also inserted into the edge of the card rectangle. Two of the minutens hold small red clerid beetles. The third has just a small piece of one elytron, presumably from a third beetle, now lost.
July 25, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Craig B
dapapu96.bsky.social
Gynecaptera bimaculata (Bradynobaenidae)
July 25, 2025 at 8:29 AM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Every so often during the past couple of years, I would come across this springtail in my Malaise trap samples and think "I should really try to image this".

Well, my friends, today was the day.

#Collembola
#FocusStacking
#NaturalHistoryCollections
#NotAI
#SpottyMcSpotface
Three-quarters profile view of a springtail (Order Collembola) against a white background. The springtail is quite globular and I haven't yet tried to figure out what family it belongs to. The background color of the body is a a kind of pale orange-y red and it has many, mostly small dark spots over its body. It's moderately long antennae are strongly elbowed (geniculate).
July 10, 2025 at 8:48 PM
mutillidae.bsky.social
Little. Long-horned. Lepidoptera.

#Adelidae
#NorthernItaly
#NaturalHistoryCollections
A tiny moth on a green leaf. It is in the family Adelidae, commonly known as Fairy Moths. The wings are dark. The thorax and a transverse band across the folded wings are golden. It has very long antennae; they are roughly 2.5 times longer than the body. This specimen was seen in the Italian alps.
July 9, 2025 at 1:01 PM