Andrew Meeds
ameeds.bsky.social
Andrew Meeds
@ameeds.bsky.social
Phoenix, Arizona. Forensic Entomology and Stink Bugs (Pentatomidae).
Primary Color Sports Fan Enthusiast: Baseball (Reds) and Hockey (Blues).
First day of class tomorrow, hope I dont get bullied.
August 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
I'm thinking about starting to post cool baseball stats and trivia- this one took some deep diving in terms of research, but did you know that Nick Krall and Nick Kroll have the same number of playoff wins? #Reds
August 17, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Fyre Festival was rebranded as the Speedway Classic
August 3, 2025 at 2:13 AM
I was invited out to a bioblitz at Agua Fria National Monument last weekend and recorded a lot of cool things. This reticulated beetle was definitely a highlight. My first time seeing a cupedid. This one is Prolixocupes lobiceps- it has been recorded from California, Nevada, and Arizona.
June 8, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Spending my birthday morning hunting bot flies. Wish me luck!
May 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This iteration of MLB is defined by the sacrifice of integrity in search of profit with the embrace of gambling. It is fitting that they position themselves to celebrate a pioneer in cheapening the product that is baseball.
May 13, 2025 at 11:58 PM
One of my very favorite bands. Their shows bring a lot of joy to fans, hope this tour returns the favor!

Parenthood has made it tougher to get out to shows the last couple of years, but I'll definitely hope to make it out.
Being Trans in Country Is Dangerous. It Didn’t Stop This Singer From Coming Out

Jenni Rose, who fronts the cowpunk group
@vandoliers.bsky.social embraces her life as a woman on the band’s new album.
Being Trans in Country Is Dangerous. It Didn't Stop This Singer From Coming Out
Vandoliers singer Jenni Rose embraces life as a trans woman on the Texas country-punk band's new album 'Life Behind Bars.'
rollingstone.com
April 18, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Andrew Meeds
My reaction when someone thinks I’m weird for liking bugs…
April 11, 2025 at 1:44 AM
I think this is accurate. Shohei is shiny, popular, charismatic- he is the Beetles of the baseball world.

But now we need to assign players to the other insect orders.
The Beetles
March 20, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Today was the microscopy lab for the intro biology lab I'm teaching this semester. I dunno how the students liked it, but I had a blast.
February 25, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Andrew Meeds
I love the the "eyes" are actually the breathing holes (spiracles) www.sciencenews.org/article/butt...
The butts of these blowfly larvae mimic termite faces
The young of a mysterious blowfly species look — and smell — like the termites they hide among.
www.sciencenews.org
February 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
4 Nations tournament was fantastic. Fun to see Binner in lockdown mode. 2019 vibes.
February 21, 2025 at 4:50 AM
One perk of needing to be familiar with blow fly developmental timelines in forensic entomology is that you know when to have the camera ready to capture Phormia regina eggs hatching.
#ForensicEntomology #Diptera #Calliphoridae
February 20, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Is there any way to speed this timeline up a bit?
JUST IN: NASA says there's now a 3.1% chance an asteroid will hit Earth in 2032, up from 2.6% yesterday.

This is the highest risk assessment an asteroid has ever received, surpassing 2.7% in 2004
February 19, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Can you #FindThatBug ?
January 30, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Cryptocephalus maccus - December - Alamo Canyon, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

I've seen people start to call this the "Clown-faced Cryptocephalus". A fitting common name!
January 16, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Andrew Meeds
just watched sesame street with my son. i don’t know. it’s not like i’m too good for it, it’s just that i know most of this stuff already. like, i work in journalism. i know 23 letters of the alphabet and i’m confident i’ll learn the rest over the course of my work. i don’t need a tv show for that
January 12, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Our yearlong survey of monthly trips to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument just ended and I've been going through photos.

If there's one insect from the park that you should know about, it has to be Atta mexicana, the Mexican Leafcutter Ants!
December 28, 2024 at 2:39 PM
It took me like 10 years, but they say that I've finally mastered entomology.
December 21, 2024 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Andrew Meeds
Check out those spiracles and tracheae!

Brazilian Skipper caterpillar here to show us how insects breathe...

Alachua County, Florida, USA
December 20, 2024 at 5:09 PM
Super cool study on the necrobiome. Found it particularly interesting that some blow fly species seemed to be more likely to colonize remains with the microbial communities disturbed than others. Have Lucilia and Chrysomya out here too- would be interesting to see if the same trends held up here.
New paper out led by PhD student Donna McIntyre. She did a great job investigating the role of insects and microbes during carrion decomposition, finding that the exclusion of both microbes and insects significantly slowed decomposition
shorturl.at/02OXL
Effect of Insect Exclusion and Microbial Perturbation on Piglet Mass Loss and Total Body Score
Recent conceptual and empirical developments in decomposition research have highlighted the intricate dynamics within necrobiome communities and the r…
shorturl.at
December 5, 2024 at 3:56 PM
Important blow fly news. I inspected the Cochliomyia that I recovered during my surveys at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument very closely with this in mind. Borderland arthropod monitoring is important!
The creep of New World Screwworm continues through Central America, now detected in cattle in southern Mexico. Massive containment problem that has been growing for months now; don’t be surprised if the flies start knocking on the US border before long! www.reuters.com/business/hea...
US suspends Mexican cattle imports after New World screwworm case
The United States has temporarily paused imports of Mexican cattle after a case of New World screwworm (NWS) was identified at the lakeside town of Catazaja in southern Chiapas state, the Mexican government said on Sunday.
www.reuters.com
November 30, 2024 at 4:13 AM
Reposted by Andrew Meeds
And not just Piophilidae! Check out this video by @dradriansmith.bsky.social youtu.be/SEst5RERHJ4?...

For more #Diptera with jumping #maggots, check out the table in this paper: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
JUMPING MAGGOT! The lance fly, Dasiops vibrissata
YouTube video by Ant Lab
youtu.be
November 25, 2024 at 7:42 PM
Did you know that there's such a thing as jumping maggots?

Members of the family Piophilidae are called the Skipper Flies because the larvae will build tension by gripping their hind end with their mouth and then release it and fly through the air.

#ForensicEntomology #Diptera
November 25, 2024 at 7:29 PM
Got to have a beetle taxonomist come hang at the lab for a couple of hours yesterday and knew he must have found something good in our Organ Pipe samples by his reaction to this thing.

This is Telegeusis nubifer- a member of a family that I'd never heard of: Telegeusidae. The long-lipped beetles!
November 15, 2024 at 5:16 PM