🧪🐝 imagining beautiful #bee faces using the Keyence today. This one is Augochlora pura collected in #Toronto

🧪🦋Found this really old book in the @romtoronto.bsky.social entomology collection. Probably from the 1800s. Looks like the draft of an early Canadian entomology textbook. Trying to figure out the author & year. Any thoughts?🪰🐛 (E.M. Walker was the 1st curator @ROM, might be his?)

A stunning Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) on my Don Valley walk this evening #toronto #dragonfly #insects

🧪 #whenyouworkatamuseum @romtoronto.bsky.social & you are doing a cleanup of the insect lab, sometimes you come across the oddest things. I have no idea what these two 8oz "Urine Specimen Bottles" could have been used for outside their declared use. Anyone have an idea? 🪰🐛 #insects #antiques

Timeline cleanse. An insect display I prepared for ROM Marketing #NatureinBrilliantColour exhibit @romtoronto.bsky.social until Aug #insects #butterflies #beetles

🧪🐝 Today’s task is databasing Metallic Epauletted-sweat Bees (Augochloropsis metallica) from the @romtoronto.bsky.social collection. The oldest here was collected in 1890. These ground nesting bees have been observed pollinating many flower species. #bees #insects

#BlueBugs #BlueMonday My sadly deceased pet "Blue" (Caribena versicolor taranatula) & a stunning Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly (Calopteryx maculata) looking right at you!

🧪Always nice to catch up with a fellow wasp enthusiast, @beaus supremacy.bsky.social visited @romtoronto.bsky.social entomology collection today 🐝🐛

🐝🧪In taxonomy there is sometimes a debate over species or subspecies designation. Whether this is Apis nuluensis or Apis cerana nuluensis, we can agree it is a beautiful honey bee! Yellow trochanters are a defining character. Found at high elevation in Borneo. #bees #insects @romtoronto.bsky.social

🧪🪰Looking forward to this lecture today! @romtoronto.bsky.social Dr. Stephen Marshall of @uofguelph.bsky.social will be giving the #Toronto #Entomologists' Association annual Hess lecture: Exploring the Biodiversity of Insects, So Many insects, so little time! #diptera, #insects, #biodiversity

Walk in Queen's Park yesterday at lunch, the trees are stunning everywhere this year! #fall

🧪🦟Did you know the reason some people aren't bittten by mosquitoes is due to a chemical that REPELS them? It isn't that they are more attracted to some people! Thank you forensic entomologist Dr. Hélène LeBlanc (Ontario Tech Uni) for a cool talk! #TorontoEntomologistsAssociation #mosquitoes

It's that time of year...you may be seeing lots of Boxelder Bugs (Boisea trivittata). A native species to Ontario, these seed & leaf feeders (maple, ash & boxelder) can be a nuisance. They overwinter as adults by congregating in groups in sheltered places, under leaves or sometimes indoors. #truebug

If you see this, post a butterfly to celebrate 10 million users on Bluesky.

Working on refreshing a gallery display today! Still have to finish databasing specimens but text has gone to interpretive planner & will be translated into French.

If you have time & inclination: scan photos, add date, names to the file, edit to improve photo quality & then create a photobook with the stories that your grandma (+ any other older relatives share). I just did this for my parents. Make copies. My parents, siblings, nieces & nephews love it!

Finally finished databasing and labelling this assortment of insects. For the entomology geeks, how many orders can you spot?