Day 15 #InsectAdvent

And even the flies are getting festive. Sporting massive antlers akin to Moose or Reindeer, Phytalmia sp (Tephritidae) males, will use them to fight for their right.......to PARTY (with the opposite sex...)

@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social

Word of the Day: MUMPSIMUS – someone who obstinately sticks to their old ideas in spite of evidence that they are wrong.

A successful Life on the Edge @southdevonnl walk last night searching for Mediterranean Oil Beetles Meloe mediterraneus at Start Point, Devon. The group found 9 along the coast path and we managed to dodge the showers!

This is exactly the kind of despicable scaremongering that Aseem Malhotra has made his modus operandi. Insinuations, hearsay, anti-vaxx, non-evidence-based, lurid, self-enriching, anti-scientific claptrap. Of course Reform UK lapped it up. 1/4

This is cool! A cinnabar moth caterpillar is on the left and the big parasitic wasp is Barylypa propugnator who will lay her eggs inside the caterpillar!!
The little wasp larvae are clever cos they eat the least vital organs of the caterpillar first, so they remain fresh for longer!

An antibiotic that's used to treat pneumonia has shown promise against Lyme disease at a dose 100 times lower than the standard antibiotic therapy - and it doesn't seem to harm the gut microbiome.

Read @newscientist.com.

www.newscientist.com/article/2477...

Green-winged orchid on the Dorset coast at the weekend. The colours are intense!
@ukorchids.bsky.social #orchids

Migratory Diptera are also hugely abundant and the major component of many migratory assemblages. Check out some of our migration camera footage from the Pyrenees... almost everything you can see here is a fly migrating youtu.be/cuBuD8CPOuw

A tiny Furrow Bee - lasioglossum spcs. in a Dandelion on a very cold Berry Head this morning.
It's beyond me to tie it down further but it may be a Smeathman's Furrow Bee. Can anyone throw any light please?

Bays Brewery has teamed up with Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust (TCCT) for its first charity brew of 2025, a session IPA called Evergreen, inspired by the region’s rich natural habitat beertoday.co.uk/2025/02/19/b... #beer #beernews #charitybeer

Creatives! It's the last day to appeal the upcoming AI legislation. The website is here: ipoconsultations.citizenspace.com/ipo/consulta... and the key bit is the section below. TICK OPTION 1. Strengthen copyright! Option 3 - which the government prefer - is no good for us.

This #FossilFriday meet Bojophlebia - this cool ~309 million year old fossil insect was found in the Czech Republic. The scale bar on the image is 4cm, so we can estimate this animal had a wingspan of over 40cm. What it actually *was* though, has been subject to discussion.

⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky

Busy preparing for my Open Studio 22 Feb-2 March daily 12noon - 5pm. details here: www.facebook.com/mikelangmanart
First time visitors receive a lucky dip raffle ticket and can take away a free small original piece of my artwork!!

A close look at the fine details of a Kittiwake

Wow. Right. We need more Entomologists. Now!!

Where did our lost rhinos roam?

Distribution charts based on bone finds (individual dots) and habitat suitability for the four fluffy rhinos of late Pleistocene.

These are of course approximate and might not include all obscure finds. #Sciart

Watch a little Guillemot chick fledge at only 20 days old, still completely flightless, seeking the safety of the open sea with its dad following behind - one of those iconic wildlife behaviour moments #wildlifephotography #ukbirding

I'll be out looking for these tomorrow! Finding the white eggs of Brown Hairstreak (on Blackthorn twigs) is a great way to monitor them, and even find new colonies, given the elusive nature of the adults. 📷 P.Eeles