Colin Purrington
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colinpurrington.bsky.social
Colin Purrington
@colinpurrington.bsky.social
2.4K followers 480 following 1.9K posts
Nature pics and science. Swarthmore, PA, USA. https://colinpurrington.com
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colinpurrington.bsky.social
Lichen covered in ice. From a trip a few years ago to Lake Mohonk, New Paltz, NY.
Knobby, semi-transparent sheet of ice covering a rock wall full of lichens.
November 5, 2025 at 6:33 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
I saw a painted bat for sale in Vietnam. 😢
Large spider, beetles, butterflies, centipede, scorpion, and a black-and-orange bat arranged inside glass display boxes in a market.
October 31, 2025 at 10:20 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Bjorn Hjaltason, the guy who found the mosquitoes on wine ropes, apparently doesn't submit his finds to iNaturalist. #inaturalist
Screenshot from the website, iNaturalist, that shows a map of Iceland with information on mosquito sightings (there are none).
October 23, 2025 at 1:36 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Fernandina marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus cristatus). Always kind of low energy but particularly so when I visited, in 2015, because El Niño had reduced the abundance of red and green algae near the shore. #ElNino #reptiles #galapagos #iguanas #weather #algae
Several white-crested, greenish reptiles lounging on each other and on volcanic rocks.
October 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Sunrise over Daphne Minor and Daphne Major, treeless tuff-cone islands in the Galápagos archipelago. #galapagos #islands #volcanoes #ecuador #ocean
Two small, flat-topped islands under a cloudy, colorful sky.
October 19, 2025 at 1:47 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Dicyrtomina ornata, a globular springtail. The setae-like structures on the rump are brittle, hollow tubes made of wax. #collembola #springtails #dicyrtomidae #arthropods
Small, six-legged, wingless, yellow-and-burgundy arthropod with a round abdomen that is studded with thin, glass-like projections that make it look like a pincushion.
October 18, 2025 at 12:36 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
This fungus gnat emerged from a pile of rotting walnuts that I have a net over. Possibly Leia bivittata (Mycetophilidae), the larvae of which surround themselves in transparent bags of mucus that are extended whenever they want to move. Would like to see that. #diptera #flies #gnats #fungi #walnuts
Orange fly with black, shiny spots on thorax, black stripes on abdomen, long antennae (at least for a fly), and long legs that have spines near some of the joints.
October 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
I'm not exactly sure of the details, but this web-traffic business seems to be pushing the use of iNaturalist as way to increase ad revenue. One recommendation is to create an account and then direct users to webpages that ostensibly have nature content (and ads). #inaturalist #advertising
Screenshot of a post on Bluesky that reads, "iNaturalist’s community thrives on real discovery, not noise. That makes it a hidden ally for publishers who value depth over hype." Includes an image of a computer with graphs and charts, plus a circle person inside a circle that is labeled, "nature traffic."
October 17, 2025 at 4:43 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
There's a good poem about a fly crushed inside a book. #fly #diptera #book #sonnet
Image of four flies flattened on very old, discolored paper. On the right, a poem. Some hand, that never meant to do thee hurt, Has crush'd thee here between these pages pent; But thou hast left thine own fair monument, Thy wings gleam out and tell me what thou wert: Oh! that the memories, which survive us here, Where half as lovely as these wings of thine! Pure relics of a blameless life, that shine Now thou art gone. Our doom is ever near: The peril is beside us day by day; The book will close upon us, it may be, Just as we lift ourselves to soar away Upon the summer-airs. But, unlike thee, The closing book may stop our vital breath, Yet leave no lustre on our page of death.
October 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) missing its hind wings, probably the result of a bird or mantid attack. Seemed to be making the best of the situation. #insects #lepidoptera #butterflies #monarda #flowers
Large, yellow-and-black butterfly with only forewings nectaring on a pale lavender tuft of flowers.
October 17, 2025 at 10:02 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
For monarch fans, just a reminder that now is the perfect time to start stratifying milkweed seeds so that they'll germinate in the spring. #monarch #butterflies #milkweed #asclepias
Clumps of wrinkly, brown seeds scattered on wet soil.
October 16, 2025 at 3:22 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Eye arrangement in spiders is fascinating.
Head of an orange-and-white spider showing the arrangement of eyes. There are 4 in the center of the head, then tight pairs on the lateral sides.
October 15, 2025 at 12:12 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Marbled orbweaver (Araneus marmoreus). Plump (gravid), orange females are sometimes called pumpkin or Halloween spiders. Rose Valley, PA. #spiders #arachnids #halloween
Rotund orange spider on a layer of brown tree leaves.
October 15, 2025 at 10:22 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Today I finished grubbing out the non-running bamboo that had nevertheless taken over a corner of my back yard. Sharing in case anyone might need a nudge to do the same. #bamboo #gardening
Large clump of unearthed bamboo, culms cut close the ground, next to the business end of a yellow-handled mattock.
October 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Here's a better view of the underside of a Victoria waterlily. The purple pigmentation has been hypothesized to maximize photosynthesis by reflecting certain wavelengths back to the upper surface but I couldn't find any experimental support for that in the literature, so perhaps just a fun myth.
Underside of a large, circular leaf with thick yellow support ridges that are studded with sharp spines. Floating in dark-colored water.
October 14, 2025 at 11:18 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Underside of a giant waterlily (Victoria amazonica x Victoria cruziana). The spines deter herbivorous fish and manatees but are also thought to shred foliage of nearby plants. Leaves can grow up to 10' in diameter. Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA. 🌿 #botany #nymphaceae #plants #amazon
Large circular leaf with an upturned perimeter, forming a platter. Part of the leaf is folded over the top surface, revealing a heavily ridged, spiked surface.
October 14, 2025 at 10:58 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
From a 2004 behind-the-scenes tour of the naked mole rat exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo. I love how curators annotated the tubes with cautionary notes such as "glass not secure." #mammals #zoo #philadelphia #heterocephalus
Woman in a blue Philadelphia Zoo t-shirt standing next to a complicated network of yellowing plastic boxes that are attached to a wall. Pink, hairless rodents passing through an acrylic container.
October 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
I keep my onion-cutting goggles in my onion drawer.
Black and green eye goggles that have a rubber gasket to keep out onion volatiles. Resting on a buch of onions.
October 13, 2025 at 12:16 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Seasonal reminder to hang a pumpkin in a tree if you want to see squirrels slowly consume it. Mildly entertaining. Especially recommended if you have an indoor cat that is obsessed with watching wildlife through a window. #squirrels #pumpkins #cats
Fat gray squirrel chewing a hole in a pumpkin hanging in a tree.
October 13, 2025 at 9:58 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
I wish authors submitting preprints on BioRxiv, arxiv, etc., could upload an image that would display when link is shared on social media. If that's technically hard then maybe those platforms could generate an image out of title and authors (with inset, smaller logo). 🧪 #biology #science #scicomm
Pixelated logo using mostly lowercase, bold text that reads "bioRxiv," with the R in red and capitalized and the x in italics and slightly subscripted. Below in a smaller font is the phrase, "The preprint server for biology."
October 13, 2025 at 9:48 AM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Dog vomit slime mold (Fuligo septica). #slimemold #myxomycetes #mulch
Brown mulch with a flat blob of white, puffy growth that resembles a person, complete with wild hair, two eyes, a nose, and a mouth that chewing on a violet leaf.
October 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
From the archives but seasonal: a bonsai mum. Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA. November, 2020. #flowers #mums #chrysanthemums
Plant with lilac ray florets and yellow centers pruned to look like an old tree, sitting in a moss-covered pot.
October 12, 2025 at 6:35 PM
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If you're not annoyed by low-quality video, this clip shows a jumping spider sneaking up on a fly. The leg movement is barely perceptible. #spiders #salticidae #flies
October 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Ventral view of the female Heterospilus as she climbed the wall of a glass vial. That's her on the left. #macrophotography
Amber wasp with yellow legs and long antennae. Three black-capped glass vials filled with very tiny wasps.
October 11, 2025 at 3:42 PM
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These authors assert they are feeding galleries. I think the pods on my trees have them but I'm not positive, and will certainly check next year. One thing of possible relevance is the spread of Vascular Streak Dieback (VSC), which I gather is newish. nfsl.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/...
First page of a two-page article on the redbud seed beetle. First paragraph reads: "The redbud seed beetle (RSB) is a native insect that feeds on the seeds of eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis as a larva. This beetle has been observed throughout a significant portion of the redbud range. Larval feeding creates black streaks on seedpods. Round exit holes appear in mature seedpods when adult beetles emerge. This damage is highly variable but can affect a majority of C. canadensis seedpods when RSB populations are high."
October 11, 2025 at 2:11 PM