Sean McCann
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ibycter.bsky.social
Sean McCann
@ibycter.bsky.social
3.1K followers 680 following 380 posts
Entomologist, sometime arachnologist, natural history enthusiast.
I used study caracaras. I still do, but I used to as well. Avatar by the endlessly talented @blackmudpuppy.bluesky.social

Also, photographer!
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ibycter.bsky.social
Habronattus borealis male, from Pomquet Beach, NS
a beautiful Paradise jumping spider, a male, overall he is dark on the body reddish on the legs and has nice frosty whitish blue palps and green eyes. He is on a rock with the blue sky behind.
November 6, 2025 at 5:07 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
Zora and Diego have good fall colouration.
A cattle dog, red heeler style, lies down in autumn leaves in a backyard. A large yellow golden retriever husky mix named Diego lying down in autumn leaves.
October 28, 2025 at 7:08 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
Anyone recognize this Euxoa, from Makkovik in Labrador? The larvae were munching some planted vegetables. We reared it out in hopes of an ID.
A large brown and gray moth, with two prominent silver spots on a dark triangle on each forewing. Pictured on white background.
August 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
These are some little dudes that I work with, diamondback moth and cabbage maggot. Not good for brassicas!
A pretty moth, quite small, resting on a cabbage leaf. It is brown, with a pale cream pattern on the top. A fly, much like a house fly, against a white backdrop. It has red eyes and is fairly handsome, depending on your taste.
August 7, 2025 at 1:34 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
Got visited by a dirty little male Antrodiaetus pacificus last night!
A small male mygalomorph spider, black with a purplish abdomen, on sand, covered in dirt and debris. He is missing his front right leg.
July 27, 2025 at 12:07 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
A cluster of Coelioxys on their nighttime sleeping perch
Three cuckoo bees clustered on a dead flower, gripping on with their mandibles. They’re black and white and have green eyes
July 26, 2025 at 5:37 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
Some Ammophila and Coelioxys hanging out on a dead gumweed
Closeup of a dead plant at sunset with thread waisted wasps and cuckoo bees resting
July 25, 2025 at 8:26 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
A couple Ammophila snuggling up for the night
A couple thread waisted wasps, black with orange abdomens, on a dead flowers stalk. One is grasping the stalk with its mandibles, the other is grasping the other ones neck!
July 21, 2025 at 10:11 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
This Coelioxys shot with the new Laowa 15 mm 1:2 macro. No lie, it is a tough to use lens and I need more practice for sure.
A close and wide shot of a Coelioxys cuckoo bee on a dead flower with the sunset in the background. The bee is near the centre of the frame, and is black and white with green eyes.
July 21, 2025 at 10:09 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
Coelioxys cuckoo leafcutter bees sleeping on a dead gumweed
A pair of small, black and white aerodynamic bees resting on a dead plant with their jaws clamped to the stem.
July 20, 2025 at 10:33 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
European wall lizard closeup from Victoria BC
A closeup of a lizard's head, speckled black and cream with a nice orange eye.
July 19, 2025 at 10:36 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
A nice dung fly on the blossom of Kalmia procumbens
A yellowish brown dung fly on a tiny pink flower Side view of the same dung fly, what a nice looking fly!
June 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
Few bakeapple blooms up and ready as of yet in Makkovik, Nunatsiavut; we are still early in the season. But some of the male flowers are seeing visition by flies :)
A bronzy syrphid fly on a bakeapple flower, which is white/ A dark house fly, visiting a bakeapple flower. Some sort of small midge on the edge of a petal. Not sure if this counts as a flower visit or not. A big house fly type of fly (a big house fly the size of a small house fly) on a bakeapple flower
June 21, 2025 at 7:29 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
A snowshoe hare in Makkovik, Nunatsiavut. This guy was pretty unafraid of me.
A large gray and white hare sits up on its haunches and looks at the camera.
June 21, 2025 at 7:25 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
getting salty with my review
Section of a review website for a manuscript that asks for " * Please rate the novelty of the research on a scale of 1-5 (1=not at all novel and 5=extremely novel)? Least novel 1 2 3 4 5 Most novel Please provide further comments below:" and I reply: " Novelty is a poor criterion for natural history contributions (among other things)"
May 15, 2025 at 11:58 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
Torymus sp. parasitoid wasp emerged from gall of Diastrophus turgidus on raspberry.
A brilliant metallic green wasp with red eyes and a long ovipositor perched on a leaf. She has yellow legs and an orangeish abdomen.
April 30, 2025 at 11:35 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
A little Torymus male out of a raspberry gall.
A beautiful metallic green wasp with a reddish abdomen and red eyes. He has his butt in the air and is grooming his wings, which have a small veinlet near the front edge. He has yellow legs.
April 23, 2025 at 11:37 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
I misspelled the name: it is Eurytoma solenozopheriae. But that ain't right google AI
AI Overview Learn more Eurytoma solenozospheriae is a species of parasitic wasp belonging to the family Eurytomidae. It is reared from a gall of Hemadas nubilipennis, a type of twig galler, as described by Gil Wizen on Bluesky. The wasp is known to drink from the edge of blueberry leaves, as noted by Gil Wizen in a post on Bluesky, Bluesky.
April 16, 2025 at 11:07 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
Yeah, they are just emerging now. I can put them aside for you if you wish. This male I put in 95% etOH and he is in the freezer.
A metallic green wasp with red eyes.
April 7, 2025 at 1:02 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
A little Eurytoma solenozospheriae drinking from the edge of a blueberry leaf. This was reared from a gall of Hemadas nubilipennis.
Front on view of a tiny black wasp with red eyes drinking from a droplet on the edge of a green leaf. The little guy has tiny white hairs appressed over the face, and fancy serrated antennae. Side on view of a small black wasp with red eyes drinking from a droplet on the edge of a leaf.
April 7, 2025 at 11:57 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
A pupa of Wyeomyia smithii, the pitcher plant mosquito
Side on view of a mosquito pupa in the water, the background is yellowish. Lots of detail is visible in and on the pupa, and it is lit nicely with hard light.
April 6, 2025 at 12:47 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
And a bunch at 2.5X
More cabbage maggot eggs, they really resemble grains of white rice. There is about 30 in this photo, on a black paper background.
April 3, 2025 at 10:41 AM
ibycter.bsky.social
Here is what cabbage maggot eggs look like at 10X and 20X
Three fly eggs, they look like highly sculptured grains of rice, resting on some rutabaga. This is a highly magnified focus stacked image. A single fly egg, filling the frame, with oval pits sculpturing the surface and a rectangular set of grooves down the long axis
April 2, 2025 at 3:45 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
And here is the galler herself, Hemadas nubilipennis, also a member of the family Pteromalidae
A lovely blue-black metallic wasp, with a fat booty and dark spots on the hyaline forewings. Legs and base of antennae are yellowish, she is perched on a leaf and is rubbing her abdomen with a hind leg.
March 24, 2025 at 4:15 PM
ibycter.bsky.social
A lovely Pteromalus wasp I reared out of a blueberry gall. This is a parasitoid of the galler Hemadas nubilipennis
a lovely tiny green metallic wasp with a purplish iridescent abdomen and red eyes perched on a leaf. She has a pointy butt and yellow antennae with black tips
March 21, 2025 at 10:50 AM