Josh
LightNews LightNews
banner
joshecology.bsky.social
Josh
@joshecology.bsky.social
490 followers 610 following 12 posts
Exploring local wildlife and beyond with a focus on invertebrates and invasive species.

Ecologist, conservationist, macro photographer.

🐝

Belfast-based
Posts Replies Media Videos
joshecology.bsky.social
Top 100! 📸 This photo of mating harvestmen (Dicranopalpus ramosus) made it to the top 100 of 'Close-up Photographer of the Year' @cupoty.bsky.social - the annual top international #macrophotography awards. Grateful to the judges to be selected, and to be among amazing finalists! #opiliones
January 24, 2025 at 8:53 PM
joshecology.bsky.social
2024 had promise but it wasn't it.

A select few highlights. If want further info on any, feel free to ask.

#macrophotography #birds #opiliones #weevils #bees #moths #wildflowers
December 31, 2024 at 6:35 PM
joshecology.bsky.social
Nominated by @majailiczg.bsky.social (thank you!) on German Bluesky to share a hexapod for #HexapoDezember (forgot to do it 27th, sorry!) 🇩🇪

Went for a walk today, not a lot about but did find a Juniper Shieldbug (Cyphostethus tristriatus)

For 29th December I nominate @microwildhq.bsky.social
December 28, 2024 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Josh
majailiczg.bsky.social
Zum 26. #HexapoDezember möchte ich ein paar Fotos von schlafenden Wespenbienen (parasitäre Wildbienen) der Gattung Nomada teilen (engl. Nomada cuckoo bees), gesichtet Ende März.

Für den 27. Beitrag nominiere ich/For the 27. post I nominate @joshecology.bsky.social
December 26, 2024 at 12:49 PM
joshecology.bsky.social
Two non-invertebrate portraits

Bohemian Waxwing with head like a whip of ice cream or Terk from animated Tarzan. January 2024, east Belfast

Irish Hare with the tiny ears. Antrim Hills, November 2021

#wildlifephotography #irishwildlife #birds #mammals #bohemianwaxwing #irishhare #animalportraits
December 21, 2024 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Josh
microwild.bsky.social
ICYMI

Hay Wijnhoven, who first discovered the harvestman Leiobunum species A, just dropped a new Nelima species from Spain.

www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) A new harvestman species of the genus Nelima (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae) from Extremadura, Spain
PDF | A new Nelima species from Extremadura, Spain, is described as Nelima monfraguense sp. nov. The male is characterised by its dark dorsal colour,... | Find, read and cite all the research you need...
www.researchgate.net
November 29, 2024 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Josh
microwild.bsky.social
Well, today, I rechecked the vivarium and spotted that the egg had hatched. It took me ages to find the juvenile as it is so tiny (~1mm) and well-camouflaged. I also found two more!

Raising 'harvestkids' is very tough; I'd love to bring them to adulthood. Please send me your best wishes! 🤞
A baby harvestman sitting on a piece of wood. It camouflages well into the background The same baby harvestman on the same wood, this time, with a ruler beside it, showing that it is probably just about one millimetre in length, maybe less. The same baby harvestman from a slightly different angle.
November 26, 2024 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Josh
alexwild.bsky.social
Some of what I do as an entomology curator is Chrysis management.
Microscope photograph in side view of a brilliant metallic blue wasp in the genus Chrysis with black wings, dead and pinned through the thorax. The photo shows tremendous detail of the fine hairs and pits on the insect's body. Wide angle photograph of a glass-topped museum drawer filled with little white trays full of small insects. The trays are labeled "Chrysis spp." and other various species names in the genus Chrysis.
November 20, 2024 at 9:02 PM
joshecology.bsky.social
Some people might say I am obsessed with harvestmen. But I don't know what they're talking about.

Dicranopalpus ramosus
Platybunus pinetorum
Nemastoma bimaculatum
Megabunus diadema

#opiliones #ouropiliones #harvestmen #irishwildlife #wildlifephotography #irishbiodiversity
November 18, 2024 at 9:07 PM
joshecology.bsky.social
Hi, I'm Josh - ecologist/conservationist/photographer from & based in Belfast.

Here's a small series of photographs covering a few things

🦋🌃 Red Admiral

🐝 Nomada rufipes resting

🪻Broad-leaved Helleborine

🐦 White-throated Dipper

#irishwildlife #wildlifephotography #entomology #botany #birds
Red admiral, a butterfly with dark wings but distinct red stripe with white spots at rest in a wet night time urban setting. The urban lights illuminating it. A bee that looks like a wasp grasping a yellow petal with it's mandibles and seemingly 'planking' but is at rest. An orchid with subdued colours but no less impressive - the petals open up almost like the mouth of the fictional alien from the movie franchise Predator. The flower is illuminated, with the background darkened. A stout bird with dark wings, a chocolate head, and white throat, getting ready to dive from the moss covered rock it is on I to the stream to catch prey.
November 18, 2024 at 8:57 PM