Matt Fossen
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mattfossen.com
Matt Fossen
@mattfossen.com
750 followers 430 following 2.5K posts
Entomologist, infrequent artist, WoW fanatic
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Three pints of oysters for Henry Slinkman
November 8, 2025 at 11:10 PM
mattfossen.com
Three pints of oysters for Henry Slinkman
November 8, 2025 at 11:03 PM
mattfossen.com
For some reason, I ALWAYS give insects little nicknames in my head when I'm observing/curating/photographing them. This one is "goofy baby chonker". #entomology #Bugsky
Side view of a very small round beetle with its head and appendages safely tucked away.
October 31, 2025 at 9:21 PM
mattfossen.com
It's kind of creepy to find a well-known disease-vectoring mosquito in your backyard... I believe this is Aedes aegypti, the Yellow Fever Mosquito. #entomology #Bugsky
Side view of a small black mosquito with numerous white spots and stripes.
October 27, 2025 at 7:15 PM
mattfossen.com
I wish I was better at identifying ants... Found this tiny yellow friend in the backyard a few weeks ago. #entomology #Bugsky
Side view of a tiny point-mounted yellow ant. View of the face of a tiny yellow ant.
October 27, 2025 at 7:14 PM
mattfossen.com
Apparently I'm not only back on my bullshit, but I'm starting a new pile of it.
Title page with a large photo of the face of a robber fly and the text "Tahoe Area Insects (includes Placer, Nevada, and El Dorado Counties).
October 20, 2025 at 7:27 PM
mattfossen.com
ANOTHER new insect from the backyard. This one is a plant bug, most likely Parthenicus sp. (there aren't many photos of the species in this genus, so that's about as far as I can take it). At this rate I'll hit 400 species in a matter of days!

#entomology #BugSky
A small plant bug on a gray background. The bug is reddish-brown with a pale head and pronotum, and the hind legs are splayed as if it just finished a mighty leap.
October 11, 2025 at 12:23 AM
mattfossen.com
Today's lunchtime photo work:

- A mouse-like barklouse (Myopsocus sp.)
- A trickling filter fly (Psychoda alternata)

These bring my backyard insect species count up to 378!

#entomology #BugSky
A mouse-like barklouse. It's a small brown insect with mottled coloration. Side view of a small, moth-like insect covered in long pale hairs.
October 10, 2025 at 10:03 PM
mattfossen.com
Here's another new parasitic wasp from the backyard: genus Spilomena (I think).

#entomology #BugSky
Side view of a small point-mounted wasp specimen with a shiny black body and orange legs. Dorsal view of a small point-mounted wasp specimen with a shiny black body and orange legs.
October 4, 2025 at 12:31 AM
mattfossen.com
I'm kind of fascinated by this little nugget of a wasp. I have no idea what it is or how I managed to take such clear photos on my first try, but here we are!

#entomology #BugSky
Top view of a tiny, heavily sculptured black wasp with brown legs. Side view of a tiny, heavily sculptured black wasp with brown legs.
October 2, 2025 at 11:02 PM
mattfossen.com
So, a couple of weeks ago I collected a new insect family in my backyard: Coniopterygidae (Dusty-winged Lacewings). That was the first time I'd ever encountered one. Less than two weeks later, I collected a different species from the same family. Wild!

#entomology #BugSky
Neoconis marginata, a dusty-winged lacewing. It's rather moth-like, with white dusty wings featuring a row of dark spots around the margins. Another dusty-winged lacewing, species unknown. It's small and moth-like with a powdery coating and unmarked wings.
September 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
mattfossen.com
Make that 369 species, 287 genera, and 461 photos... I just photographed this little Dryocoetes bark beetle! #entomology #BugSky
Side view of a small point-mounted beetle specimen. It's rusty-brown in color with long yellow "hair" covering nearly every surface.
September 25, 2025 at 9:36 PM
mattfossen.com
Scale insects are weird. This is (I believe) a cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) that has lost her egg case. #entomology #BugSky
Side view of a weird fluffy scale insect perched on a green plant stem.
September 16, 2025 at 6:08 PM
mattfossen.com
My mood has improved a bit today (mostly because I've forced myself to be a bit numb), so here some insect photos I took on my lunch break. They are:

Cremastocheilus
Corimelaena
Athous
Crophius
#entomology #Bugsky
Dorsal view of a black scarab beetle. Dorsal view of a shiny bug with orange trim. Dorsal view of a dark-colored click beetle with rusty markings on the thorax. Dorsal view of a heavily punctured and variegated plant bug.
September 12, 2025 at 9:03 PM
mattfossen.com
My current mental state rapidly flipped from Decent to Fetid Hot Garbage this afternoon, so here's a shiny soldier fly (Sargus viridis) photo for you. #entomology
Photo of a shiny blue-green and yellow-green soldier fly specimen on a gray background.
September 11, 2025 at 10:38 PM
mattfossen.com
I've been trying to add photos of wasp faces to the book when I have them... I'm not really happy with the layout but I'm not sure how to improve it within the confines of Word. #Entomology
Three pages of an insect photo book showing grids of wasp photos.
September 11, 2025 at 6:56 PM
mattfossen.com
Here, have a funky-looking little bug (Patapius spinosus).
Close-up photo of the face of a small insect with large eyes; every part of the bug is covered in spikes.
September 4, 2025 at 1:50 AM
mattfossen.com
New raid boss soloed: Bloodbound Horror (normal difficulty). This is the second boss of the first raid of the current expansion. #warcraft
WoW screenshot showing my warrior standing in front of a glittering pile of loot in the middle of a pool of goop, which is all that's left of the Bloodbound Horror raid boss.
August 17, 2025 at 10:45 PM
mattfossen.com
@jfruh.bsky.social We just visited the Comic-Con Museum in San Diego, which currently houses the most terrifying room in the known universe.
August 3, 2025 at 8:40 PM
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YES
WoW achievement toast proclaiming that I finally got Rivendare's Deathcharger
July 13, 2025 at 4:50 AM
mattfossen.com
Here's a Friday roundup of a few of the new species I collected in my backyard this week.

- Big-Headed Fly (Tomosvaryella sp.)
- Virginia Creeper Leafhopper (Erythroneura ziczac)
- Ring-Legged Earwig (Euborellia annulipes)
- Comma Harp Ground Beetle (Stenolophus comma)

#Entomology #Bugsky
Side view of a tiny fly with a very large round head. Dorsal view of a yellowish-white leafhopper with zigzag brown stripes. Dorsal view of a dark brown earwig with light-colored legs. Dorsal view of a small brown beetle with a pair of dark longitudinal markings on the elytra.
July 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
mattfossen.com
Attempting to manifest things being slightly less awful by posting a photo of a tiny butterfly.
A small gray butterfly resting on a white-petalled daisy.
July 11, 2025 at 12:47 AM
mattfossen.com
Me: I have too much to do and not enough time.

Also me: I should create a detailed taxonomic section for each insect order in my backyard insects book that will never be finished or distributed in any way.
Section of a taxonomic tree for the insect order Hemiptera.
July 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
mattfossen.com
Any entomologists have an idea as to what this might be? Tiny parasitoid wasp (less than 1mm) collected by sweeping backyard shrubbery last year. #Entomology #Bugsky
Side view of a tiny parasitoid wasp.
June 28, 2025 at 12:36 AM
mattfossen.com
Four new insect photos for you today! All collected from my backyard, naturally. #Entomology #Bugsky
Dorsal view of a small reddish-orange plant bug. Dorsal view of a small brown carabid beetle with indistinct dark markings. Side view of a small chunky black beetle with white hair. Dorsal view of a small yellow fly with bold black markings.
June 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM