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mrine.bsky.social
Yet another Matt
@mrine.bsky.social
230 followers 710 following 200 posts
Love birds, bees, butterflies. Also pretty much everything else. If you have any ID suggestions on any of my photos I would love the help and info. They/any.
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mrine.bsky.social
With probably the best common name for a wasp, the Smoky-winged Beetle-bandit wasp is quite small and very cute. This one was loving this goldenrod along with many other wasps and bees. 🌿🐝
A small, mostly black wasp curls around a goldenrod flower as it takes a drink. Its got big cute eyes, smoky wings, and a cute butt. A better look at a cute wasps cute butt. While the abdomen is primarily black, though at its thickest point it has an off-white band. This is followed by a very narrow, metalic/copper-colored line.
October 1, 2025 at 11:38 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Metallic-green sweat bees are my absolute favorite bees... Maybe even my favorite insects. This one is really helping out this New England Aster, as it is a very messy eater.
A shiny metalic green bee with dark wings is climbing out of a purple New England Aster flower. Its face is covered in bright yellow pollen. Ita legs and antennae are also coated in pollen.
September 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
mrine.bsky.social
A tiny Coelioxys bee getting ready for bed 😍
A small, grey black abd white bee hangs to a blade of sedge via its mandibles. Its legs are all tightly tucked up against its body. It is in front of my finger, for scale and to get my phone camera to focus... It is a Coelioxys bee getting g ready for sleep.
September 23, 2025 at 1:24 AM
mrine.bsky.social
It's been a good week for wasps!
A lime green Paw Paw Sphinx Moth caterpillar covered in the cocoons of a parisitoid wasp. The caterpillar is hanging upside down on a small twig, and a full, bright red berry grows out of the twig. A long-ovipositored ichneumonid wasp (Odontocolon, maybe?) Resting on the plastic lid of a drink cooler. Its long and thin, a glossy dark brown with amber colored legs. A very lanky, long-abdomenned wasp in flight, about to land on some goldenrod. (Gasteruptiidae?) It is kind of stretched out looking, with long neck and long hind-most legs. It has segments of amber in its abdomen as well. A beewolf on a backdrop of goldenrod. It's primarily black, with yellow stripes. Its got cute proportions, with big eyes and a big round head.
September 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Post a movie you like with a terrible rotten tomatoes score.

I will never not bring up Surf Ninjas when a chance presents itself.
A screen shot of the Rotten Tomatoes page for the film Surf Ninjas. Its tomatometer score is a dismal 23%, however its popcornmeter score is a respectable 68%. Still too low of a score, but its fair.
September 16, 2025 at 10:56 PM
mrine.bsky.social
A sketch of a cartoon stag beetle, upright on wooden boards, dancing with a cane and waving around a top hat.
September 15, 2025 at 7:17 PM
mrine.bsky.social
I really love the cover of Amazing Spider-man #28, the first apearance of Molten Man. It is so strikingly different from the other spidey covers around that time I think.
The cover of Amazing Spider-man #28. Its all black, with only the bright golden shine of molten mans body and red outlines of spider-mans web pattern and spider insignia.
September 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Im calling it, Eyeballtopus is going to be the surprise hero of Alien: Earth. They'll deliver Boy Cavalier's comeuppance.
The T. Ocellus alien from Alien: Earth. They look more or less like a human eyeball atop some pink and red fleshy tentacles. They are scuttling and leaving behind some goopy prints.
September 4, 2025 at 10:57 AM
mrine.bsky.social
Didn't want to totally miss out on #InverteFest this year, so here are some last minute pics. It's been a pretty great year for me in this department. Between the gardens at work, my ever-growing native garden space, and summer travel, I've seen a lot!

These were all taken at Brookside Gardens.
A four-humped stink bug (Brochymene quadripustulata). It is a mostly grayish, brownish insect with small black and orange spots all over it. It is sitting on a long, thin leaf that is also covered in spots. A Gray Hairstreak butterfly (Strymon melinus) sitting on a yellow rudbeckia flower. It is a primarly light gray butterfly, but around the rear edges of its wings, it has two rows of white and black spots and dashes. On the back edge of its hind wing, it also has a bright orange and black eye spot. It is resting facing away from the center of the flower. A Fraternal Potter Wasp (Eumenes fraternus) with a death grip on the neck of an unfortunate caterpillar. It's mostly black, with very pale yellow markings on her edges. Its thorax and the end of its abdomen are quite bulbous and lightly pitted and haired. The caterpillar is a bright pale green, with faint yellow stripes. A bright blue dragonfly, a Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis), maybe? Sitting atop a dried up flower stalk. Its eyes are a bright spectrum of blues and greens. Its thorax has thick black stripes atop a light green. Or thin light green stripes on black? Who's to say.
August 31, 2025 at 2:10 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Cuckoo bees are super cute. I love their big ol' eyes and their spiky butts. Coelioxys (sayi, maybe?) As much as I love bees, I also love their brood parasites (some of which are also bees).
A big-eyed black, grey, and white bee on a fleabane flower. It's just fuzzy enough to be conventionally cute, I think.
June 28, 2025 at 3:54 AM
mrine.bsky.social
If you see this, post a bird!

I really appreciate that this is more or less the view out of my "office" every day.
A black and light orange, Baltimore Oriole perches on the edge of a garden, about a foot off the ground. It is on a black iron post holding up a chain bordering the garden bed.
June 17, 2025 at 10:32 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Drew some flowers...
A digital drawing of a Pacific Trillium. Three white triangular petals sit atop three much larger triangular green leaves. An Indian Paintbrush flower, dark reddish green stem with red tinted alternating leaves. The flowers are in a cluster, stacked on top of each other, transitioning haphazardly from green to bright red.
June 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Just doodled a little guy.
A very short and mostly round dinosaur, more or less with the features of a T. rex. Its very light green on a white background with black on its bottom edges for contrast. It has thick angry eyebrows and tiny little W's for arms. Its also wearing a simple yellow crown on its head.
May 16, 2025 at 8:46 PM
mrine.bsky.social
How can anyone not love bugs? Look at this gorgeous dude.

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.
A bright metalic green beetle sits on a finger. It has several white spots in the rear edge of its elytra. A bright metalic green beetle sits on a finger. From this angle you can see It has six white spots in the rear edge of its elytra.
April 10, 2025 at 4:55 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Saw these canada geese perched on the top of this building. Not a huge deal but like...I feel surprisingly discomforted by the idea of geese perching in any fashion 😬 Like, what are they doing up there?
Two canada geese perched menacingly yet protectively on the precipice of a tall medical building. Surveying the scene before them, ready to deal with any ne'er-do-wells in the streets below. A wider view of the vigilante geese. Cars in the parking lot show the height of their perch. They are probably...6 floors, up?
March 29, 2025 at 9:41 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Spring finally arriving has been so fantastic. I'm not much of a herp person, but they've been really busy in the gardens this past week!
Two American Toads in amplexus, the smaller, lighter brown male sliding off the larger, darker females right side. They sit in a pretty shallow pool. She seems non-plussed. A very brightly patterned Painted Turtle sits on grass at the edge of a pond. The sides of its shell are marked with vibrant red stripes, which fade to yellow on its neck and head. A big ol' Common Snapping turtle sits in the muck. The top of its shell and the front of its face peeking out of the shallow water. A sizable Garter Snake makes its way through some leaf litter.
March 25, 2025 at 11:21 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Drop a ship that's not from Star Wars/Star Trek.
The White Base (a.k.a. Trojan Horse, a.k.a. Mokuba) from Mobile Suit Gundam, floats in space while shooting an array of bright pink laser beams. It doesn't really look much like a horse. It is mostly white, though, with red, blue, and yellow accents.
March 25, 2025 at 1:48 AM
mrine.bsky.social
American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis. I really love them. Their bark is so cool. It's probably my favorite non-food tree.
A black and white photo of an American sycamore trunk, shot at a low angle. Its chipping, peeling bark casting some nice shadows.
March 25, 2025 at 1:40 AM
mrine.bsky.social
I've never really been one to draw in a cartoony style, but i was drawing with the kiddos this afternoon and this just came out of my pencil 🤷‍♂️. I kinda like it.
A cartoon white-throated sparrow, sketchily drawn in pencil. Its got ridiculously large cartoony human-ish eyes. And a big round body. Tiny stick legs and feet.
March 17, 2025 at 8:42 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Just frogs makin' frogs. 🌱🐸🌿
A smaller, darker green wood frogs holds tight to a larger, more brown wood frog as they float around in a very shallow pool A smaller, darker green wood frogs holds tight to a larger, more brown wood frog as they float around in a very shallow pool
March 7, 2025 at 5:35 PM
mrine.bsky.social
Had some looong (but productive 🤞) big group meetings this week and doodled some plants. Im working on something in which I'll be drawing a lot of greenery but I find plants to be quite tricky.

Any of the many amazing artists here know of any good video tutorials or books I can check out?
A very loose and sketchy doodle of Virginia bluebells, blooming in front of a black background. A doodled dark green stem with unopened buds and three pink flowers on a black background. Its outlined in white.
March 1, 2025 at 8:48 PM
mrine.bsky.social
If you see this, quote with a flower from your gallery.

Virginia Springbeauty, Claytonia virginica. From March, two years ago.
A white, five-petalled flower sprouts up out from some drab leaf litter. It has faint pink veins running the length of the petals.
February 17, 2025 at 12:02 AM
mrine.bsky.social
An odd thing I noticed, maybe someone could explain to me? Everything else froze over, twigs, leaves, everything. But the witch hazel flowers didn't ice over throughout the whole shrub. The twigs and branches did. But the petals, etc. stayed thawed. Why is that?
Some witch hazel flowers are blooming in the ice and cold. The long curled petals are a nice sunset red to orange, with dark maroon seals. The branch they are on is totally enveloped in ice, with round icicles dripping down. But the flowers did not freeze over. They are wet but thawed.
February 6, 2025 at 11:53 PM
mrine.bsky.social
This is a Wavy Mucksucker (Orthonevra nitida) and one of the stranger looking creatures I've ever gotten a picture of, I think. They are a type of flower fly, a group that is pretty neat when you get to know them!
A black and gold striped fly perched on a bright yellow tansy. Its got relatively long antennae for a fly and a pretty large head. Its huge golden eyes are patterned with wavy black squiggles.
February 4, 2025 at 6:09 PM
mrine.bsky.social
It's a gorgeous day out, and the first Witchhazel flower is blooming in the Brookside Gardens Children's Garden! 🌿🌱 The "witch" in the name doesn't come from the magical person, but the Ænglisc word "wice", meaning "bendable."
A small blooming witch hazel flower, surrounded by twigs and unopened flower buds. It's backlit, but it's a bit translucent, so it really lights up its petals. It has four long and thin petals that start red at the base but fade through to yellow at the tips, like a sunset. These emerge from a dark purplish red sepals. Tiny dots of bright yellow are at its center. The sky behind is blue and clear.
January 30, 2025 at 4:09 PM