Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD
@pbeasleyhall.bsky.social
entomologist researching biodiversity + taxonomy + evolution of weird, spindly things underground. #1 ensifera enjoyer 🦗
also: queer liberation 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ + neurodiversity 🧠 + solarpunk ☀️🌱 they/she 🌈
also: queer liberation 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ + neurodiversity 🧠 + solarpunk ☀️🌱 they/she 🌈
this is definitely one of the films of all time
October 20, 2025 at 11:26 PM
this is definitely one of the films of all time
The wood cricket Triaenogryllacris triaena is found in Western South America. To blend in with its surroundings, the species has three colour morphs: yellow, green, and (hot) pink. The pink one is definitely my favourite. #EverydayEnsifera #bugsky
📸: Juan José Caicedo
📸: Juan José Caicedo
October 15, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The wood cricket Triaenogryllacris triaena is found in Western South America. To blend in with its surroundings, the species has three colour morphs: yellow, green, and (hot) pink. The pink one is definitely my favourite. #EverydayEnsifera #bugsky
📸: Juan José Caicedo
📸: Juan José Caicedo
Museum artefact discovered at work
October 14, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Museum artefact discovered at work
Schizodactylus monstrosus uses its strong, spiky legs to create sand dune burrows in the deserts of southern Asia. Although those curled wings look fancy, they're not functional and these guys can't fly. Maybe for the best since they're predatory! #EverydayEnsifera #bugsky
📸: mruga (iNaturalist)
📸: mruga (iNaturalist)
October 13, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Schizodactylus monstrosus uses its strong, spiky legs to create sand dune burrows in the deserts of southern Asia. Although those curled wings look fancy, they're not functional and these guys can't fly. Maybe for the best since they're predatory! #EverydayEnsifera #bugsky
📸: mruga (iNaturalist)
📸: mruga (iNaturalist)
Like other members of the Hyperbaeninae, Dialarnaca zhoui spins silk to create shelters from rolled leaves. What ISN'T common is the species' striking pink and gold colouration! This gorgeous leaf-roller is known only from the Yunnan province in China. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Zhou Yu
📸: Zhou Yu
October 12, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Like other members of the Hyperbaeninae, Dialarnaca zhoui spins silk to create shelters from rolled leaves. What ISN'T common is the species' striking pink and gold colouration! This gorgeous leaf-roller is known only from the Yunnan province in China. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Zhou Yu
📸: Zhou Yu
Field crickets (Gryllinae) aren't just plain brown chirping things in backyards - the group is actually pretty diverse, with >3,000 species. Maybe the weirdest are in the genus Sciobia, which all have these delightful Pikmin-like "hats" 🥺
📸: Sciobia barbara, Pierre-Henri Fabre
#EverydayEnsifera
📸: Sciobia barbara, Pierre-Henri Fabre
#EverydayEnsifera
October 12, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Field crickets (Gryllinae) aren't just plain brown chirping things in backyards - the group is actually pretty diverse, with >3,000 species. Maybe the weirdest are in the genus Sciobia, which all have these delightful Pikmin-like "hats" 🥺
📸: Sciobia barbara, Pierre-Henri Fabre
#EverydayEnsifera
📸: Sciobia barbara, Pierre-Henri Fabre
#EverydayEnsifera
The Mexican Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus talpa) calls to mates by beating its chunky abdomen against the ground, producing a drumming sound. Each species of Stenopelmatus has a different drumming song. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Jalil Rodríguez M
📸: Jalil Rodríguez M
October 11, 2025 at 12:02 AM
The Mexican Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus talpa) calls to mates by beating its chunky abdomen against the ground, producing a drumming sound. Each species of Stenopelmatus has a different drumming song. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Jalil Rodríguez M
📸: Jalil Rodríguez M
Just came across Ray Troll's artwork (trollart.com). So beautiful!
October 10, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Just came across Ray Troll's artwork (trollart.com). So beautiful!
The koringkriek (Acanthoplus discoidalis) is a katydid found in southern Africa. Not only does the species have a powerful bite, it's also known to squirt toxic blood or throw up its stomach contents as a defense mechanism! #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Rudi Bosbouer
📸: Rudi Bosbouer
October 9, 2025 at 11:44 PM
The koringkriek (Acanthoplus discoidalis) is a katydid found in southern Africa. Not only does the species have a powerful bite, it's also known to squirt toxic blood or throw up its stomach contents as a defense mechanism! #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Rudi Bosbouer
📸: Rudi Bosbouer
The Cook Strait giant wētā (Deinacrida rugosa) is an anostostomatid from New Zealand. It's one of the largest insects in the world! Major threats to this cutie include land clearing and predation by rats. It's listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: d_kluza (iNaturalist)
📸: d_kluza (iNaturalist)
October 9, 2025 at 1:13 AM
The Cook Strait giant wētā (Deinacrida rugosa) is an anostostomatid from New Zealand. It's one of the largest insects in the world! Major threats to this cutie include land clearing and predation by rats. It's listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: d_kluza (iNaturalist)
📸: d_kluza (iNaturalist)
happy international lesbian day!
October 8, 2025 at 9:25 AM
happy international lesbian day!
Cooloola monsters are weird, chunky insects endemic to South East Queensland, Australia. They're probably related to king crickets (Anostostomatidae), but not much is known about their evolution. The wingless females live permanently underground. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Visit Gympie Region
📸: Visit Gympie Region
October 8, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Cooloola monsters are weird, chunky insects endemic to South East Queensland, Australia. They're probably related to king crickets (Anostostomatidae), but not much is known about their evolution. The wingless females live permanently underground. #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Visit Gympie Region
📸: Visit Gympie Region
The Wonderful World of Insects (1999) #oldinternet #bugsky
October 7, 2025 at 4:38 AM
The Wonderful World of Insects (1999) #oldinternet #bugsky
There are ~18,000 species of katydids, crickets, & allies worldwide - over 32,000 if you include questionable names. I thought it'd be fun to showcase some weird, beautiful, or unusual species daily. First up is Orophus tessellatus, a katydid from Central America! #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Karl Kroeker
📸: Karl Kroeker
October 7, 2025 at 2:02 AM
There are ~18,000 species of katydids, crickets, & allies worldwide - over 32,000 if you include questionable names. I thought it'd be fun to showcase some weird, beautiful, or unusual species daily. First up is Orophus tessellatus, a katydid from Central America! #EverydayEnsifera
📸: Karl Kroeker
📸: Karl Kroeker
oh. that's...
October 6, 2025 at 9:23 AM
oh. that's...
All orthopteran species are equal... but some are more equal than others. 🦗 Cool recent paper finds that biodiversity knowledge of Orthoptera from the tropics and the Global South remains limited: doi.org/10.1038/s441... #entomology
October 4, 2025 at 10:27 PM
All orthopteran species are equal... but some are more equal than others. 🦗 Cool recent paper finds that biodiversity knowledge of Orthoptera from the tropics and the Global South remains limited: doi.org/10.1038/s441... #entomology
IDing cave crickets from photos is hard because key traits are at the back of the body and require a 🔬. People don't usually take macro shots of an insect's bum... so when they do, it's exciting! This is a new species of Speleotettix from near Melbourne. #entomology
📸: Jono Dashper (iNaturalist)
📸: Jono Dashper (iNaturalist)
October 3, 2025 at 10:49 PM
IDing cave crickets from photos is hard because key traits are at the back of the body and require a 🔬. People don't usually take macro shots of an insect's bum... so when they do, it's exciting! This is a new species of Speleotettix from near Melbourne. #entomology
📸: Jono Dashper (iNaturalist)
📸: Jono Dashper (iNaturalist)
An undescribed species of cave cricket hidden in peri-urban forest of the Dandenong Ranges National Park, Victoria. This species is known from wombat burrows, tree hollows, and granite boulder caves. Individuals venture outside nightly to forage. #entomology
📸: Justin Chan via iNaturalist
📸: Justin Chan via iNaturalist
October 3, 2025 at 12:30 AM
An undescribed species of cave cricket hidden in peri-urban forest of the Dandenong Ranges National Park, Victoria. This species is known from wombat burrows, tree hollows, and granite boulder caves. Individuals venture outside nightly to forage. #entomology
📸: Justin Chan via iNaturalist
📸: Justin Chan via iNaturalist
Anyone know how the macro photography feature on the iPhone 17 Pro compares to the regular 17? Came across this stink bug pic taken on a Pro and it looks insanely good. Could be useful for ento people 👀 reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1ntygnz/macro_photo_with_17_pro/ngxamb1
September 30, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Anyone know how the macro photography feature on the iPhone 17 Pro compares to the regular 17? Came across this stink bug pic taken on a Pro and it looks insanely good. Could be useful for ento people 👀 reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1ntygnz/macro_photo_with_17_pro/ngxamb1
This sign at work always gets me 💀
September 18, 2025 at 10:58 PM
This sign at work always gets me 💀
We chose the name Micropathus zubat because of its very weird terminalia, plates around the back of the body involved in mating. The female subgenital plate reminded us of Zubat's fangs - coincidentally, a Pokemon also found in cave and forest habitats. 5/6
September 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
We chose the name Micropathus zubat because of its very weird terminalia, plates around the back of the body involved in mating. The female subgenital plate reminded us of Zubat's fangs - coincidentally, a Pokemon also found in cave and forest habitats. 5/6
We also described M. zubat, known only from a single cave in the extremely remote Forest Hills karst (dark blue circle in map). Forest Hills is effectively only accessible via helicopter because of the density of surrounding rainforest. As a result, very little is known of its biodiversity. 4/6
September 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
We also described M. zubat, known only from a single cave in the extremely remote Forest Hills karst (dark blue circle in map). Forest Hills is effectively only accessible via helicopter because of the density of surrounding rainforest. As a result, very little is known of its biodiversity. 4/6
Using molecular data, we found that "Micropathus tasmaniensis" was actually two species - this explained its varying morphology. We named the new species M. ditto, referencing Ditto's ability to transform into other Pokemon. M. ditto had hidden in plain sight under the wrong name for 60 years! 3/6
September 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Using molecular data, we found that "Micropathus tasmaniensis" was actually two species - this explained its varying morphology. We named the new species M. ditto, referencing Ditto's ability to transform into other Pokemon. M. ditto had hidden in plain sight under the wrong name for 60 years! 3/6
Let's zoom out a bit. The species M. tasmaniensis was described in the 1960s and, being from a popular caving destination, was the subject of diverse ecological research for years. But its morphology was always confusing: populations could look drastically different under a microscope. 2/6
September 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Let's zoom out a bit. The species M. tasmaniensis was described in the 1960s and, being from a popular caving destination, was the subject of diverse ecological research for years. But its morphology was always confusing: populations could look drastically different under a microscope. 2/6
Say hi to Micropathus ditto and M. zubat, two #NewSpecies of cave cricket from forests in southern Tasmania! These crickets are threatened by climate change, land clearing, and logging. Giving them names is an important step towards their conservation. But why did we choose these ones? #bugsky 🧵 1/6
September 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Say hi to Micropathus ditto and M. zubat, two #NewSpecies of cave cricket from forests in southern Tasmania! These crickets are threatened by climate change, land clearing, and logging. Giving them names is an important step towards their conservation. But why did we choose these ones? #bugsky 🧵 1/6