Rebecca Wang 王思寧
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rebeccawang.bsky.social
Rebecca Wang 王思寧
@rebeccawang.bsky.social
480 followers 780 following 220 posts
Science Edu👩🏻‍🔬 - Entomology🪲 - Nat. History🌱
PCAP student & SciEdu Tutor/TA @ HKU. HKBM volunteer.

Texan, Taiwanese & HK-er (She/Her/她).

* Exploring Ento PhD & Sci Museum opportunities!*
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rebeccawang.bsky.social
Step 5) Finishing the donation
- Enjoy the drinks & snacks provided once disconnected (got nice stuff like Pocari)! 😋
- Sit & relax for ~15 minutes before leaving (checking for reactions) 😌

Step 6) Post-donation care
- Take the iron supplement they give you in the 1-2 months that follow! 💪
Post donation things, including a can of pocari sweat (sugary electrolyte drink) and an envelope containing two pill bottles with iron supplements. Not pictured is all the cookies and crackers I ate during the 15 minute waiting period!
November 30, 2025 at 6:21 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
*Can ask any Qs you have to staff, they're pretty friendly in my exp.! 😄

Step 4) The Donation
- Lounge back in the chair & let them get to work!
(skin disinfected + local anesthetic, 4 vials drawn for blood tests...)
- Squeeze a tube they give you to keep the blood flowing. ~10 min ish.
Annotated image of blood donation machine and process. Extremely unflattering, double chin image of me while donating blood.
November 30, 2025 at 6:21 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Step 3) Pre-donation process:
- Fill out paperwork (~25Qs, about med history💊, travel history🛬 etc- full list here, pg. 12+ www5.ha.org.hk/rcbts/donati... )
- Hemoglobin (Hb) test: Small pin-prick of 🩸taken from finger to check levels
- Nurse screening: Bp & temp check, go through form together👨‍⚕️👩‍⚕️
Folder containing the Blood Donation Registration (BDR) Form. The colorful cover sheet (with cartoon icons throughout) contains general information about the 7 step process to donating blood, as well as common reasons for deferment and QR codes to helpful information.
November 30, 2025 at 6:21 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Okay, related to yesterday's 🧵, thought I'd walk you through how donating🩸 in 🇭🇰 works, in case fear of the unknown is holding you back!

(Photos all from earlier this year, tho donating again v. soon!)

Step 1) Make an appointment!
- HK Blood App/website
- WhatsApp @ 6279-7173
- Hotline @ 2710-1333
Image of all blood donation locations in Hong Kong on a map. To the left of the image is a list of the donation locations: Mongkok Donor Centre Causeway Bay Donor Centre Yuen Long Donor Centre Tsuen Wan Donor Centre Sze Pang Nien Memorial Headquarters Donor Centre (For Group Donation) West Kowloon Donor Centre (Whole Blood) Kwun Tong Donor Centre Central District Donor Centre Shatin Donor Centre Wan Chai Donor Centre West Kowloon Donor Centre (Apheresis) Blood Donation Vehicle - Ching Ho Estate (30/11/2025)
November 30, 2025 at 6:21 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
‼️Quick heads up‼️
The Hospital Authority (醫院管理局) is saying that blood banks are now stable* & to make an appointment before donating (no walking-ins)!

“【如欲捐血,請留意🔎】感謝各位熱心市民前往捐血🙏
前中心血庫存量穩定大家可先預約,後捐血🙇🙇‍♀️謝謝🙏🙏🙏“

www.facebook.com/share/p/1WsR...

*🩸 has a shelf life + 100 day wait- need to spread ppl out
Screenshot of the Facebook post from the hospital authority, asking people to book first, then donate blood “【如欲捐血,請留意🔎】感謝各位熱心市民前往捐血🙏 前中心血庫存量穩定大家可先預約,後捐血🙇🙇‍♀️謝謝🙏🙏🙏“
November 28, 2025 at 9:56 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Bees & Wasps are both 蜂, but "honey" for former (蜜蜂), "yellow" for later (黃蜂)

Pronunciation wise-
Mando: Mìfēng/ㄇㄧˋ ㄈㄥ ; Huángfēng/ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄈㄥ (more "fong" in TW accent with extra ㄨsound)
TW: Tbh, I've only heard both as just "phang" (蜂)?
Canto: mat6 fung1; wong4 fung1 or je5 fung1 (野蜂) lit. "wild bee"
Close up, front facing photograph of a bee under a microscope, it's compound eyes and ocelli clearly visible. Photo myself taken in October 2021 in Cambridge, UK while identifying insects for a project. Closeup image of a bee wing under a microscope, highlighting it's venation and membranous structure. Photo taken myself October 2021 in Cambridge, UK. Closeup image of a pinned bee specimen under a mircoscope, it's wings held up and away from the body using slanted pins so it could dry in the correct position. Photo taken myself in October 2021 in Cambridge UK while pinning insects for a lab project.
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Rounding this off (for now) with the Hymenoptera - or ants, bees & wasps! 🐝 🐜

The sci name is 膜翅目 (Móchì mù/ㄇㄛˊ ㄔˋ ㄇㄨˋ ) lit. "film/membrane wing order", same reason as Leps - see wing image below!

Ants = 螞蟻 aka Mǎyǐ/ㄇㄚˇ ㄧˇ in Mando; káu-hiā (狗蟻) in TW; and ngai5 (蟻) in Canto.
Closeup macro photo of a carpenter ant (I want to say Camponotus sp. ? reddish brown with gold gaster/hind parts) resting on a green painted metal guardrail. Photo taken myself while hiking in Hong Kong a few years back.
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
(Btw, using Trad char. with pinyin & zhuyin here. Lots learned from summer trips to Taipei Zoo Insectarium as a kid visiting Mom's family!)

蝴蝶 is Húdié / ㄏㄨˊ ㄉㄧㄝˊ in Mandarin, ôo-tia̍p or bué-ia̍h (尾蝶) in Taiwanese, wu4 dip6 in Cantonese.

飛蛾 is Fēi é /ㄈㄟ ㄜˊ ; ia̍h-á (蛾仔) in TW & fei1 ngo4 in Canto!
Me standing in front of the entrance and gesturing toward the Insectarium (昆蟲館）at Taipei Zoo （臺北動物園)
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Up next, the lovely Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths)! 🦋

Formally, it's 鱗翅目 (Línchì mù/ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄔˋ ㄇㄨˋ ), meaning "scaly winged order", which sounds weird, until you view their wings under microscope!

More common is 蝶蛾目(Dié é mù /ㄉㄧㄝˊ ㄜˊ ㄇㄨˋ ) after the 蝴蝶/butterflies & 飛蛾 /moths in the order.
A green and black Tailed Jay butterfly (Graphium agamemnon) flying toward a few white and yellow flowers. Photo taken by a friend in Hong Kong around October 2025 Closeup image of the tan colored scales of a Scopula sp. moth wing. Photo curtsy of the Hong Kong Biodiversity Musuem (HKBM), more images and information here https://bsky.app/profile/hkbm.bsky.social/post/3m4rstizmjs2e Photo of a Dead Leaf Butterfly (Kallima inachus) sitting on a green plant leaf. Though native to Tropical Asia, this photo was taken myself in July 2025 at the Tropical Butterfly House, Pacific Science Center, Seattle WA.
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Anyways, Back to Bugs (alright~🎵 )!

Starting with cool Coleoptera, or the beetles! 🪲 🐞

In Chinese, it's 鞘翅目 (Qiàochì mù/ㄑㄧㄠˋ ㄔˋ ㄇㄨˋ ). Literally "scabbard/sheath winged order", after their elytra/harden forewings .

Most just go with 甲蟲 (Jiǎchóng /ㄐㄧㄚˇ ㄔㄨㄥˊ ) or "armor bugs" for beetles though!
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Look I was born 'n raised in TX, 2.5-ish gen ABC on my Dad's side.
Gparents ended up in the USA due to WWII & Cultural Rev. Dad was born in WV & grew up in FL - faced racism as only Asians in town.

How do you put up with the BS? You LAUGH & OWN it!
Find JOY where they want you to feel fear/anger!
Little me ("mushroom" hair cut, pink and white overalls) in the early 2000s, staring out in awe at the endless stretch of Texas Bluebonnet flowers in the meadow ahead of me.
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
One final quick talk/post (before I need to go to bed 😅) -

Jack Whisenant returns with the story of the Bible Fly at Cornell's Insect Collection, which was found squashed in the pages of a book.

Rather unconventional and unique way of collecting/preserving insects! 😂
A timeline trying to date the fly and when it was collected.
November 9, 2025 at 7:10 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Back to Genevieve with a talk about volunteers at the DMNS:

Nice seeing how roles & tasks are broken up, so that everyone (even those w/o ento. exp.) can contribute!
Love the message that "we all break bugs" - important to emphasis!

Curious what's on everyone's insect pinning playlist?🤔 #ECN2025
Volunteer tasks in the entomology department. Starting with pinning/sorting, then databasing, organizing and finally photography. Level of task difficulty. Starting with training wheel moths, followed by complex data and ending with the everything drawer.
November 9, 2025 at 6:37 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Jess Awad (@parasitoidrex.bsky.social ) uncovering hidden treasures in the Naturalis collections ( @naturalis.bsky.social )!

Each unassuming box contains new insect stories (more in ECN's thread): from tiny galls on delicate leaves, to the tale of notorious beetle image thief Oskar Vogt!

#ECN2025
Awad opening up a cardboard box containing several more boxes containing wasp galls and nests. A small cardboard box (sewing box?) containing a leaf with a tiny gall perched on it. A slide briefly detailing the story of Oskar Vogt An larger example of insect homes found in the collection. In this case a paper wasp nest found, made by Chartergus sp.
November 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Original Riker mounts by inventor Clarence Riker held at @denvermuseumns.bsky.social , presented by Genevieve Anderegg! 😍

The cabinets are just as intricate as the insects held within!Though lacking in collection data, lots of educational & natural history research value once imaged!

#ECN2025
Two mahogany cabinets, 20 drawers each with 1,675 insects. Donated by Riker's grandchild Marcia Rissland in 2000 Original patent for the Riker mount. Close up of the hardware holding the glass on a Riker mounted butterfly and cabinet drawer mechanism. An example of Riker mounted moths at different life stages.
November 9, 2025 at 5:41 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
NO dermestids found?! How??? 😲

(That's honestly more impressive to me than the lack of broken antennae!)
--
Some more closeup images of the lovely Lepidoptera donated, as well as a newspaper article about the donation written in a local paper by former student.
Some of the 381 boxes of photographed Lepidoptera Newspaper clipping about the Gier donation.
November 9, 2025 at 5:16 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Learning more about the prolific work of hymenopterist Lubomír Masner with Proctotrupoidea wasps & development of new collection tools!

Glad to hear my sewing hobby might come in handy haha - though mesh is super tricky! 🧵

Good message from Lubo: "Less computer, more collecting"!

#ECN2025
Timeline of Lubos work over several decades, showing how retirement didn't slow him down! Across the top is photos of him from 1972 to 2025, with facts present below. slide illustrating the tool needed to build Lubo's net
November 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Anyways, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival/中秋節快樂 to all who celebrate!🎑🏮

May the holiday bring you happiness and joy with loved ones under the full moon! 🌕
祝大家在這個節日中，與家人和朋友共享一個愉快溫馨的佳節！🥰

(Related, but love that the official HK public holiday is the day 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 the festival, so you can properly sleep in!😜)
Photo of the remarkably bright full moon taken in Hong Kong at while walking along the coastline with family earlier tonight. Colorful lanterns strung up near a brightly lit blue and yellow dragon sculpture (also made with lanterns), taken by my parents earlier in the week.
October 6, 2025 at 4:33 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Also fun fact: those stones plus the 毛公鼎/Máogōng dǐng (lit. 'Lord Mao's cauldron', a vessel from 805 BCE & longest example of bronze script) make up the museum's "Three Treasures".

So there kinda this running gag that people visit the 故宮 to get their "pickled cabbage & pork hotpot"/ 酸菜白肉鍋 fix! 🤣
The Mao Gong ding/毛公鼎, a bronze tripod ding vessel (wide, cauldron-like container in a metallic dark grey color) from the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1045 – c. 771 BCE). "The vessel has an inscription of 500 characters arranged in 32 lines, the longest inscription among the ancient Chinese bronze inscriptions. The ding dates from the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, and was presented to him by the Lord Yin of Mao" Image source: https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/Collection/Detail/1438?dep=U A example of the real 酸菜白肉鍋(Suāncài báiròu guō)/"pickled cabbage & pork hotpot". A metal hot pot container containing fatty pork, nappa cabbage, tofu and over vegetables simmering in a broth. Image source: https://www.ytower.com.tw/recipe/iframe-recipe.asp?seq=A02-3187
August 30, 2025 at 2:11 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Still remember getting an plastic souvenir of it during a visit to the 故宮 as a kid haha! 😆
~
Btw if you enjoyed that, check out its cousin: the Meat-Shaped Stone/肉形石 (Ròuxíngshí).

*Note: Man, human-made art is so cool! Guy looks at a funny rock: "Huh, looks like food... guess imma carve it!🤷"
The Meat-Shaped Stone/肉形石 a piece of jasper rock (various shades of brown with striations) carved into the shape of a piece of Dongpo pork. It sits atop a gold colored pedestal which is covered with repeating wave like patterns. Image source: https://theme.npm.edu.tw/selection/Article.aspx?sNo=04001103&lang=2 A piece of real dōngpōròu/東坡肉, a red-braised pork belly dish (slow cooked in soy sauce, wine and sugar) named after a famous Song dynasty poet. The dish is known for its even distribution of fat and meat. Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongpo_pork#/media/File:DongPoRou.jpg
August 30, 2025 at 2:11 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Ooh! Going with the famous Jaddite Cabbage/翠玉白菜 (Cuìyù Báicài), which a flawed piece of jade carved to resemble a nappa cabbagge/bok choi with a kaddid and locust in its leaves.

If you're ever in Taipei 🇹🇼 , be sure to visit it in the National Palace Museum/故宮博物院!

theme.npm.edu.tw/exh106/npm_a...
The Jaddite Cabbage/翠玉白菜 (Cuìyù Báicài) - a piece of jade (translucent green and white stone) carved into the shape of a Chinese cabbage head (also known as nappa cabbage or bok choi). Hidden nside it's leaves are a locust and a katydid carved out of the same material. It is perched on a wooden pedestal (dark coffee colored) which itself is carved into an ornate flower-like stand. The real life "Katydid" from the cabbage, which actually is modeled off of the Chinese bush cricket (Gampsocleis gratiosa) pictured here, a forest green insect with long legs adapted for jumping and thick abdomen. They were common sights in the Qing dynasty, captively breed for their musical singing abilities. The corresponding "locust" is too small/improperly scaled to be matched to a specific insect species, but was likely a migratory locust.
August 30, 2025 at 1:33 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
2x posts today to catch up with Day 3 of #Invertefest -

Saw some people lamenting how arthropod/insect-centric the hashtag has gotten (whoops! 😅)…

So here are a few chill HK snails I saw recently to mix things up a bit! 🐌🐌🐌
Three striped snails (dark brown and tan) sitting on a brick wall with leafy vegetation nearby)
August 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
For Day 2(-ish) of #Invertefest : Enjoy this brilliant, “beetle-full” photo a family friend took of me earlier this summer! 😂

My first time ever visiting Pittsburgh & the Carnegie Museum of Natural History! ❤️

Who needs Dippy the Dino 🦕 & halls full of gemstones when there are BUGS to see?! 😜
Me with a huge grin, gesturing while standing in front of a ginormous wall display of thousands of insects at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Bug Hall
August 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Here are the samples I worked on today + the groups I was splitting them into (including a "?" vial for stray insect parts).

Note: Not the final stage, just a preliminary pass through (goal is quantity).

They will be checked & passed on to respective experts for further ID-ing down to sp. level!
A small cardboard box consisting of a gridded insert and several small vials placed in each section. On top of the box is a label identifying 1 = Coleoptera (Beetles) 2 = Non-Ant Hymenoptera (Wasps etc) 3 = HymenopteraL Formicidae (Ants) 4 = Hemiptera (true bugs) 5 = Thysanoptera (Thrips) 6 = Ephemeroptera (Mayflies) 7 = Acari (Mites) 8 = Trichoptera (caddisflies) 9 = Lepidoptera (moths etc) . = T+ L D1+ D2 = Diptera, rough nematocera vs brachycera/Cyclorrhapha spilt. * = insect with mites ? = Not sure/no good.
August 26, 2025 at 10:35 AM
rebeccawang.bsky.social
Without magnification, the insects just look like tiny specks of unassuming dust or dirt. 🌱

(For reference, the petri dish is about 10 cm/~4 inches/two side-by-side credit cards across.📏 )

However....

Take a closer look through the lenses & this is (just some) of the magic you will see! 🤩
A petri dish (clear plastic circle with raised lip) containing ethanol with small insects in it, sitting on the stero microscope stage. Closeup of the insects as viewed through the microscope lenses. A further assortment of insects from a variety of different orders as viewed from the microscope.
August 26, 2025 at 10:35 AM