The name “Pheretima darnleiensis” gained some attention due to a giant blue form that is included in the concept of the species (and filmed in a BBC doc), but I suspect that it is a different creature endemic to Mt. Kinabalu. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Kinabalu Giant Earthworm (Pheretima darnleiensis)

Kinabalu Giant Earthworm from Kinabalu Park, Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia on May 13, 2009 at 10:19 AM by Chien Lee

inaturalist.org

invertebrate@crevicedwelling.bsky.social · yesterday

These are pretty worms, deep purple-brown with bright iridescence. The largest I saw in Singapore was approaching 30cm, so they’re fair-sized for the megascolecid family, though not truly giant.

Ever seen an earthworm swim?

Unusual for taxonomy. Retraction for fake citations. doi.org/10.11646/zoo...

Some Eurypauropus for your viewing pleasure. They are small armored loaves a few millimeters long that scoot around eating something under logs.

Want to conserve #birds, #mammals and other vertebrates? Then don’t forget their #insects. Our new Nature Reviews Biodiversity paper explores the many ways vertebrates depend on insects — for food, shelter, protection and much more. I’ve written about it here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2026/09/30/w...

Want to conserve birds and mammals? Then conserve their insects – our new paper in Nature Reviews Biodiversity sets out the details

It’s sometimes easy to forget quite how much of the living world depends upon insects. That might seem an odd thing for someone who has spent much of his career studying insects and their relations…

jeffollerton.co.uk

humans evolved hands for holding and cherishing the Cleidogona

I miss the dogs you meet in Malaysia

#SaveTheAcademy Our position in regard to the resolution about the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. This issue deeply affects our community, with many members having visited or worked closely with the academy over the years. We stand with @savetheacademy.bsky.social

I became a biologist because of a museum exhibit. Real artifacts tell stories that are more powerful than anything we can get from scrolling. They are part of our engine for training the next generation of scientists. 🧪 scienceforeveryone.science/the-awesomen...

The awesomeness of museums

Genuine artifacts tell the richest stories that fill our souls. And they fuel the scientific enterprise.

scienceforeveryone.science

a different angle on Oriulus venustus

invertebrate@crevicedwelling.bsky.social · last wk.

some spooky glowing millipede stuff

some spooky glowing millipede stuff

A beautiful 0.22mm long female Megaphragma noyesi wasp of the Trichogrammatidae found at Castle Water of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve in July. This wasp is a parasitoid of the eggs of thrips, but we don't yet know which species of thrips. #wasps #RyeHarbour

it's getting a little colder at night now, so Narceus giant millipedes have been intentionally entering the house. unfortunately there are not a lot of wet leaves in here, otherwise I wouldn't even need to put them back. their calming presence improves every scenario

this grim mask is what a cockroach’s head looks like after a large centipede has fed on it. although centipedes chew their food instead of liquefying and pulping it like spiders, they still avoid eating hard shell when possible and can rasp meat out from surprisingly tiny crevices

a little angelic being I met this past spring

Kind of amazing, and vaguely disappointing, that the brilliantly-marked young Aztec spur-throat matures into the most drab mid grasshopper you’ve ever seen. (Texas)

earthworms are easier to identify than gulls

impressive capture by this hangingthief robber fly

Pachybabies have molted for the first time and emerged with twice the legs. Hopefully this means growth will continue and I can rear them to adulthood!

invertebrate@crevicedwelling.bsky.social · last mo.

Pachydesmus meets his children. Starting life with just six legs, these little white specks will somehow grow into one of the largest millipedes in the southeastern USA.

striaria

Interested in how species diversity is split between major animal groups? Here is the infographic for you! 🧪⚒️🦀🦑 #evosky

🕷️ New #millipede species Bollmanella amorensis described from Labor of Love Cave, Nevada. Study also reports new records of two other millipedes plus ecological notes on the distinctiveness of Great Basin Desert cave fauna. 👉 doi.org/10.3897/subt...

🟢🟢

I may have shared this before somewhere, but here’s some katydid faces from Costa Rica, a land of many fine bugs

for you

Millipede genitalia are often made of a type of exoskeleton that fluoresces under UV, so I use an ultraviolet flashlight to reveal tiny details of their gonopods. Why? Many closely related millipedes appear identical save for their reproductive structures—it’s necessary for identification.

thinking about that one worm with the flappies

I think house centipedes should be considered good luck to see, even if people don’t like them I think they should be universally recognized as a bringer of fortune and prosperity.

I understand slightly more about bugs every day

a very tiny face-off on a rotten log