Two-spotted scoliid wasp on mountain mint. Very skittish species, but the mint has tamed them! Such beautiful animals #bugsky
D. Allan Drummond
@dadrummond.art
Scientist by day (drummondlab.org), artist by night (dadrummond.art). Sculpture, drawings, and other works. Obsessed with the details of the natural world. Lab posts at @drummondlab.bsky.social 🧪
The mint chocolate chip flavor of flies [I imagine] 😋 #Stratiomyidae: #Promeranisa #FlySchool2026 Costa Rica
Mama pseudoscorpion & her cute baby high in the mountains of Montana. Mama is half the size of a grain of rice. These harmless micro arachnids have no stinger, but can deliver venom to prey via their pincers. Also, they can walk backward. Also, you probably have them in your house. #BugSky 🐙🌿
My 30 year old rose bush has a giant hops vine monster behind it. When I go in there there's a chance I'll never come out
D. Allan Drummond@dadrummond.art · yesterdayRosebush ownership: Year 1: 🤞 Year 2: So delicate, come little ones 🥹 Year 3: Oh I need better gloves Year 4: Body armor + chainsaw + shot of whiskey, after a few hours find skeleton of old mailman
I had a rose I called Dragon - lovely, fragrant, thorns an inch long that would go through welder gloves and seemed to launch at you from across the yard.
Rosebush ownership: Year 1: 🤞 Year 2: So delicate, come little ones 🥹 Year 3: Oh I need better gloves Year 4: Body armor + chainsaw + shot of whiskey, after a few hours find skeleton of old mailman
Look at this FUZZY PUPPY 😍 (native animal on native plant in the back yard, and one of my best shots yet, day 5!)
bug is out of the rug, I got commissioned by @theguardian.com to #SciArt illustrate this year's goobies for #InvertebrateOfTheYear there are some really good ones stay tuned! www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Revealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the year
At last! It’s time for our invertebrate of the year competition as voted for by you. Today, the common woodlouse – come back on Tuesday to find out who else made the top 10
theguardian.com
Petra Korlević@petrathepostdoc.bsky.social · 6d agosomething exciting coming your way on Monday #BugSky
Perfect tiny bee! 🐝 Alfalfa leafcutter bee, a male Megachile rotundata, chilling on a mountain mint blossom. It’s a nice cool day so he was very cooperative and stayed still while I took a billion shots 😅
A big Ectatomma tuberculatum guarding an Inga she is standing on. you can see the extrafloral nectary underneath her.
I found this really cool mantid on an old cart. It was not able to fly, and in the last frame, you can see why. It has a large termite soldier clamped on to its thorax! Evidently, this mantid is in the genus Parastagmatoptera
Sometimes you've gotta go metallic to mimic your model! This common tropical hover #fly at the top is a convincing mimic of the local orchid #bees in the genus #Euglossa (bottom). #FlySchool2026 #Syrphidae: #Ornidia obesa Soltis Center, Costa Rica
Perfect use for new macro camera: SLEEPY BEES! They do not move and so are much easier for novices (✋) to get in focus 😅 #bugsky
Stunning grasshopper is stunning! I swear they know this and pose accordingly. What medium for a recreation? Water color? Ink? Mosaic? Yes? #inverts #becurious
HOW IS THIS SKIPPER SO CUTE?! It’s like an anime character with those big eyes. And you can see the proboscis! (Grass Skipper) #invertebrates #BugSky 🌿
Back yard today (day 2). Single shots on very active animals...part of the process is just standing with this massive camera, weaving back and forth as if in the wind, so that the bugs begin to accept you as part of the garden. And then desperately leaning in/back to get the focus right 😅 #bugsky
D. Allan Drummond@dadrummond.art · 5d agoA very long time coming…finally got myself an actual camera and macro rig! Baby steps. But here are my first two usable bug pics from the back yard yesterday! Stay tuned, focus-stacking still in the future 😅
I've been working on a better setup for capturing focus-stacked images of immature insects in alcohol...and it's working well. 🙂 #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #Psephenidae #APennyForYourThoughts
Plant it and they will come. You don’t even need a garden, just a pot will do #invertebrates #BugSky 🌿 #NativePlants
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation@xercessociety.bsky.social · 6d agoWelcome to our new #PlantsForMonarchs tool! Browse native plants by location, filter by plant type, growing conditions, & more, and find local or online suppliers that have those plants for sale! 🦋🌼👀 ➡️ plantsformonarchs.org
A very long time coming…finally got myself an actual camera and macro rig! Baby steps. But here are my first two usable bug pics from the back yard yesterday! Stay tuned, focus-stacking still in the future 😅
Blue milkweed beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus) on dogbane. It was a warm day, but a sprinkle of rain from a brief afternoon thunderstorm cooled things off, plus gave the beetle a few droplets for decoration. (Montana) #BugSky 🌿🐙📷
Don’t mess with her. 🔪 A massive female Eastern cicada killer wasp telling some (usually threatening) bald-faced hornets to get lost as she slurps from a sap weep. She’s distracted so I get right in there with her. #bugsky
Got the news today that I've been promoted to Full Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at The University of Chicago. A tremendous honor, one made possible by an incredible group of trainees who I've had the pleasure of working with over the past twenty years. Best is yet to come! 🤓🔬
Did you know you can get 50 meticulously drawn insect postcards for just £30? That's... *does the maths* ...cheap. www.etsy.com/uk/listing/6...
For about a year, I've been working as vizdev artist, science guy, & 3D CAD designer on an awesome project - Future Fossils. Directed by Jay Jay Burridge, Future Fossils is manufacturing a pack of life sized Megalosaurus skeletons, stylised as living machines. A thread (1/6) 🧵
At first glance, this little katydid nymph might look like he's blushing, but in fact he's got a parasitic mite attached to him. Imagine having a tick on you the size of a grapefruit. I don't think one mite will kill the katydid, but it's gotta be annoying. #BugSky 🐙🌿📷
Update: if the SciArt Feed gets 40 more Likes, it will be the #33 Most Popular Feed on Bluesky. A feed of visual art about science, (with no generative AI allowed 🥳). Tap the link below, then tap the 3 dots at the top to 🩷Like and 📌Pin the Feed (not the pinned post). bsky.app/profile/flyi...
Hummingbird Hawk Macroglossum stellatarum emerged 830 am yesterday 36 days since egg laid 630 pm 17 June at Quince Honey Farm, South Molton, Devon - an amazingly quick life cycle. In this record year the caterpillars are fairly easy to find on Bedstraws growing in sunny spots like walls and dunes.