More a wasp bank than a bee bank: a 3m section of exposed Devon hedge bank with a marvellous diversity of hymenopteran life. Just a small selection here, names in ALT texts. Topsham, Devon. @melcoate.bsky.social #hymenoptera
David Notton
@davidnotton.bsky.social
Mad about diapriid wasps/bees 🐝taxonomy, zoological nomenclature, museums, entomology curation & IPM! Former NHMUK, now freelance. Recording Lauriston Agroecology Farm🌾🥕 🏴🇪🇺 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Notton #Edinburgh
Nugget 🧡 (this is peak wasp performance)
Never spray dandelions with pesticides. 177 pollinator species are known to visit dandelions. Exposing dandelions to herbicides kills these pollinators.
Her nest disturbed by the photographer, a Solenopsis thief ant worker exudes a droplet of venom on her stinger and waves it in the air. This behavior is known as "gaster-flagging". Paraná, Brazil.
This is a historic moment: the first time the rights of Nature have entered the UK parliamentary process. The Bill recognises Nature as a legal subject, reorders the hierarchy of rights, creates a duty of care towards Nature and embeds Nature’s rights into UK decision-making across all sectors.
It’s #waspwednesday! Inspired by @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social I went looking for nugget wasps in my yard and found one on the compost bin. Genus Dirhinus, uses face shovels to dig for fly pupae to parasitize. Not sure what the huge femurs are for. #bugsky #macrophotography
Walking by the River Wandle close to its Carshalton source the other day, I was pleased to see some flowering Water-Crowfoot, which I think is Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. psuedofluitans. I then spied a Bumblebee, possibly Buff-tailed, land on a flower in the fast-flowing water! #WildWebsWednesday
This bejeweled little nugget wasp species (Aeptencyrtus bruchi) has graduated from my list of Creatures I've Only Seen Once when this lass appeared at the base of a clump of grass I was checking for tiny salticids. I found the 1st in my yard back in 2022. Very happy to see her again. 🩵
Ten points if you can figure out what's going on here. (Ecuador)
Our annual Pollinator Month Bugraz0r with Xerces Society kicks off today! Deets ⬇️
Encyrtidae. It's a male so no hope of identification :-( position of cerci (arrows) is characteristic of family. #Wasps #Hymenoptera #VC55
There are these data centers that use minimal amounts of electricity and don't need millions of gallons of water, to cool them. They're called libraries.
tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.
The White House today announced it plans to make major changes in how the U.S. government manages research funding. https://scim.ag/43HgW4s
Hey #Hymenoptera people. I have some self seeded Salix sp. in the garden and some interesting little larvae are turning the leaves to skeletons. I think that these are Euura pavida #Sawflies. Can anyone confirm? #GardenWildlife #insects
In the last week or so Western Giant Ichneumonid Wasps (Megarhyssa notrtoni) have oviposited on a dying spruce tree in our yard. Today a female horntail (Xeris indecisus) is ovipositing on the same tree, with a couple male horntails hanging around. The ichneumons parasitize the horntail larvae.
Campaign win! Duchy of Cornwall announces plan to “double the extent of duchy-managed Atlantic rainforest on Dartmoor by the early 2040s” This means Black-a-Tor Copse, as well as Wistman’s Wood! A first step towards doubling rainforests across Dartmoor’s commons www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
‘A gesture towards nature’: call for Dartmoor’s temperate rainforest to double in size
Campaign comes as Duchy of Cornwall announces plan to expand small pockets of ancient woodland at two sites
theguardian.com
Spring time in Europe -every year it will get hotter and hotter earlier and earlier Parts of Western Europe are experiencing an extreme, record early heatwave with temperatures soaring 5 C to 10 C above normal Temperatures in southwest Spain forecast to reach 40°C in coming days
A decade ago, analysts were calling Spain a cautionary tale. Too much solar, too fast! Today, Spain is rapidly on its way to having the cheapest power in Europe. Maybe this time, solar naysayers will learn... haha, jk, they'll just move the goalposts.
Spain just became one of Europe's cheapest power markets. Here is how.
How wind and solar quietly pushed gas off the margin, and the wholesale price followed.
janrosenow.substack.com
Bee Everybody quiet down now and get some sleep. Dream dreams that exclude, preclude and denude billionaires… #bee #goodnight #dream
Giant Ichneumonid wasp (Megarhyssa) ovipositing in a dead spruce tree in our backyard. The whole process took at least 40 minutes.
A tarantula-hawk wasp (Pepsis sp.) at Carlito Springs Open Space near Tijeras, N.M., on May 22, 2026. Why walk when you can fly? 'Cause the ground is where the tarantulas are, and you need to catch one to feed each of your dozen or so babies. #nature #naturephotography #wasp
Four-banded stink bug hunter wasp (Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus) on pink yarrow in my Atlanta garden. #BugSky #ColorADay #PinkMon #MacroMonday #Hymenoptera #Crabronidae #Bloomscrolling
Not lovers! Ornate tailed digger wasp with a ????? Nikon Z9 and Sigma 150mm SS1/3200 F5.6 ISO Natural light handheld in the field RSPB Sandy Beds England
Climate change is real and it's happening and it's only going to get worse until everyone wakes the fuck up. By far the biggest threat to us all. We don't have another planet we can go to.