Tessera

Craig B

@mutillidae.bsky.social

Principal Investigator of impedimental temporal phenomena. Hymenopterist. Keeper of secrets. he/him Curator of a university insect collection located in the Midwest (USA). I am passionate about velvet-ants.

236 Posts960 Follower 391 Folgt

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3h ago

We certainly saw plenty of immature insects during our recent aquatic sampling trip, but we also found lots of adults...like this sweet riffle beetle. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #Elmidae

Close up of a point-mounted riffle beetle against a black background. The body is dark, with pale dense scales and setae throughout. It has long legs with long claws—no doubt useful for clinging to rocks and debris in stream riffles.

Craig B@mutillidae.bsky.social · 6d ago

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

Ventral view of a water penny larva (Psephenidae) against a black background. The six legs, antennae, and the feathery gills are all clearly visible—and would be well protected from above when the larva is clinging to a rock underneath the water.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 5h ago

If this specimen had showed up during a practical in one of my taxonomy courses (lo those many years ago) I probably would have been screwed. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #Calliphoridae #NWS

Close up of a white fly larva (= maggot) against a black background. It's a lovely creamy white color with some darker yellowish areas. The darker mouthparts are visible on the right (head) end.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · yesterday

Are caddisfly naiads the best homebuilders in the insect world? I think a case can be made... #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #TricopteraTuesday

Right lateral closeup of a caddisfly naiad and the front of its case against a dark background. The head and legs of the naiad are visible—it's dark orange-ish brown, with darker spots. The case is made of small pebbles in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 6d ago

Here's the working prototype of my setup. It's a 3D-printed black block with a socket to hold a watch glass, and a 3D-printed diffuser that sits on top of the block. Recessing the glass greatly reduces stray light & glare. #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #DIYImagingStage

This is a close up of the imaging set up I made to image the water penny. There's a 3D printed black block with a socket to hold a standard watch glass on the left, with an actual watch glass sitting atop the block on its right edge. On the right edge of the block is a off white 3D-printed diffuser, roughly shaped like a hollowed out hemisphere, with large circular openings on the top and bottom. The bottom rim of the diffuser fits into a recess on the top of the block holding the watch glass. The pieces are setting on a light grey bench top in front of a white wall.

Craig B@mutillidae.bsky.social · 6d ago

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 6d ago

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · last wk.

Just hear me out... ...Hexagenia naiads are the mole crickets of the benthic realm. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #Ephemeridae

Dorsal view of a mayfly naiad, facing left, on a nearly black background. The legs are clearly fossorial (modified for digging). Large paired feathery "gills" are extending backwards from each abdominal segment side. There are a pair of up-curved tusks or prongs on the face, a diagnostic feature of this burrowing mayfly.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 2w ago

I'm gathering specimens to display at the Wisconsin Insect Fest on Friday. These may not represent the smallest or largest species in the world, but they illustrate the size range in #Lepidoptera fairly well, I think. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MothWeek #Tischeriidae #Saturniidae #AttacusAtlas

Angled view of a micromoth in front of a large Atlas moth in a foam-bottomed insect drawer. The Atlas moth's wingspan is about 230mm while the micromoth's is ~9mm.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3w ago

Wacky Wingless Wonder Wednesday #PhantasticPhorid #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #I'mNotProcrastinatingYouAre

Lateral view of a very small phorid fly against a white background. The wings are two short pads with a dozen or so long bristles extending from each. The body is tannish overall; the head and thorax are brown. The palps are quite large and there are more long erect bristles on the head.

Anakin and Padme four-panel meme, as follows:
upper left, Anakin: Flies have two wings
upper right, Padme: All flies, right?
lower left, Anakin: [knowing smile]
lower right, Padme: ...right?

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3w ago

Wacky Wingless Wonder Wednesday #PhantasticPhorid #NaturalHistoryCollections #Macrophotography #FocusStacking #I'mNotProcrastinatingYouAre

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3w ago

Microhymenoptera are incredibly diverse and many are remarkably small! (hence the micro- part 😀 ) There are typically scads of them in most Malaise trap samples and I wish I could take and share images of each and every one of them. #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #TeenyTinyTigerStripes

Right lateral view of a teeny tiny yellow microhymenopteran, against a dark grey background. There are lovely brownish markings on the body, so (in my mind) she looks like a little tiger. Rawrrr...

A small watch glass sits on some white card stock. A standard #2 insect pin is spanning the top of the glass and sticking out beyond either side. The tiny speck in the dish is scarcely larger than the pin head.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3w ago

I'm not saying spiders are awesome, but... Scratch that. I am saying spiders are awesome. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #ThomisidThuesday #FocusStacking #Cosmic

Frontal view of a pale crab spider against a dark bluish-black background. Its entire body and legs are pale yellow, with slighly darker yellow areas on the carapace and abdomen. Whitish blobs are also visible through the abdominal wall and there's a white smileyface-shaped area around the eyes. The white area has hints of pink...it is extraordinarily cute.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3w ago

To brighten my day (and hopefully yours) a little, I'm returning to my roots with a velvet-ant on this #MutillidMonday! Very few mutillid hosts are known; some species of Ephuta are thought to parasitize spider wasps. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #EphutaSudatrix

Lateral view of a small point-mounted velvet-ant female against a dark grey background. Overall, her body is dark reddish-brown, with lighter reddish legs and antennae. The head is also lighter in color, and covered with short golden setae. The first couple of metasomal tergites have apical bands of whitish setae and there are two small spots of whitish setae on the second tergite. Her body is uniformly punctate; the punctation is clearly visible through the short setae on the body. The tip of the white card point extends from the right (back) of the body and out of the top of the image. Finally, a lighter grey, blurry line extends roughly from top to bottom on the left side of the image—it is the insect pin.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 4w ago

I saw and saved this chart online several years ago. I just found it on my computer and decided to fix it. 😀 [Sorry original sharer, I don't remember where it came from 😬] #EntomologyHumor #ItsFunnyBecauseItsTrue #TeamFerruginous

Chart with about thirty circles arranged vertically in various shades of red, brown, and gray. On the left of each circle is the different name for each color, starting with flame-colored, ruby, roseate at the top and finishing with dusky, sooty, and black at the bottom. On the right, there are three brackets, grouping the 30 some colors into Red, Brown, and Grey. There's the silhouette of standing man with one hand on his chin and one pointing to the colored circles; above him the label "BIRDERS" has been crossed out and the label "ENTOMOLOGISTS" has been added underneath. Finally, there's an image of a little boy in shorts and a plaid short on the right, also pointing to the circles. Above him, it says "OTHER PEOPLE".

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 4w ago

bug nymph: why are the other insects making fun of me? bug mom: they're just jealous, sweetie #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #Heteroptera

Teeny tiny bug nymph floating above a grey background. The body is mostly brown, with lighter colored legs. There are distinct, erect all black and all white setae scattered across its dorsal surface. The erect setae are flared and flattened at their tips. It has long thread-like antennae that are brown at the base and pale on the distal two-thirds.

This image shows the bug nymph in a small watch glass that's about one inch in diameter. The watch glass is sitting on a square of white paper, which is sitting on a grey desk top. The tip of a standard #2 pencil is also on the white paper next to the watch glass, for scale. The nymph is barely larger than the tip of the pencil.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · last mo.

If one wanted to post an image for #FlyDay or #FlyFriday and it’s only Monday, can one use the hashtag #MondayMurderFly instead? Asking for a friend… #Asilidae #Laphriafernaldi #PhonePic #Colorado

Dorsal view of a large fuzzy robber fly perched on a rough piece of grey and brown bark. It is doing its best to mimic a bumble bee with its yellow and orange fuzzy body.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · last mo.

The world is a sh*tshow right now so I'm posting this #WaspWednesday image a day early. It's Conura sp., collected in central Texas, and I'll add the obligatory "never missed leg day at the gym" comment. #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Hymenoptera #Chalcididae

Left lateral view of a small point-mounted wasp, against a dark grey background. This parasitic wasp is predominantly yellow, with orangish tints on the legs and metasoma. There are also a few scattered dark brown markings. As a chalcidid wasp, it's characterized by ridiculously enlarged hind coxae and femorae.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · last mo.

For your viewing pleasure on this #MutillidMonday, I present a lovely lady with lavender legs. #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Mutillidae #WesternAustralia

Dorsal view of a point-mounted female velvet-ant against a grey background. This tiny beauty was collected in Western Australia in 2010; the head is metallic green, the mesosoma is metallic red with yellowish tints, and the metasoma is also metallic green, with hints of yellow and copper. Like most velvet-ants, she is quite pubescent, with erect light and dark setae over most of her body, and with apical fringes of white, appressed setae on the first two metasomal segments. The tops of her legs are a lovely metallic lavender color, the rest of the legs are yellowish-orange.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · last mo.

Happy #ThynnidThursday! Hold on a sec... *holds finger to earpiece* Breaking update—apparently #ThynnidThursday is not a thing?! Anyway, it's still Thursday and this is a female of Methoca stygia (Thynnidae). #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Hymenoptera #MorWasps

Dorsolateral view of a point-mounted wingless wasp, against a grey background. This wasp is decidedly ant-like in appearance. Overall, it is reddish-brown in color with darker spots dorsally on the abdominal segments. It is also very smooth and shiny; the reflection of the lens opening in the hemispherical diffuser that was used is clearly visible on its abdomen.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · last mo.

A perfect little nugget to share on this #WaspWednesday. It's in the genus Holcencyrtus and was collected in AZ in the company of some Pheidole ants. #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Hymenoptera #Encyrtidae

A teeny tiny point-mounted wasp against a grey background. Did I mention she's tiny?! Its body is metallic green with purplish tints. The legs are brown, transitioning to yellow at the feet. The antennae arise low on its face and are clearly geniculate (elbowed).

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · last mo.

Although this might look like an AI-generated bug, I assure you it is not. All* images I share are guaranteed to be fat-, sugar-, and AI-free! #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #TrueBug #Membracidae #Wut (it's certainly true all of the images I personally take and share)

Lateral view of a pinned planthopper in the family Membracidae. I think this is the genus Cyphonia. Membracids are known for having crazy pronotal projections, making them look like thorns in many species. This genus has even more ridiculously ornate projections, with spines and nodes that may be an evolutionary attempt to mimic ants. This specimen is reddish brown overall, with pale yellow markings. There are large spine-like projections as well: a pair on top, a posterior pair, and single median spine pointing down and back from the apex of its pronotal projection.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If I'm not occasionally taking breaks from the Sisyphean task of curation to capture and share images of amazing insects in the collection then what am I even doing here? #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Coleoptera #Meloidae

Close up of a crazy looking blister beetle: Cysteodemus wislizeni. The elytra are greatly expanded over the abdomen and look like a purple brain on top of the rest of the body. The body is deeply punctate and is metallic purple overall, with bluish and greenish tints. The image background is white; this focus stacked image was taken inside.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 2mo ago

How many adult pygmy backswimmers can dance on the head of a(n insect) pin? Apparently just one, but look how adorable it is! #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Pleidae

Small, point-mounted bug on the left and the head of a #2 insect pin on the right, against a white background. The bug is tan overall, with slight darker legs. Its dorsum is bulbous and rounded and its eyes are dark. It is about the size of the head of the pin on the right.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Felt cute, mite delete later…

Close up of a red velvet mite on the top of a wood chip, in a pile of wood chips.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Who finally figured out that a 2× teleconverter works great with a macro lens and a focus-stacking rig? This guy! 🙋🏼 (Click through to see the card point and get a better sense of the size of this tiny wasp!) #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Parasitoid

Lateral view of a tiny point-mounted parasitoid wasp on a white background. It is tiny! It has very large eyes and geniculate (elbowed) antennae. Its body is a mixture of purple, browns, and orange with metallic green glints. There is an erect tuft of dark bristles on the back edge of the scutellum.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I'll give you a topic: A velvet-ant is neither velvet nor an ant. Discuss amongst yourselves. #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #WaspWednesday #Mutillidae

Closeup image of a female mutillid in a kind of fronto-dorso-lateral view, against a white background. She is wingless, like all females in her family. Her head and mesosoma are almost black while her metasoma is ferruginous, with yellowish maculations. She is punctate overall, with erect dark setae scattered everywhere. There are also appressed whitish setae around the dorsal periphery of her mesosoma and forming apical fringes on her metasomal tergites. Her left eye is in view, hemispherical and appearing smooth and polished. The species is Dasymutilla saetigera and this individual was collected from southeast Arizona (USA) in August 2025.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I was looking through a folder of pictures for something else and I came across this jewel I imaged a while ago. It made me smile, so I'm sharing it again. Happy weekend, everyone. #NaturalHistoryCollections #MacroPhotography #FocusStacking #NoAIUsedHere #Tanzania #JewelBeetle #Buprestidae

Mostly lateral, slightly front-ish view of a jewel beetle on a neutral grey background. It's a chonky specimen, the integument is various dark metallic shades of blue, green, bronze, purple, and black. Pale ivory/yellowish tufts of hair (setae) are evenly covering the pronotum and elytra. The ones on the elytra are shorter and arranged in longitudinal rows. At the corner of the elytron there is a dense appressed patch of brownish orange setae.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Sharing this smol bee again for #WorldBeeDay! Holcopasites sp. collected last August during the 2025 Bee Course in SE Arizona. #NatualHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Hymenoptera

Small, point-mounted red and black bee on a grey background. The first three metasomal segments are reddish and the rest of the integument is black. Though quite small, the bee appears stout and robust. The body is densely punctate and there are dense patches of white appressed setae, mostly on the sides of the mesosoma and on the apical fringes of the tergites.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My field assistant is always thrilled with the opportunity to go change the Malaise trap. She has proven to be remarkably useful, despite the lack of opposable thumbs). #NaturalHistoryCollections #Fieldwork #Pupdate 🐶 👀 ❤️

A black Labrador retriever sits in front of a Townes-style Malaise trap, under the shade of a live oak motte. The foreground is mostly covered with brown oak leaves. A line of more oak trees is visible some distance behind the trap and a mix of blue sky and white clouds can be seen above the trees. The dog is smiling, undoubtedly happy with the week’s catch, which is sitting on the ground in a white plastic jar next to her.

Craig B @mutillidae.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I don’t wanna stick my neck out here, but I think weevils are pretty cool. #WeevilWednesday #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Coleoptera #Attelabidae

This is a dorsal view of a giraffe weevil from Madagascar on a neutral grey background; the head is facing left. The head, thorax, antennae, and legs are black and the elytra are a vibrant red. The black pronotum is nearly as long as the elytra and the head is almost as long as both of them together. The serrate antennae arc back towards the body, appearing like a drawn bow, ready to launch the weevil into its next grand adventure.