Entomology

Wallonia, Belgium, today.

I stumbled upon a plant covered with small bundles of aphids, and sure enough, upon closer inspection, it had a whole aphid farming operation going on, and ladybugs had found it.

The ant tried blocking the way but fell off. Hopefully it's okay somewhere. The aphids, unfortunately, will not be.

This was the biggest millipede I've ever seen. It was at least 6 inches long.

Honduras, June 2023

Momma pushed em out of the house early. There were a lot of them moving in the same direction. I hope they made it!

Utila, Honduras, July 2022

Three species (that I know of) in this photo--Argynnis aphrodite, Boloria bellona, and Argynnis cybele. The toad is an American toad.

Pennslyvania, July 2023

I realize this wont be the highest quality image in this community but as a total amateur who knows nothing of insects, I got excited seeing this little ant dutifully dragging a dead centipede(?) across my garden bed as I was weeding.

This is one of my favorite observations from this summer--a tailless whip scorpion with tiny jelly beans. She was really fiesty, with good reason! We shoo'd her out of the road, much to her displeasure, so scooters wouldn't run her over.

Utila, Honduras

All of Orthoptera (grasshoppers, katydids, crickets, etc) were tolerant of my photography shenanigans during a hike the other day. These in particular (Roeseliana roeselii) were just stunning!

Spent some time looking for what specific bumblebee, digger bee, or carpenter bee this might be. Couldn't figure it out.

An old photo of mine... I don't remember how I managed to spot this.

I didn't even notice the baby on the back when I was photographing this scorpion. Absolutely adorable. Utila, Honduras.

In Sri Lanka, the first systematic study of fireflies was carried out by British naturalists in the 18th century, but afterward, there was a loss of interest in studying these fascinating creatures.

Shedding new light on Sri Lanka's firefly fauna, researchers and at least one enthusiastic amateur continue to study them today, resulting in several discoveries.

Sri Lanka is home to 16 firefly species, while Abscondita perplexa and Asymmetricata humeralis are more common and show a countrywide distribution.

In 2010, the researchers recorded Curtos costipennis for the first time in Sri Lanka, making it the first firefly member of the genus Curtos found in Sri Lanka.

Taking the first step, Wijekoon published the book "Fireflies of Sri Lanka," which is the first-ever comprehensive book on the taxonomy and ecology of fireflies in Sri Lanka, addressing the long-felt need and research gap in firefly literature in the country.