Sean McCann's Avatar

Sean McCann

@ibycter.bsky.social

Entomologist, sometime arachnologist, natural history enthusiast. I used study caracaras. I still do, but I used to as well. Avatar by the endlessly talented @blackmudpuppy.bluesky.social Also, photographer!

3,176 Followers  |  687 Following  |  402 Posts  |  Joined: 04.05.2023
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Posts by Sean McCann (@ibycter.bsky.social)

Small bright orange jumping spider with long rear leg pair, paused on a bit of detritus in the white sand to peer at things

Small bright orange jumping spider with long rear leg pair, paused on a bit of detritus in the white sand to peer at things

The small orange child, peering at you

The small orange child, peering at you

Top view as she sits on a dead leaf. She's just solid orange

Top view as she sits on a dead leaf. She's just solid orange

Little orange nugget 🧡

For some reason the juvenile Attinella concolor which roam the white sands and wiregrass of Florida savannah are bright orange (adult males are a gorgeous silver). The ones from other habitats are a more drab brown.
#EmotionalSupportSpood

27.02.2026 03:01 — 👍 73    🔁 17    💬 0    📌 1
A yellow and black aquatic beetle, framed in white, and swimming down and to the left of the frame.

A yellow and black aquatic beetle, framed in white, and swimming down and to the left of the frame.

A very strange looking mayfly nymph, backlit against white with some aquatic vegetation. It has a pronounced hemispherical snout, and it mottles yellow and black.

A very strange looking mayfly nymph, backlit against white with some aquatic vegetation. It has a pronounced hemispherical snout, and it mottles yellow and black.

I gotta get some of the weird chironomids imaged...But everything aquatic is pretty fascinating!

27.02.2026 17:13 — 👍 11    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0

Anyone got pointers on taking pics of little things that are under 1mm, underwater, and still moving?

I have the magnification for it (SLR lens and microscope setting on my phone), it's just the water surface reflection that gives me trouble every time

27.02.2026 10:51 — 👍 52    🔁 13    💬 23    📌 0

I will try! If I get anything going this summer I will be sure to document what I can.

27.02.2026 16:58 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Thanks! I might have some time this summer to continue experimenting, depending on my field schedule. Would really like to do more of this messing around!

27.02.2026 16:52 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Also I got some fancy antireflective optical glass from Edmund OPtics, and tried siliconing it to a container. That was really lovely in combatting contrast loss and things, but I need to experiment in making smaller versions.

27.02.2026 16:49 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Cheapskate Tuesday 17: Micro Aquaria! A couple weeks ago, I explained my desire to shoot some aquatic invertebrates in small aquaria, using a store-bought betta tank. This larger enclosure will serve well for the larger animals I might…

I have made mini aquaria by sandwiching two microscope slides together at various widths: ibycter.com/cheapskate-t...

27.02.2026 16:48 — 👍 14    🔁 4    💬 5    📌 0
Distribution and diversity of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea) in Canada, including new records and a species checklist | The Canadian Entomologist | Cambridge Core Distribution and diversity of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea) in Canada, including new records and a species checklist - Volume 157

Distribution and diversity of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea) in Canada, including new records and a species checklist
doi.org/10.4039/tce....
#NewInCanEnt

23.02.2026 15:23 — 👍 3    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0
A very small black parasitoid wasp with red eyes and fuzzy antennae drinking from a droplet on a leaf.

A very small black parasitoid wasp with red eyes and fuzzy antennae drinking from a droplet on a leaf.

Eurytoma solenozophaeriae reared out of a blueberry stem gall.

20.02.2026 19:11 — 👍 13    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
Extremely long leggy ogre-face spider, 4 front legs holding her neat trapezoidal silk net in front of her as she dangles in the dark

Extremely long leggy ogre-face spider, 4 front legs holding her neat trapezoidal silk net in front of her as she dangles in the dark

She's very Long 🥹

(ogre with her net 🤎)

06.02.2026 03:57 — 👍 235    🔁 49    💬 6    📌 1

If ever there was a day to announce it - it's today.

My paper (one I own) is finally online - we've got fact checking local politics, a spotlight on girls HS sports & Crawlies and MORE!

Celebrating 50 years (I did NOT own in in 1976 lol) of publication

Check us out!

upperrogueindependent.com

05.02.2026 01:31 — 👍 156    🔁 50    💬 24    📌 2
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Wooden Patio Spiderweb Trellis
#Patio #spiders #spiderweb #garden #trellis #bloomscrolling #vines #woodworking

04.02.2026 16:22 — 👍 28    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0
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🕸️ The #silk of this gorgeous little cribellator is not your standard silk - read @evoimec.bsky.social new study here: doi.org/10.1073/pnas... 🕸️

27.01.2026 18:10 — 👍 30    🔁 16    💬 1    📌 0
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#ElkeDagEenInsect

Zombie! Dit lieveheersbeestje is grotendeels verlamd en zit ook vastgeplakt met wat zijde, maar zal wel verdedigend reageren wanneer verstoord... Waarom? in dat zakje zit een ontwikkeld wespje dat als larve *in* de kever zat, en nu een bodyguard heeft...

#Entomologie #Entomology🐞

19.01.2026 12:03 — 👍 29    🔁 7    💬 2    📌 0
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News | Giant mechanical scorpion free to good home, says Natural History Museum

🔗https://museumsandheritage.com/advisor/posts/natural-history-museum-offers-giant-mechanical-scorpion-free-to-good-home/

19.01.2026 04:04 — 👍 41    🔁 18    💬 2    📌 14
Heroic Dog Saves Family Of 5 From Herb-Roasted Chicken

Heroic Dog Saves Family Of 5 From Herb-Roasted Chicken

Heroic Dog Saves Family Of 5 From Herb-Roasted Chicken https://theonion.com/heroic-dog-saves-family-of-5-from-herb-roasted-chicken/

26.12.2025 21:15 — 👍 4533    🔁 730    💬 41    📌 47
An orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta) hanging upside down from their orbweb so we can see their dorsal side

An orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta) hanging upside down from their orbweb so we can see their dorsal side

#macromonday
Orchard #orbweaver - Leucauge venusta
(Shot near Cincinnati 5-31-24) 🕷️ #photography #macrophotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #nature #animal #invertebrate #arachnid #spider #spidersky #ento

12.01.2026 18:16 — 👍 30    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0

Our international journal Arachnology is freely available to our members (see britishspiders.org.uk/join) and we are also very pleased that it is made available to a much wider audience via BioOne.

12.01.2026 17:56 — 👍 12    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0

Congratulations!

10.01.2026 19:34 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Laguiole bee emblem

05.01.2026 17:28 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Love when I get the bucket list creature 3 days into the new year so it's all gravy from here 🥹

04.01.2026 04:57 — 👍 90    🔁 7    💬 4    📌 0
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Tachygyna cognata Tachygyna cognata from Gorge -Tillicum Area, Victoria, BC V9A, Canada on January 1, 2026 at 12:17 PM by Thomas Barbin. Taken from playground equipment. Having difficulty with this one. I have bee...

I collected this spider while playing with my kids at the local playground. I’m glad I did because it looks like it may be a new record for BC/Canada!

www.inaturalist.org/observations...

03.01.2026 20:41 — 👍 6    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
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Une fois de plus, la science citoyenne contribue à la découverte d'une nouvelle espèce sur iNaturalist Community science leads to yet another scientific discovery! A new species of wasp-mimicking flower fly, Monoceromyia ndidiae, has been identified in the Dominican Republic through iNaturalist.   From observation to publication: A new species of wasp-mimicking flower fly Publié le 30 Jui 2025, 16 h 32 min par seastarya   image : Observation by @franklinhowley   ------ traduction   « L'aventure a commencé lorsque @franklinhowley, membre de la communauté, a partagé des photos sur iNaturalist qui ont attiré l'attention du naturaliste Aaron Schusteff (@arbonius), qui a reconnu qu'il s'agissait d'une espèce non décrite. Cette observation initiale a donné lieu à une collaboration qui a finalement abouti à la description formelle de l'espèce. Jiri Hodecek (@jiri_hodecek), entomologiste légiste chez SHIFT à Lausanne, en Suisse, a collecté le spécimen holotype. Ximo Mengual (@ximo_mengual), chef de la section Diptera au musée Koenig -LIB de Bonn (Allemagne), explique comment cela s'est déroulé : « L'observation dont Aaron parlait est celle partagée par @franklinhowley, mais il a pu trouver d'autres observations de la même espèce. Ce n'est que lorsque nous avons su que nous avions un spécimen physique que nous avons pu confirmer l'espèce. »   Traduit avec DeepL.com (version gratuite)   A New Species of the Wasp Mimic Flower Fly Genus Monoceromyia Shannon, 1922 (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Dominican Republic, 16.07.2025 https://bioone.org/journals/proceedings-of-the-entomological-society-of-washington/volume-127/issue-1/0013-8797.127.1.70/A-New-Species-of-the-Wasp-Mimic-Flower-Fly-Genus/10.4289/0013-8797.127.1.70.short   Les photographies du nouveau taxon ont d'abord été partagées sur iNaturalist, où il est resté sans nom pendant des années jusqu'à ce qu'un spécimen soit collecté à l'aide d'un piège lumineux dans le parc national Valle Nuevo en République dominicaine.   via Monoceromyia ndidiae de Jardin Botanico, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic le 22 Jan 2023 à 11:55 par Franklin Howley-Dumit Serulle · iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147287717  

L'aventure a commencé lorsqu'un membre de la communauté a partagé des photos sur iNaturalist qui ont attiré l'attention car il s'agissait d'une espèce non décrite. Cette observation initiale a donné lieu à une collaboration qui a finalement abouti à la description formelle de l'espèce.

03.01.2026 19:09 — 👍 8    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0
That’s why HAVN designed the EMF-blocking beanie.
Powered by our proprietary WaveStopper™ Technology, it forms a barrier that blocks over 99% of WiFi, 5G, and Bluetooth radiation right where it matters most: your brain.

That’s why HAVN designed the EMF-blocking beanie. Powered by our proprietary WaveStopper™ Technology, it forms a barrier that blocks over 99% of WiFi, 5G, and Bluetooth radiation right where it matters most: your brain.

They gentrified the tinfoil hat

01.01.2026 20:57 — 👍 11411    🔁 3301    💬 249    📌 315
A close-up photo of a reddish-brown bird looking upward, showing its head and upper body against a soft green background. The bird has a pale yellow beak, bright red eye, and fine feather detail visible on its neck and chest.

A close-up photo of a reddish-brown bird looking upward, showing its head and upper body against a soft green background. The bird has a pale yellow beak, bright red eye, and fine feather detail visible on its neck and chest.

Squirrel Cuckoo looking for a meal at Agami Island #CostaRica

#birds #nature

30.12.2025 02:39 — 👍 313    🔁 43    💬 13    📌 2
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Assistant Professor of Landscape Ecology

In what could plausibly represent a Christmas miracle* SFU Geography has two (2) new tenure track hires. One is urban/climate, which I will repost below. The other is a Landscape Ecologist. Please share ... #academicsky

*actually just the good decisions of our new Dean
www.sfu.ca/geography/ab...

24.12.2025 17:03 — 👍 36    🔁 33    💬 1    📌 0
An image of the book cover: a ringed planet in greens and blues with organic-looking growths seeing to sprout from the rings, and a spaceship in the foreground.

An image of the book cover: a ringed planet in greens and blues with organic-looking growths seeing to sprout from the rings, and a spaceship in the foreground.

The eagerly awaited follow-up to @aptshadow.bsky.social's bestselling Children of Time series, Children of Strife follows our MC as she tries to determine what has happened to her crewmates who left the ship to explore an interstellar ark.

Signed preorder: www.waterstones.com/book/childre...
💙📚🪐

24.12.2025 11:00 — 👍 118    🔁 10    💬 3    📌 6
Post image 23.12.2025 20:43 — 👍 20    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Light brown and red leggy arachnid in a bit of wet wood, her booty in the air like a spire, with her ghostly white babies facing downward clustered around it almost like an unopened flower

Light brown and red leggy arachnid in a bit of wet wood, her booty in the air like a spire, with her ghostly white babies facing downward clustered around it almost like an unopened flower

Day 19 of my 2025 Favorites: Schizomida mom and her cluster of baby clones!

I've had many generations of these tiny arachnids from 2 females (they're parthenogenic) collected in a public park near Miami a few years ago, and happened to spot this one with her babies one evening. Delightful lump 🥹

20.12.2025 03:38 — 👍 116    🔁 25    💬 2    📌 0
Black turnstone on the beach

Black turnstone on the beach

Black turnstone leaving no stone unturned. 🪶

17.12.2025 18:25 — 👍 72    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 0