ISAAC THE DOG

adorable male Pityobius click beetle displaying his exquisitely biflabellate antennae

oh! good morning

Gorgeous!!

That first image is so dreamy. It would look wonderful framed on a wall.

A close up on some barnacles. They're all clustered close together, white-colored shells that look like little white rocks with one big closed eye each (the two shut lids of the shell). Some of the barnacles have black "eyelids" instead of white eyelids. I don't know the scientific reason why, unfortunately.

The same barnacles from earlier, but instead of being close-up, we're WAY out! So you can see that there's a whole lot of them all together on this rock!

It's amazing how much closed barnacle shells resemble sleeping eyes. It makes me happy. Soothing to stare at. I was happy I got to see barnacles. Did you know barnacles have the biggest penis-to-body ratio in the animal kingdom? It's amazing. It's like an orgy to watch them go at it.

#barnacles

A picture of a sea slater on the sand, near a rock, barnacles, and bits of algae. It is a pale sandy color with grayish-dark markings. Its compound eyes are big and dark.

A picture of the same sea slater as in the previous image, but at a somewhat different angle.

This is a sea slater. One thing that's really fun about them is those sizable compound eyes. Their compound eyes are pretty big in comparison to their more landbound kin... I was delighted to spot this one at a beach.

#isopods #bugsky

Sorry for the late response: I saw this on the underside of a rotting log. I really deeply appreciate that you offered a suggestion of what it could be. It's kind of you to help.

A picture of a snail on some pavement. It has a yellow body, though it is only peeking a little bit out of the shell. The shell is white, and very pretty: brown spots go around in a ring, and the center whirl is a jewel-like/lapis-like gorgeous blue, with faint pinkish stripes extending out like a peppermint.

I wish I could've stayed to wait for it to come fully out of its shell, but I was in a hurry that day. But look how pretty the shell is. Such beauty!! So beautiful. Sometimes I feel like these creatures are the only beauty I have in my life. It may be true.

#snails #bugsky

Why was I born this way.

I love it when people treat me like a Loony Toon cartoon when I disclose my problems to me and just tell me that its not real. Wow. I couldn't have guessed. Really. It's so fun that this horrible pain is a funny joke. I love feeling like a clown when I have to move rooms or do rituals to feel safe.

I LOVE that when I get stressed I start hallucinating. It's so incredibly fair that I have this intense disadvantage. It's so great that when other people have a hard time they just at least just have the hard time alone but I actually have bullies inside my skull to make it harder. It's so fair.

Two hermit crabs in front of a clothing display, only instead of clothing, it is displaying shells. Dialogue: Hermit crab 1: Would I look good wearing common periwinkle, or moon snail? Hermit crab 2: Periwinkle is so last season. Go whelk or go home.

How do hermit crabs decide what the hottest shell's gonna be

A macro photo of beetle on a brown section of a flower, against an out of focus pale green background. A bit of yellow from the flower is in the upper right corner. The beetle is quite long and thin, and metallic bronze colored.

A pretty beetle from the beetle family Erotylidae (known delightfully as pleasing fungus beetles), but I think in a sub-group called lizard beetles (tribe Langurniini). Still pleasing, though. The red stripe, btw, is a reflection from red on the flower, just out of frame. (Costa Rica) 🌿🐙 #insects

Stigmella continuella (Silver-barred Birch Dot) mine which starts from brown spot formed by the highly convoluted early mind

Stigmella confusella (Pale Birch Dot) mine with linear frass throughout

Stigmella sakhalinella (Glossy Birch Dot) mine with dark arcs of frass throughout

Bucculatrix demaryella (Birch Tuft) mine with right-angled turn near end

Getting to grips with some moth leafmines on birch recently: Stigmella continuella (Silver-barred Birch Dot), S. confusella (Pale Birch Dot), S. sakhalinella (Glossy Birch Dot) & Bucculatrix demaryella (Birch Tuft). Any corrections welcome! #teammoth

And now for something completely different..

Gustav Olof (All) Hjortzberg
(Swedish painter 1872-1959)

Still life with flowers, 1940.

Coenosia ruficornis (Muscidae) Head and thorax form above

Empis femorata (Empididae) a predatory fly and pollinator with long prboscis and huge 'bits'

Hybos culiciformis (Hybotidae) anothyer predatory fly showing sharp, stiff proboscis

More flies; Coenosia ruficornis (Muscidae), Empis femorata (Empididae) & Hybos culiciformis (Hybotidae). #flies #dipteraid #dipteraimaging Available for ID and imaging projects, please see dipteraid.co.uk/specimeniden... dipteraid.co.uk/macrophotogr... Please share if possible

A macro photo looking into the face of an Ambylpygid, a type of arachnid sometimes called a tailless whip scorpion or whip spider. They're not spiders or scorpions, but are in their own order, Amblypyi. The photo shows the heavily spined, mantis-like palps, used for grabbing prey, and the flat, roundish cephalothorax behind them. The overall color is brown, with some dull orange bordering on the head; the spikes on the palps are a muted reddish color. The background is an out of focus mossy log.

An Amblypygid. Often called whip spiders or tailless whip scorpions, they're arachnids but not scorpions or spiders. They're harmless, unless you're a cricket or moth. Their first pair of legs are long and whip-like; they use them like insect antennae, to navigate the environment and sense prey. 🐙🌿

Two Aegla on a person's hand. They are freshwater crab-like crustaceans with dark olive brown shells, short claws, and oval shaped bodies. Found in South America, also called pancoras

apparently some aquarium people have taken to calling Aegla "cockroach crabs" because they have no English common name, and although they are neither of those things (they're anomurans, like squat lobsters) I think that's such a wonderful and German-loanword-esque interpretation of this creature

Close-up macrophotograph highlighting the front view of an Ophryastes weevil resting on creosote leaves in the Chihuahuan Desert. Its rounded, robust body shows distinctive mottled black-and-white coloration across a textured exoskeleton. Prominent black compound eyes, elongated snout (rostrum), and clearly segmented antennae are visible. Bright green creosote leaves surround the insect, sharply contrasted against a soft beige desert background.

Side-view macrophotograph of an Ophryastes weevil perched on creosote branches in the Chihuahuan Desert. Its thick, rounded body displays striking mottled patterns of white and black on its cuticle. Large black eyes, pronounced snout, and segmented legs gripping the creosote shrub are clearly detailed. The weevil blends beautifully yet noticeably with the green leaves, set against a blurred desert backdrop.

Wide landscape view of Arizona’s Chihuahuan Desert under a clear, bright blue sky. The terrain is dry and sandy with scattered desert shrubs and mesquite plants. A prominent yucca plant is centered in the foreground, while distant, gentle mountains rise along the horizon beneath the expansive sky.

Ophryastes sp. weevil spotted in some Chihuahuan Desert. Love the beautiful contrast and intricate black and white mottling across its cuticle.

#entomology #coleoptera #Invert #bugsky🌿

Anthomyia procellaris sunbathing in the woods.
#insects #nature #photography #photographersofbluesky

A skipper moth, rusty brown in color, on a vivid yellow flower.

A European skipper, I think. Burnaby Lake, BC in the interpretive garden at the Nature House.

#bugsky #insect #macrophotography #bcnature 🌿

Tiny ant (Lasius sp) takes on a dragonfly (Southern Hawker, Aeshna cyanea) 100 times its size

@britishdragonflies.bsky.social @bucksinvertgroup.bsky.social You've got to admire ants. No opponent is too big to challenge #hymenoptera #odonata

On the surface of an old log, there is an amber-colored pupa inside a shelter made out of little grains of wood. It is a peculiar sight.

The same pupa within the wood bit shelter as shown in the previous image, but we view it from far above instead of close up in this photo.

I have no idea what this is... What kind of creature is hiding in that pupa? Did it construct that igloo made out of wood bits(?) itself? No matter how hard I search, I haven't been able to figure a thing out, and it drives me a bit mad sometimes.
#bugsky #idhelp #insectidentification #mystery

On a leaf washed with plenty of sunshine, a brown stiletto fly is cleaning its head with its skinny orange-ish limbs. It is quite a fluffy fly.

The same stiletto fly from the first photo, but instead of rubbing its head, it is now rubbing its front limbs together. Its eyes are a handsome hazel color.

A stiletto fly cleaning itself. I adore how wonderfully hairy it is.
#bugsky

Photo, vertical orientation, of a tarantula hawk wasp with a paralyzed tarantula. The wasp, head down and touching the tarantula, is steely blue-green, with bright orange and black wings. The unlucky tarantula is fuzzy black, and hangs head down in dry brush.

🐙🌿 Here is your Wednesday Wasp, a tarantula hawk (I think Pepsis sp.) with a paralyzed tarantula. We saw what may have been the same wasp dragging the spider in early evening, then couple of hours later saw it with the tarantula in a low shrub, which was unusual - maybe it had attempted to fly--

A relatively big aquatic snail on some white sand. The snail has a big brown and white mottled shell, with some thick greenish growth at the top part of its conical shell. The snail is black. Unlike land snails, the eyes are not on top of stalks.

Big aquatic snail at the beach. Something about its face has a sagely quality to it. #invertebrates

Truly wonderful.

Little spooky speckles of blood were in the egg I used to make my yesterday's morning's French toast... I knew there was something supernatural going on...

A highly detailed close-up photograph of a large Selenops spider, known for its flattened body and crab-like stance. The spider is pressed flush against a textured, yellow-and-gray rock surface, which it matches almost perfectly in color and pattern. Its legs are widely spread in a radial fashion, covered in short hairs and marked with fine bands of brown and black. The spider’s body is densely hairy, with a mottled pattern that helps it disappear into the background. Its eyes are clustered in the center of its head, giving it a subtle, alert expression. The photograph captures the fine textures of both the spider’s cuticle and the rock, creating a powerful visual of camouflage and natural design. The lighting is even and crisp, highlighting each detail of this well-camouflaged arachnid.

An absolutely massive and beautiful Selenops, also called flatties or wall crab spiders. The eyes on these are amazingly pretty. Even up close, the way its body blends with the rock is just spectacular.

#bugsky #Invert 🌿

An attractive little wasp feeding on a garden Eryngium flower today. One of the Ancistrocerus species possibly? #macro #photography #Staffs #WaspLove #pollination

In contrast to the many times I've seen spiders catch wasps in their webs (see quoted post), yesterday a yellowjacket suddenly seized a cross orbweaver. The spider resisted but was too small to fight back effectively. #naturephotography #inverts #iNaturalist 🕷️📸
www.inaturalist.org/observations...