Matt Bertone

A black tshirt design with a bald red cardinal in a circle surrounded by flames, with the word bloodcheep in red death metal style letters above it.

Working on a bloödcheëp shirt. I'm proud of those letters.

REMINDER: The deadline to submit a fly talk at ESA for the Dipterists Society is this Friday, October 10th.

Please share and/or let me know if you'd like to submit!

A wooden mallet like smasher with a squarish head and long handle. It is unfinished and the handle needs to be shaped more.

A wooden mallet like smasher with a squarish head and long handle. It is unfinished but the final shape

A wooden mallet like smasher with a squarish head and long handle. It's finished with mineral oil.

A wooden mallet like smasher with a squarish head and long handle showing the flat end. It's finished with mineral oil.

This week's project: oak machacadora for smashing beans

If you know me well enough you know this is not for me 😂 ...I suppose it can be used to smash other things too 🤔 🔨

A smooth green caterpillar with off-white stripes running down its back sits among pine needles on a pine twig. It has a reddish brown stripe in the middle of the back between two of the off-white stripes. The neck is turquoise and it has yellow stripes on the head.

A smooth green caterpillar with off-white stripes running down its back sits among pine needles on a pine twig. It has a reddish brown stripe in the middle of the back between two of the off-white stripes, and reddish brown colors on the top and bottom of the off-white side stripe. The neck is turquoise and it has yellow stripes on the head.

A smooth green caterpillar with off-white stripes sits among pine needles on a pine twig. It's looking at the camera. The neck is turquoise and it has yellow and black stripes on the head and face.

A smooth green caterpillar with off-white stripes sits among pine needles on a pine twig. It's looking at the camera. The neck is turquoise and it has yellow and black stripes on the head and face.

Continuing the series of caterpillars that look like candy, this pine sphinx larva looks very edible. I'm sure it's not, though 😂

Note that this species of hawkmoth larva does not have a "horn", so I guess it's not technically a "hornworm".

#Sphingidae: #Lapara
NC, USA

Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) Butterflies and Moths from Tambopata, Peru on June 2, 2025 at 10:28 PM by Kenneth Geisert. Finca Las Piedras Time and location approximate

Not my photograph but thought others would enjoy. And if you know what it is, Kenneth Geisert would appreciate an ID. 🌿 #lepidoptera #peru #insects #moths #inaturalist www.inaturalist.org/observations...

A photo of a spider called a twig spider, standing atop a straight, thin, dry twig, parallel to it, stretching in a level line left to right. The background is pure black. The spider has very long legs and an extremely elongated, twig-like abdomen. It has captured a smaller spider and has it wrapped up in a silk ball; two straight strands of silk are visible, one starting at the spinnerets and anchored to the twig, the other attached to the prey and leading left, out of frame.

Here is your Saturday Spider. It's a twig spider (maybe Ariamnes sp.?) in Madagascar, at night in the forest; it has captured another spider, which is the soccer-ball thing near its fangs. About 1 inch long. (I've shared this elsewhere before, but I think not here. Sorry, if so.) #Arachtober 🐙🌿

Congratulations! Must have been a lot of work (and legs)

Revision of the millipede genus Apheloria Chamberlin, 1921 (Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae, Apheloriini) | Zootaxa

Millipede fans rejoice: we published our revision of Apheloria! This is the most common cherry millipede genus, but its taxonomy has been riddled with nebulous subspecies names. No longer! We clarify species limits and provide a distribution map. mapress.com/zt/article/v... @apheloria.bsky.social

semi realistic drawing of a Red-banded leafhopper, a very thin insect with a yellowish green body and bright blue and red striped back/wings, on a black background.

semi realistic drawing of a Red-banded leafhopper, a very thin insect with a yellowish green body and bright blue and red striped back/wings, on a white background.

Day 2 #Invertober2025 - Red-banded leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea) 🍁

#SciArt #invertebrates

It was one of the last groups of hyms I found out about (Ceraphronoidea) because I worked in a lab where they were the experts. They're interesting little wasps

Sweet!!! It's a cool wasp, Megaspilidae

One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of three representative taxa along the right side, Wadotes hybridus (reddish brown cephalothorax with zig-zag stripey gray and white abdomen), Neon nelli (large-eyed gray jumping spider), and Antrodiaetus sp. (a large-jawed mygalomorph trapdoor spider, light tan with a reddish abdomen.

One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of four representative taxa along the right side, Centromerus denticulatus and Centromerus tennapax (both mostly golden brown with gray abdomen, both males with enlarged palps), Bathyphantes bishopi (dark brown cephalothorax, long legs, dark gray abdomen), Tenuiphantes sabulosus (golden cephalothorax, long legs, pale dark-striped abdomen).

One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of four representative taxa along the right side, Collinsia sp. and Collinsia oxypaederotipus (both with light brown cephalothorax, pale legs, gray-green abdomen, both males with enlarged palps), Ceraticelus laetabilis (stout, with brown cephalothorax and lighter brown abdomen, palps slightly enlarged), Ceraticelus fissiceps (orange cephalothorax with distinctly enlarged dark snout, lighter abdomen).

One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of four representative taxa along the right side, Sisicus n. sp (not yet described, light brown round cephalothorax, with pale abdomen and legs, large male palps), Floricomus praedesignatus (dark tuberculate male cephalothorax, gray-green abdomen, pale legs), Blestia sarcocuon (anteriorly pointed cephalothorax, dark with long yellowish legs, impressive male palps), and Ceratinops carolinus (prolonged elevated, brown male cephalothorax, gray-green abdomen).

High elevation litter spiders of southern Appalachia show less local endemism than other arthropods - ballooning by spiderlings apparently overcomes geographic isolation. A great collaboration with @forthespiders.bsky.social & Ernesto Recuero

doi.org/10.1636/JoA-... (if paywalled write me for pdf)

Reminder to submit a talk for the Dipterists Meeting at @entsocamerica.bsky.social if you're interested.

Please also share with others 🙏

A four panel comic called Happy Halloween From The Birds. In panel 1, a pileated woodpecker has pecked its huge gaping rectangular holes in a pumpkin. In panel 2, a yellow-bellied sapsucker has pecked a face using its standard rows of small holes. In panel 3, a satin bowerbird has carved a pumpkin into a bower and placed its favorite blue candies all around it. In panel 4, a loggerhead shrike has impaled mini pumpkins on a fence's metal spikes and is saying "fight me."

Spooky season approaches, so I'm going to repost some of my Halloween comics from years past.

Close-up photo of a leafy branch bearing a white morning-glory flower. Photo by Scott Zona CCBYNC2.

Photo of a medium-sized, roadside tree in front of a house. A few white flowers are visible on the tips of branches.

Ipomoea spp. are mostly twining climbers (Ipomoea is one of the most common climbers worldwide), but a few species are trees! This is I. murucoides of the seasonally dry forests of Mexico. Habit 📷: Alejandra Zayas CCBYNC4. #Convolvulaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

FIGURES 1‒2. Stenomastigus mpumalanganus sp. nov. Dorsal habitus of male (1) and female (2).

#LiteratureNotice Jaloszynski. Two #NewSpecies of the South African genus Stenomastigus Leleup ( #Coleoptera, #Staphylinidae, #Scydmaeninae) doi.org/10.11646/zoo... #Beetle #Beetles #RoveBeetles

A squishy-looking caterpillar sits on a leaf. It has four thin black lines alternating with white running down its back, with alternating orangish-red and yellow stripes down the sides. Along its body are a few tentacle-like protuberances covered in stinging spines. There are smaller round, evenly spaced warts covered in spines along the body as well.

A squishy-looking caterpillar sits on a leaf. It has four thin black lines alternating with white running down its back, with alternating orangish-red and yellow stripes down the sides. Along its body are a few tentacle-like protuberances covered in stinging spines. There are smaller round, evenly spaced warts covered in spines along the body as well.

A squishy-looking caterpillar sits on a leaf. It has four thin black lines alternating with white running down its back, with alternating orangish-red and yellow stripes down the sides. Along its body are a few tentacle-like protuberances covered in stinging spines. There are smaller round, evenly spaced warts covered in spines along the body as well.

The squishy head region of a caterpillar can be seen curling around the edge of the leaf, its spiky protuberances can also be seen cresting the edge of the leaf.

🚨 Spicy gummy worm alert! 🚨 🐛

Though it may look delicious, the bright colors warn of its ability to sting. Kinda looks like it's wearing pajamas...

Thanks to @dradriansmith.bsky.social for hosting the specimen.

stinging rose #caterpillar
#Limacodidae: #Parasa indetermina
NC, USA

Six blue, green, and purple iridescent pill-shaped cylinders sit on a short white stalk and are connected to light brown wood. These are the fruit bodies from a slime mold, so while they appear large in the photo, are actually only a millimeter or less tall.

A super cool iridescent slime mold appears on wood chips. It appears to be Diachea leucopodia, the White-footed Slime

📷 Canon R5
Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM
M, f/4, 1/3, ISO 400
Stack of 43 images
8/29/25
Northern Oregon Coast

#mushroom #fungifriends #mushrooms

🍄📷 📸🎞 🌿🌱 🟢 🍄 🍄‍🟫

This is the man that ICE just detained. This isn't about catching criminals, it is about Ethnic cleansing www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-np...

Absolutely nobody asked for this but I reformatted my animal yeetability thread into printable poster & zine files.

Introducing, the "Pocket Guide to Responsible & Sustainable Animal YEETING" featuring a revamped rating system. Download links below.

Someone was surprised to learn that I yeet bugs out instead of *gently relocating* them.

I appreciate the gesture. But in the tropics, seeing bugs where they shouldn't be is an hourly—not weekly thing. You learn what can survive a yeet to save time.

In this thread I'm rating animal yeetability.

Four flies as viewed from overhead arranged in a square.

TGI Flyday

We saw Father John Misty the other night at DPAC and it was easily one of the best performances I've ever seen. He exudes charisma and has an amazing voice and talented band. It was awesome in the literal sense! 😎 🥰

Congratulations!
Although Hippoboscidae (keds & louse flies) are neat (I'm sure the authors know of them since they are dipterists), they're not really considered a dark taxon. There are definitely undescribed spp., but not nearly the magnitude of these less charismatic groups. Still a cool group!

We're still looking for presentations!
Please share 😊

Black in Natural History Museums in now open! See it on Floor 3 in the Museum's Gilder Center. Details: bit.ly/3KfbzTS

Keep 'em coming! these clubs keep signing up!

I feel like I'm in one of those movies that takes place in a submarine where the alarms are all going off, and steam is blowing out the pipes, and everyone's running around in wet shoes trying to stop the sub from sinking.

Look who I met today😍

Gorgeous species, as the name suggests: Geotrupes splendidus

let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts

I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??

here she is at her burrow entrance.