Roberto A. Keller

They have: general pseudomyrmecine body; amblyoponine petiole; Cryptopone traction setae on legs; Rhytidoponera iridiscente cuticle. Did I miss anything? ;)

Macro photo in side view of a large antlike insect that is shiny metallic blue with bright orange legs and large eyes, standing on a pure white background. The body segments are quite clearly demarcated, giving a slightly wormlike appearance.

Macro photo in top view of the same insect running through the bark litter on a forest floor.

Finally got some photos of Australia’s “blue ant”, Diamma bicolor, which is not an ant at all but a shockingly large metallic blue thynnid wasp, wingless and solitary, that hunts mole crickets. Been meaning to shoot this thing for years.

YouTube video by Ant Lab Spring-Loaded Claws on a Wasp – Parasitoid Pincer Wasps

New Ant Lab video today about pincer wasps and a new research project. This one has some really cool, newly-filmed insect behavior in it! youtu.be/9osTBzQ0zbk

Uma “nuvem” de agúdias “invadiu” a Feira do Livro de Lisboa.
Estes insetos saem com o objetivo de se reproduzirem com insetos de diferentes ninhos e são inofensivos. “As formigas em si não fazem absolutamente nada", esclarece Roberto Keller, investigador de Ciências.
🔗https://t.ly/APRwR

One of the strong points of #TETTRIsEU is the Cascade-grant mechanism. We managed to give 1.8 million € to 12 amazing Satellites projects that are now producing great results and pushing the reach of the project to new limits.
Enjoy L.U.C.E. and the italian #fireflies 👏

#taxonomy

I have been worried on the field, and it is not just in Portugal. It has been decreasing immensely since 2013. I have never seen such low numbers as I have last month's field work. Nor such low numbers of species. :/
Everyone is saying the same. Especially whoever goes to the southern areas.

(re)Follow Tatiana for everything bug related, especially butterflies, and more!

Oh hi! :D
My old account was hacked, so I kinda am rediscovering BlueSky and also wanted to share this awesome new account about the work @rkellerp.bsky.social has been doing at our National Natural History and Science Museum (Lisbon, PT), so follow us & have fun!
www.instagram.com/p/DI541lts8n6

TANK vs TESLA

"We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again"

- ⁠WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank

🌍 #TETTRIsEU Taxonomy Recognition Day – May 23! 🌿
Let’s celebrate the vital role of #taxonomy in protecting #biodiversity on Earth!
📸 Snap a photo of your favourite animal, plant, or mineral
🔤 Identify it with its taxonomic name (we’re happy to help!)
📱 Share it on social media using #NameItToSaveIt

#TETTRIsEU Satellite ARCADE is getting famous in Portugal! 🇵🇹 Muitos Parabems!
wilder.pt/naturalistas...

Belgian teens arrested with 5,000 smuggled ants as Kenya warns of changing trafficking trends | CNN Two Belgian teenagers were charged Tuesday with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking sma...

Smugglers busted trying to take thousands of queen ants out of Kenya, destined for the exotic pet trade.

Ancient Amber Has Kept a Dirt Ant Frozen in Time For 16 Million Years Learn about the extinct species of "dirt ant" that was found in 16-million-year-old Dominican amber, adding an important piece to an evolutionary puzzle.

Learn about the extinct species of "dirt ant" that was found in 16-million-year-old Dominican amber, adding an important piece to an evolutionary puzzle.

Call for papers: Entomological collections in public education & outreach activities Initiated by the symposium “Collections Reaching Out”, held as part of the 2024 annual meeting of the Entomological Collections Network (ECN) in Phoenix, Arizona, a new topical collection ...

⌛️ Deadline for the “ #Collections Reaching Out” collection at @nhcm.pensoft.net is approaching ❕

Inspired by the 2024 @entcollnet.bsky.social meeting, the collection invites anyone looking into the design & use of #entomological outreach drawers as educational tools.

@entiminae.bsky.social

ℹ️

Southeast Asia’s Exploding Ant Dies So Its Colony Can Live — A Biologist Explains Meet the exploding ant, a tiny warrior hidden deep in the forests of Borneo. Their astonishing act of self-destruction unleashes a toxic blast, stopping predators in their tracks and redefining the tr...

Taxonomy fail: yes, Diacamma ants (pictured) occur in Asia's tropical regions, but they are not related to Colobopsis exploding ants, apart of also happening to be ants.

#taxonomyFail

Many of the structures described in the second photo in a chunk of soil.

Tan-brown ovate insect structure with more or less regular geometric patterning to its cuticle

Any entomologists know what these eggs? are that I found in soil in Pittsburgh?

Lead author Auke-Florian Hiemstra holds the oldest known caddisfly casing containing microplastic, dating to 1971. Photo: Liselotte Rambonnet.

A caddisfly casing with pieces of blue microplastic, dating 1986. Photo: Auke-Florian Hiemstra

NEW PAPER, JUST OUT! 👀

Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯

A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛

Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x

🐜 An updated taxonomic revision of the ant genus Zasphinctus for the Afrotropical region based on the worker caste, with five newly described species: doi.org/10.3897/zook...

#newspecies #taxonomy #ants #entomology

Our Executive Director Ana Casino in this interview in Spanish 🇪🇦, given at @mncn-csic.bsky.social:
"The strong voice of scientists is crucial"

#taxonomy4science #taxonomy #policymaking #worldwildlifeday #wildlife

red orange and black nudibranch

Are you hardcore into #DarwinCore? 😎

The Darwin Core Maintenance Group are seeking public review for the accumulated set of proposed changes to Darwin Core. 👀

🐸 Interested in contributing? The review period will be open for at least 30 days. 🔗www.tdwg.org/news/20...

#CETAF signed this letter to ask for a serious commitment to preserving #nature and insist on environmental-friendly regulations. Any step back would be critical for the planet!

Read the new version of the letter here 👇
👓 zenodo.org/records/1486...

#taxonomy4nature

#TETTRIs #PolicyBrief 📝
#Biological nomenclature is a cornerstone of #biodiversity #research, conservation and #taxonomy. #Policymakers, funding agencies, museums and international standards organisations should provide the necessary investment and support to secure its future.

shorturl.at/H7zBD

It quite saddens me to think that when I cross the Styx, I may find myself among so many professional biologists, condemned to keep on trying to solve problems, and that Pluto, or whoever is in charge down there now, may condemn me to sit forever trying to identify specimens from my own specific and generic diagnoses, while the amateur entomologists, who have not been damned professors, are permitted to roam at will among the fragrant asphodels of the Elysian meadows, netting gorgeous, ghostly butterflies until the end of time. — William Morton Wheeler, The Dry Rot of Academia (1970

William Morton Wheeler leaning by a plant in a black and white photo.

As I see my colleagues at risk of job loss in the US government, I have been on the phone with people in tears over many concerns I won’t get into on this platform. I am doing my best for them behind the scenes. However, I will recall a passage from William M. Wheeler in 1970. #science #entomology

Snap! Trap-jaw ant (Orectognathus mjobergi) from Australia just caught herself a large collembolan prey. What's interesting here is that the ant has to carry it high up in the air to prevent it from being dragged on the ground and potentially picking up mites, fungi etc'.

🐜 Hormigas al descubierto: La nueva taxonomía de las #hormigas Zasphinctus en la región Afrotropical

A closeup view of an ant whose body is as wrinkled as a raisin, but metallic blue/green/purple iridescent, and with lightly hairy red legs and antennae, walking on brown soil and carrying several whitish oblong eggs.

Australia has the shiniest ants.

This is a worker of Rhytidoponera aspersa carrying eggs among her colony's nest sites.

Episode 3 (imaging): Don't just sort. Also image, from multiple perspectives! Insect levitation with ultrasound: capturing 360° views to automate measurements and create 3D models. More here: www.techrxiv.org/users/813834...

The Increasing Disconnection of Primary Biodiversity Data from Specimens: How Does It Happen and How to Handle It? Abstract. Primary biodiversity data represent the fundamental elements of any study in systematics and evolution. They are, however, no longer gathered as

Increasing Disconnection of Primary Biodiversity Data from Specimens: How Does It Happen and How to Handle It? academic.oup.com/sysbio/artic...

Brighten up #BlueMonday with this gorgeous Anthaxia dimidiata! #BlueBugs

From the collection of the Nacional Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon.