Amanda Jorgensen

Why are they lepidopterists not mothematicians

A young pea plant in an agricultural field. The newly opened leaves are back out and semi-translucent, with the veins standing out in thin shadows. One 'u' shaped pea leaf weevil bite mark is on one of these leaves.

A low angle photo of a young pea field. Light green peas extend in rows to the horizon, where a road and dark trees stand against a clear blue sky. A silver truck is just barely visible past the grass at the field margin.

Peas have a sort of alien beauty to them. Definitely in my top 3 favourite field crop to survey.

It also helps that I'm counting Weevil bite marks - cute even though they are destructive.

#pealeafweevil #westcdnag #agsky #fieldwork #entomology

A black and orange Andrena sp. Bee sits on a yellow dog toy. Her proboscis is extended as she tries to feed from the dandelion -like synthetic fur.

Poor little lady thought this was a dandelion..

A black and orange Andrena sp. Bee sits on a bright yellow, hairy dog toy.

An easy fri-yay quiz here..

Where do Andrena bees like this one here like to nest?

#nativebees #nativepollinators #insectphotography #quizzes

A crucifer flea beetle and a striped beetle feed on a damaged canola leaf.

Two crucifer flea beetles feed on a heavily damaged canola stem.

Flea beetles are out in force! These were taken on volunteer canola around Edmonton. They've been active in S AB for a month now - but will be an issue as canola emerges.

Photos snapped on a windy day - and the amount of stem feeding is pretty high.

#cdnag #agsky #fleabeetles #macrophotography

Oh my goodness that's stunning! It looks so realistic!!

4 12x18 inch posters on a brick and concrete wall. The top left is pink and says funding science saves lives, written in microbes, next to a microscope. The one on the right says Biology is bigger than binaries, with a fish, a lily, and a bee. The bottom left says Protecting wildlife starts wtih you, with a bunch of adiorable woodland creatues in yellow, white and black, including an owl, fungi, a... um. weasel? salamanders, butterflies, slugs, and a rotting log. The bottom right says Will our oceans thrive or nosedive the choice is yours, with the ocean represented in a circle, half of which is dead and half of which is alive, including kelp and a mackerel

🚨 Cool new project alert 🚨

WE- you, me, everyone- need to work together to get important science messages out to people.

4 artists & 3 scientists collab'd on these posters. We hope YOU will put them out in your community. Each poster comes w/info about each topic.

Get 'em Squidfacts.bigcartel.com

A close up photo of a tiger moth larva. The black caterpillar has black and orange spines.

We are getting reports of damage in alfalfa fields (tiger moths - larva pictured below) and winter wheat and forages (army cutworm) in Southeastern Alberta.

See the cutworm live map, report sightings, and read more at www.alberta.ca/cutworm

#agsky #westcdnag #cdnag

“This Earth Week, Grab a Friend and Go Bugwatching for Conservation” Several Firefly Atlas volunteers gathered around, looking at photos of a firefly they have just found.

Nothing brings people together like the joy of finding a cool bug. You and your friends can be part of real conservation research, all while meeting the wildlife you can help protect.
➡️Get started 🔗 xerces.org/community-science
🌎Find more #EarthWeek activities & ideas 🔗 xerces.org/blog/stronge...

Late to the party, but can I join the club?

I'm the new provincial entomologist for AB and looking to pump up my social media contacts 🦗

This is great! I've been looking for more Aggies here on bluesky.

I'm a crop insect management specialist in Alberta running monitoring and surveillance across the province and would love to join the pack!

A bronzed cutworm larva in wheat stubble.

Already reports about cutworms waking up and wandering about in #Alberta

It's already time to scout fields for bare patches and clipped leaves (in fall-seeded crops, and as more start to emerge!) Read more at alberta.ca/cutworm and see the live cutworm map!

Photo credit: Ryan Hodnett CC-BY-SA 4.0

One of the reasons why natural history collections are so important!! What a great use of collections specimens!

That's so exciting!! I would love to come across one of these guys! 🤩 Always a bit sad to skip over that junction when keying out Hyms

I think there needs to be an entomology urban dictionary...

One of my favourites that every student gets is the 'thunder thighs' that flea beetles have...

Another one for the list of ID descriptions for students that seem incomprehensible until they make complete sense!

A group of little brown bats perched under a wooden beam, photographed by Troy Gipps, MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

It's #BatAppreciationDay! Did you know that bats eat 40% of their weight in insects every night? That's billions of dollars' worth of natural, non-toxic pest control.

In fact, a study from last fall found that loss of bats is linked to the death of human infants.

The study ➡️ biodiv.us/4ije3Mg

I know many academic journal editors here - who else is getting these letters?

Art Share image with my marker drawing of a greater road runner. The top reads Art Share, the bottom reads Thanks for 1.5K followers!

I hit 1.5K followers over the weekend, so I thought I'd host an #ArtShare! Thank you for all the wonderful engagement and support!

✨ Share this post for visibility!
✨ Reply with your art!
✨ Engage with others!
🚫 No A/I/ or N/F/T. Keep it SFW!

Will repost throughout the day!

These are stunning!!

I love the vibrant colors and linework!

A painting of a landscape scene overlooking a small lake is painted on a birch round. The lake is a cerulean blue, and yellow leaves dominate the foreground. The background has cliffs and evergreens off in the distance. The painting is located inside a neighborhood 'mini art gallery'

A landscape scene painted on a small canvas sheet. The scene is a frozen waterfall that peeks between an ochre rock tumble. The snow is tinted a warm yellow, and evergreen trees extend in the distance. A rounded mountain peak with warm yellow snow, and dark navy cliff face contrasts against a pale blue sky.

An acrylic painting on a canvas of a colorful waterfall scene. Athabasca falls tumbles over gray rocks with ice blue water. The foreground has vibrant red and yellow leaves that blend into the scene. Dark green suggestions of evergreen trees are painted as swirls. Green trees line the bank across the river, in front of an ultramarine mountain. The sky is a mix of purple and yellow clouds. The whole painting shows a rainbow of color from foreground to background.

Congrats! I love playing with landscapes, color, and found materials! A lot of inspiration here to get more creative time in!! 🩷

So eerie in such a good way!

Criorhina floccosa male

Spring hoverflies (3): Criorhina floccosa ♂ today in Bengeo garden, superb mimic of bumblebee Bombus pascuorum. #saproxylic

🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

🧡

That sounds like so much fun! Always new mysteries and great people to explore them with!

Have an awesome field season 😁

This is so lovely! I love the composition.

It looks like the sorts of tattoos I see on people that I immediately want to chat with.

A photo taken out of the passenger side of a truck window. The view is of a wide prairie landscape - pale, dormant grassland stretches to the horizon that is lined in dark patches of trees. A ragged fence post crosses the view from right to left of the image. Two-thirds of the image is filled with moody, dark blue clouds. Faint wisps of rain are visible in the far distance.

For anyone who does fieldwork: How excited are you to start at the beginning of the field season?

I get giddy, even after 10+ years. Beautiful AB prairie views like this help, though!