Gil Wizen

Macro photograph, in top view, of two insects standing on a cluster of small, 4-petalled white flowers. Both insects have a red head and thorax and black at their back ends. The beetle on the right is slightly broader, and has a narrow white line separating the red and black parts of its body, as to suggest a narrow ant waist.

Model and mimic: a clever longhorn beetle (Euderces reichei, at right) tries its best to look like a local carpenter ant, Campontous decipiens, as they both feed on a spring dogwood flower. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Texas.

You know how they quickly go into their burrows when you approach? So, apparently if you find them in the water, you can actually pet them. They are super chill in the water.

What... their message is clear?..
Are they high? I can't understand a single thing about this

I've always admired Skink's sculptures of insects. I even wrote about it a few years ago: gilwizen.com/skink-chen/

Play at 2x speed and you get the Aussie laugh I hear in my nightmares

bright orange cartoon spider with ziggy stardust makeup

David Bowie Spider (Heteropoda davidbowie) #febugary2026

Cats! For the cat peopl
w...wait

Yeah 🤔 I wasn't wrong
Cats! for the cat people!

IYKYK 😉

Stunning moss mimicry on this harvestman

I'm using Copytrack for some other infringements (not endorsing them, just experimenting with the service), but this one is an infringement of my WPY winner pic with a history of direct communication with the infringer, so I'm considering hiring a law firm/attorney

I have a similar situation with FB right now. The infringer is a business account so a commercial infringement. Can't decide if I should go after them directly, or just FB for enabling.
I did a DMCA takedown btw. It was removed but the infringer appealed, and now FB ignores communication from me.

Probably to be left alone by ants, birds, and parasitoids

Probably to be left alone by ants, birds, and parasitoids

Genus Taczanowskia Taczanowskia from Mera, Pastaza, EC on August 8, 2025 at 08:34 PM by Alex Bentley. Thought this was a Gibellula cordy but apparently its just the spider! The spider was hanging und...

Some photos and video of Taczanowskia waska from its natural habitat:
www.inaturalist.org/observations...

“The Cordyceps spider”: Taczanowskia waska sp. nov. (Araneae: Araneidae), a new spider species and a novel case of mimicry of an araneopathogenic fungus (Cordycipitaceae: Gibellula ) | ...

An amazing new species of Cordyceps-mimicking spider has just been described from the Ecuadorian Amazon - Taczanowskia waska

www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...

Beautiful and soothing sounds

Summer storm rolling through the Perth Hills ⛈️🌩️

Sound up for the lovely rumble of thunder

Here’s hoping this gives us a good bit of rain 🌧️🤞

#weather #storm #thunder #PerthWeather #PerthStorm

「日本の海にこんなヤドカリいるの！？」ってよく言われる子

Yellow morph eyelash viper, Costa Rica

Sharing more Costa Rica memories in anticipation of next year's photo tour...

The first couple eyelash vipers I ever saw in the wild were pretty drab. They come in different colors (including brown, grey, and dull green). So finally seeing the classic bright yellow version was pretty awesome!

Macro photo of a brown stink bug in face view on a leaf, guarding a tightly-clustered bunch of eggs that are shaped and colored exactly like a full tray of dark beer with foam on top.

Finally, the bug is back with a round of the Guinness.

A sphinx moth came to slurp at a desert lily as we were watching the sunset over the Anza Borrego badlands.

I really love this one! Flaming cyclamen

Last year I dedicated six months to only shooting and editing for my UV floral series. Just one long flow state. I highly recommend the experience for anyone creative.

If you can't swing that kind of time, just keep in mind what sick days are really for: making art.

#flowers #photography

Modelled after a Cymbomorpha nymph by any chance? Pretty good!

Macro photograph of a red ant in side view with a rather swollen, round head, standing on a white background.

These Florida harvester ant major workers never looked real to me. Just a ridiculously large head tacked on to a regular harvester ant body. Archbold Biological Station, Florida.

Amazing story of a moth once thought extinct being recorded in the wild after 150 years!

This story shows the power of platforms like #inaturalist and the value of a #bioblitz, with this moth recorded during the Great Southern BioBlitz 2021 @gsbioblitz.bsky.social

#mothsmatter #inverts #bugsky

Digital artwork of a dragon head caterpillar (Polyura schreiber) with the many dots on its horned head and chubby body rendered to resemble little stars, a few actually being tiny four-pointed stars. Above its head a partially eclipsed moon is framed between its inner horns, and large four-pointed stars rest on the center of its upper head and hang on either side of its head between its outer horns. More stylized rays and stars radiate out into the edges of the image, rich textured gold against a dark blue framing the green bug's body. The caterpillar is outlined in metallic gold and has fairly realistic face details and feet. Art by Moth Monarch.

🌘 "Starchild" 🌟
Commission for @franzanth.bsky.social & at last another of my Golden Orbits.

Look closely

Beautiful drawing of Thyrsocera spectabilis

Largus anticus, and rarely-seen bug found in Guyana.

Dubiepeira neptunina, a rarely-seen spider photographed in Guyana.

Here are a couple of the underrated finds from our night walks in Guyana. Trying to ID obscure bugs is always a challenge, but @wizentrop.bsky.social was there to help me once again.

Turns out these two critters (Largus anticus and Dubiepeira neptunina) have rarely been documented in the field!