Dimitri Forero

What happens when we get an unknown pathogen that suddenly turns up and nobody has the skills to identify and describe it? Or conservation biologists are working with an endangered species, only to find that they are working with the wrong species (yes, this has happened).

When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.

AI-generated artwork is officially not eligible for copyright protection after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the appeal.

The court ruled that a work must have a human creator in order to qualify for copyright.

(Link: www.reuters.com/legal/govern...)

New #OpenAccess research in #RESSystematicEnt

Over-reliance on #Completeness exposes ultraconserved elements datasets to non-randomly distributed missing data
doi.org/10.1111/syen.70024

#UCEs #Phylogenomics #Metrics #MissingData #EntoMethods
@gkergoat.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

Good article, but the framing is wrong. There is not a dearth of interest in taxonomy. There is a scarcity of funding and positions, which is a deliberate choice by funding agencies and institutions. The youth love taxonomy! It's the olds that are failing to meet their passion!

‘I love midges because I know what their hearts look like’: is the passion for taxonomy in danger of dying out? Insect taxonomist Art Borkent has described and named more than 300 species of midges but fears his field of science is dying out, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be ...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A black katydid in lateral view resembling a pompilif wasp

Or these cute katydids of the genus Aganacris. The movements, antennae, and overall coloration are really convincing too.
colombia.inaturalist.org/observations...

There are a few insects that mimic pompilids. One are these Mydidae. Very convincing! colombia.inaturalist.org/observations...

El mono ‘Punch’ y el peligro de humanizar a la fauna silvestre La antropomorfización puede parecer inofensiva, pero sus efectos trascienden lo mediático; publicitan el comercio ilegal de especies

Les comparto la columna que escribí con la científica Nataly Castelblanco para @elpais.com sobre el tema del mes.
elpais.com/america-futu...

Illustration of a large centipede from 1789, showing a segmented, elongated body with dark brown and yellowish bands. The centipede has numerous pairs of long, jointed legs extending from each body segment. Its head features prominent antennae and powerful curved mandibles. The drawing highlights detailed textures and anatomical features typical of a naturalist's study from the 18th century.

🪱 The naturalists' miscellany: .
London: Printed for Nodder co, 1789..

[Source]

Did you know that the bees that need saving are NOT honeybees?

Honeybees are the dairy cows of bees. People brought them over from Europe to make us honey.

The problem with honeybees, esp in resource-limited ecosystems (like hey! cities!) is that they compete with our native bees for food.

A nice assassin bug of the genus Zelurus. Many of its species milic pompilid wasps. Very cool bugs. Very little is known about its natural history.

Sera el agua....

The study discusses how the findings challenge the one specimen–one barcode premise, and the implications of sequence divergence on #metabarcoding-based assessments.

Image credit: Niina Kiljunen and Marko Mutanen.

#COI #mtDNA

2026 is just a little bit beyond 2013, right? Right!?

#Hemiptera

Jaw-dropping jellyfish, Poralia sp, 1,414m
(ID, Dr. Anela Choy)

“There are many mysteries to uncover,” Choy writes. “But perhaps this beautiful brownish, reddish medusae has a unique role to play in connecting carbon flow between the deep water column with the seafloor.” #OBVI #LivingBioreactors

Ladybug amphipod

A colorful poster illustration featuring 15 species of animals from the Cambrian period 541-485 million years ago. These are mostly unusual looking invertebrates, such as Hurdia, Wiwaxia, Anomalocaris, Peytoia, trilobites, Marrella, Nectocaris, Hallucigenia, Opabinia, Plectronoceras, Lyrarapax, and Naraoia. An early chordate (Pikaia) is also included. The animals are brightly colored on a dark black background. White numbers with a key label each species.

Creatures of the Cambrian period!

Each square metre of Amazon forest produces 300 litres of rainfall a year.

You're looking at three golden tortoise beetles (Charidotella sexpunctata). They're native to the Americas, generally the east coast of North America all the way down to Argentina.

The gold coloration is structural, semi-reflective layers in the cuticle selectively reflect wavelengths of light.

@smunoztobar.bsky.social 😎👍🏽

Illustration from an 1876-83 British entomology monograph showing detailed color drawings of nine aphid insects labeled 1 to 9. The aphids include both winged and wingless forms of Callipterus quercus and castaneae species. They have various green, yellow, and brown segmented bodies with red eyes and translucent veined wings on some. One small drawing depicts aphid eggs on a plant stem. The style is scientific and precise, typical of Victorian natural history plates, with delicate lines and subtle shading to highlight anatomy and wing patterns. The page is titled "PLATE XCI."

🌊 Monograph of the British aphides ...
London, Printed for the Ray Society, 1876-83.

[Source]

An historic illustration of bees and other insects flying around a flowering bush.

All BHL staff have been secured! 🧪 As we enter our next chapter, the team who steward BHL’s collections & infrastructure remain in place, led by Colleen Funkhouser in her new role of Managing Director. Meet the team guiding BHL forward:
blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2026/02/celebrating-bhl-team.html

The few observations that I have made are necessarily imperfect, but I send them, as they afford a method which might lead a naturalist to notice habits otherwise difficult to observe, and so to arrive at conclusions which I in my ignorance of natural history must leave to others. C. V. Bovs

We just don't end papers like this any more. Maybe the world would be better if we did?

⚒️🧪

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund The Councils of The Linnean Society of London and The Systematics Association jointly administer this fund for the benefit of systematics research. The Fund has …

The 2026 LinneSys call is open!

Looking for a small grant for systematics work? Check us out! systass.org/linnesys/

All you need is to be a member of the @systassn.bsky.social or the @linneansociety.bsky.social

Caveat, legally, we cannot fund anyone in a country listed here: tinyurl.com/wemwtfrz

Illustration plate showing detailed black and white scientific drawings of two British Oribatid mites, Damæus nitens and D. suffixus, from an 1884-1888 London publication. The larger mites are depicted with segmented legs covered in fine hairs, distinct rounded bodies, and textured dorsal surfaces. Additional smaller sketches highlight anatomical parts like claws, hairs, and mouthparts with fine line work. The illustration includes labels with numbers for each figure and detailed morphological features, emphasizing the mites' microscopic structures within the Arachnida class. The style is typical of 19th-century natural history engravings focusing on taxonomy and species identification.

🕸️ British Oribatidæ /.
London: The Ray Society, 1884-1888..

[Source]

I RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE, molecular phylogenetics is at its peak when it helps us pinpoint the ~morphological synapomorphies~ that tell the ancient story of evolutionary patterns

211-0252/25-2N - Tenure Track Assistant Professor and Curator of Mollusca

Tenure Track Assistant Professor and Curator of #Mollusca at the Natural History Museum Denmark, University of Copenhagen: employment.ku.dk/tenure-track...

Esa no me la sabia 👍🏽