Dr Morgane Merien

Pūriri moth (Aenetus virescens) Pūriri moth from Mangawhai, New Zealand on October 24, 2025 at 12:00 AM by Joseph Knight

The first record of #GSB2025 is in!
📍 Mangawhai, New Zealand
🦋 Pūriri Moth (Aenetus virescens) — NZ’s largest moth!
📸 by young naturalist Joseph Knight
Read more 👉https://www.greatsouthernbioblitz.org/group/great-southern-bioblitz-explorers/discussion/6f1af2e4-f75f-410a-b0cc-d4eb53dc3395

I mean it’s not quite fully windy to that level yet, but still very significant! Just seems needlessly dangerous and futile?

My neighbour across the road is sweeping her driveway… in 140km/h winds. A driveway lined with large trees… Definitely the thing to do with a red warning in place for Christchurch 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ #Oct23storm

Airports are such strange places that seem to exist outside of reality. Why did this cost me $15? We will never truly know…

This year I have the pleasure of watching stick insect hatch from their tiny eggs! These are native species Acanthoxyla inermis according to @morganemerien.bsky.social very cute! #NZLabLife #Insects en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acantho...

When the fit matches the book! 🍄

Grey and white cat standing in front of a Perspex cage with plants and stick insects in it. Cat is looking at cage as if watching tv.

Shhh 🤫 my cat’s show is on…

Proud of France, but sad to see Latvia being so shafted.. also feel sad for Iceland #Eurovision

A puppet mouse gives the results of the Italian jury

#Eurovision has a way of grinding down your sense of normality, to the point where you see an Italian puppet mouse delivering votes, and only register surprise by the fact they gave 12 points to the UK entry.

The stars are for those who sung in their home language. I give extra points for that. This year was a good year for less English songs!

My #Eurovision top 6 are: 1. Latvia 2. Estonia 3. Sweden 4. Luxembourg 5. Armenia 6. Austria. Obviously France is in my top because I love Louane, but I can’t vote for my own country!

My thoughts so far! Latvia has definitely been my fave right now #eurovision

“Keep it straight guys, said no one ever at Eurovision” with a Swiss deadpan did in fact send me

Very much enjoyed today’s Strands! 😁😉

A photograph of a brown stick insect standing on a tree stump, with its head and front legs raised in the air.

A photograph of the head of a brown stick insect, with its black and yellow patterned compound eyes in focus.

This gorgeous creature is the prickly stick insect (Acanthoxyla prasina), one of New Zealand's 23 species of stick insect.

Huge thanks to @morganemerien.bsky.social for pointing this out on a recent University of Canterbury field trip - it's great fun teaching entomology!

#Invertebrate 🧪

Ngāokeoke Velvet worm is the New Zealand bug of the year for 2025! Congratulations to the champion! www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Do you work in ecology/evolution? Did you do a study that is too small to publish as a full manuscript? Negative results? Part of a larger effort? Consider publishing in microPublication Biology: EEB!

www.micropublication.org/journals/bio...

Short papers, one figure. And we peer review! Please RT

it genuinely sucks that basically nothing on the internet works well anymore. search? barely works. social media? filled with garbage engagement-bait designed to game the algorithm. news websites? pages that refresh at random or so covered in video ads that it’s impossible to read stories

When you take a new route on your walk, you unlock new houses to view and that’s pretty fun.

The screams of thirsty plants may prompt some moths to lay eggs elsewhere Female moths may pick up on the ultrasonic wailing of distressed plants and opt to lay their eggs on different, healthier plants.

“When low on water, some plants make high-pitched clicking noises, inaudible to humans. Female moths… appear to key in on the distressed din and steer clear in order to lay their eggs on plants that will better feed their caterpillars after hatching”

#scicomm

www.sciencenews.org/article/thir...
🧪

The academics who helped breathe new life into Notre-Dame Five years after a devastating fire, the Paris cathedral has finally reopened, with the help of a vast team of researchers

'When Notre-Dame reopened on 7 December, it was thanks, in part, to the efforts of 175 researchers with expertise across a range of disciplines: acoustics, art, data, history, archaeology, anthropology.' Example of why blue-skies research matters for 'real-life' problems we've not yet imagined. 1/2

Also I think you may have tagged the wrong Rob!

Yesss I definitely will! 😊

Yessssss! They make such good pets, and such an easy upkeep! Love love love 💚💚💚

An upturned terrarium that has wild NZ plants in vases and a mesh screen for ventilation.

A close up of the terrarium. Many native NZ plants are visible and a single brown stick insect feasts on Kabila in the centre. Very hard to see though!

I have NZ native stick insects in a terrarium in my office and I could not be more pleased. Fascinating wee beasts! Many thanks to Mike for his stick insect hunting leadership! #StickFriends @adzebill.bsky.social
@robcruickshank.bsky.social @morganemerien.bsky.social

A photo collage of the 2025 bug of the year nominees.

The long wait is over- #Bug of the Year 2025 nominee list is now live! Voting opens January 1st, so you have until February to decide on your top three nominees & place your votes! Winner announced on Valentine’s Day! 💚 Who will steal the crown from Kahukura?
bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/2025-bug-of-...

Those sound awful!!!

I think that definitely needs to be my next move. Need to find a GP first! 🙃

Really? I’m 29, can it start this early? 😞

Question for people with uteruses - have you experienced #period symptoms getting worse with age? 😭