Notices by Alex Wild (alexwild@mastodon.online)

One of several blacklights the UT insect collection set up last night at our new Hill Country Field Station. Perfect conditions: warm, muggy, no wind, no moon. #entomology #utaustin #science

So many Ichneumonids, so little time. I also collected this Exetastes bifenestratus, a species I'd never seen before. #insects #ichneumonidae #wasps

Particularly happy that a few of these male Labidus army ants arrived to the blacklight. #ants #insects

I don’t usually photograph vertebrates, aside from the occasional wedding or some such, but this Panamanian agouti was irresistible. #agouti #panama #wildlife

A Sceliphron mud dauber wasp carries a glob of mud back to her mud nest, the weight of her load counterbalanced by her unusual petiolate abdomen. Texas. #sceliphron #sphecidae #wasp #insects #flight

Really wish people would stop talking about the problem with Science under Trump as “budget cuts”.

No. Budgets are set deliberatively by elected members of congress. Budgets haven’t been cut.

What’s happening are *purges* and *censorship*.

After nearly a century of prosperity, the United States has decided, apparently on purpose, to become a poor country.

When we said “Keep Austin Weird”, we meant artists and eccentric musicians and stuff. None of this Alex Jones, Elon Musk creepy incel loser weird.

Linepithema tsachila ants drink from an Inga nectary in Ecuador. I described and named this species with funding from the National Science Foundation. #NSF #Ants #science

Reddit post reminding us all why the liberal arts are worth saving.

When I think of great things coming historically from the United States- the music, the novels, the art, the science, the universities, the food- almost none of it comes from the strains of oppressive white Christianity that now temporarily hold power. They’ve been opposed to all of it, all along.

The trouble with Hegseth isn't that he's an abusive alcoholic, or that he's unqualified, or whatever. It's that he will use the military to kill U.S. citizens. That's why Trump wants him.

Republicans absolutely hate Americans and will not think twice about doing a Tiananmen Square.

2006 paper predicted that human-caused climate change would alter the Santa Ana winds and make California more vulnerable to wildfires.

#climate #california

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2006GL025808

One small pro-democracy act you can do is delete your Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accounts.

Meta is aligned with the incoming regime, and your presence there helps them.

Face to face with a brown recluse, which I promise is far less dangerous that you might think. These are exceptionally shy spiders that do not bite except when literally being squished. Texas. #spiders #Loxosceles

Bluesky seems to have hit a network effect threshhold in the wake of the election, and some of the last Twitter holdout communities have re-grouped over there this week. New celebs, more sports commentators, scientists, etc, and nearing 15M users.

Mastodon also seems to be picking up a bit, but not to the same extent. I think that's fine, I've been encouraging people at Bluesky to at least have an account over here.

#Bluesky #Twitter

Meet.
Fall in love.
Wedding.
Honeymoon.
Have children.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Laundry.
Death.

The wasp mantisfly, Climaciella brunnea, is not a wasp, a mantis, or a fly. It is instead a type of spider-eating lacewing that keeps itself safe by looking like it has a painful sting, which it does not.

Evolution continues to be marvelous. #Entomology #Mantispidae #Insects

Who will pick the crops if we deport the immigrants?

It’ll be the same people, but sourced through private detention companies that take all the wages and return the immigrants to their indefinite holding cages overnight.

Chattel slavery, back again.

When you cancel your Washington Post and other billionaire-compromised media subsciptions, consider replacing them with your support for outlets still performing real journalism. Local public media, ProPublica, etc.