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twizzt

@twizzt@sauropods.win

I am naturalist and macro photography enthusiast. I want to share how I see the tiny things in this world that make life livable. I have a MS in biology which focused on the ecology of plants, their insect herbivores, and the parasitoids that preyed on them.

I may occasionally toot about #chronicPain or #dyslexia but generally only to commiserate with others. You needn't notify my about misspellings as I just don't care anymore...

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

twizzt , to random
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

Been using Photoshop for over half my life. 25 years and 2000 Dollars later, I own no usable program and to keep using the program I rent, I have to let Adobe use my images. On the plus side, they are openly admitting they are stealing our images to train their AI. AI plays nearly no roll at all in any of my work flows. Maybe an occasional content aware fill which I nearly always have to manually retouch anyway. This might drive me to pirating software I've purchased...

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Here is a really interesting documentary about ants... including information about "cardboard ants" who build paper nests rather like wasps.

I've read about these ants but seen very little of images or videos.

It's in French, but will show English subtitles if you get the settings right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nQJVZZ-BEo

twizzt ,
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@futurebird these are Azteca right?

futurebird , to random
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One thing I observed today that I HOPE I can get on video somehow ... Camponotus pennslyvanicus can jump one of the wild ants I was looking at did a leap from my hand to to nearby pole.

It was not just a fall, she launched herself like a grasshopper!

I wonder if jumping is more common in ants than we think...

@alexwild

twizzt ,
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@futurebird @alexwild

We really need more people to sit around and watch ants all day. Is there a grant for that? I'll be the first to sign up!

loren , to random
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I don’t know how to deal with the big problems but if we can learn anything from cicadas it’s that the little problems can be solved by screaming

twizzt ,
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@loren

I think this holds true for the big problems too. Not getting laid? Scream! Predator about to bite you? Scream! Friendly human moving you off the bike path? Scream!

This tactic is for adults only. No screaming allowed by sub-adults.... ever... In fact, all children must stay underground sucking on a root for at least a year if not over a decade. Once your parents are long dead, only then can you emerge, crawl out of your skin, and then scream.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Everyone running around excited a non-human primate "used medicine to treat wounds"

I'm just over here looking at ants who have been doing this since before you were an inkling on the evolutionary tree and wondering what the big deal is.

Whatever it is ants did it first.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-ants-can-diagnose-and-treat-their-comrades-infected-wounds-180983526/

twizzt ,
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

@futurebird Caterpillars who have parasitoids eat toxic leaves as well. There was something else that ate toxins too rid themselves of nematodes. I want to say grasshoppers but I honestly don't remember.

twizzt , to random
@twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

Happy Wednesday! This is a cactus eating weevil. I didn't have a lens that allowed me to zoom out to capture the plant better unfortunately.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
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This ant cartoon by falseknees over on tumblr really captures what I think it's like to be an ant.

Everyone is busy. No one really knows what they are doing.

https://www.tumblr.com/falseknees/747594384451813376?source=share

A four panel hand drawn comic strip. The first two panels. A small brown ant, looks at a grain of rice and asks her sister who is carrying a leaf "Hey do you know where to put this stuff?" the ant with the leaf replies "sorry I actually don't know either" she replies "k thanks" around them other ants are hurrying by carrying things with purpose. Drawing of the ant's face, the ant looks surprised, shocked. Mandibles slightly open.
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    • + loren
    twizzt ,
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    @futurebird have you read any of Jay Hosler's graphic novels? They are great on so many levels and I highly recommend them for children and adults.

    twizzt , to random
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    Happy Wednesday

    I know nothing of this fellow. It has no common name. A weevil person might be able to guess at its food from the size and shape of its gonzo snoot. I would guess flower buds perhaps.

    loren , to random
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    No

    twizzt ,
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    @loren

    Don't Touch!

    HOT

    twizzt , to random
    @twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

    Here's a cute caterpillar doing its best to disrupt your feed. This is the Shag Carpet Caterpillar Moth (Prothysana sp.). As an adult, it is sorta a drab triangular brown thing, but as a larva, I find it resplendent. Its larval scales are way cooler than the adult ones.

    #Colombia #Lepidoptera #Moth #Insects #Arthropods #Apatelodidae

    A side view of the same caterpillar. The White scales have a smokey black base and they look like a mohawk going down its back.

    futurebird , (edited ) to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Easter means a lot to me. I know it's not everyone's holiday, but if you feel like I do about Easter and you have ever wondered if the story of Easter is for you-- don't let anyone tell you it's not.

    I can't possibly apologize for all of the harm done in the name of a beautiful story. But, I think it's because of how fundamentally subversive "love thy neighbor" really is, if you take it seriously. So, the message is often poisoned at the source.


    twizzt ,
    @twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

    @futurebird I was raised in an extremely religious household. I was warned of the pagans and all they do. It's hard for me to make sense of Easter in the light of the fact the Christians are celebrating an intrinsically pegan holiday which they outwardly abhor. Jesus didn't rise from the dead on a Sunday.
    I like all the love that neighbor stuff, but I could stand behind the Jefferson Bible much more than whatever this is we celebrate now. I mean we are really celebrating Artemis or Estara.

    loren , to random
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    Shrews!!

    twizzt ,
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    @loren

    Bad trip from some powerful shrews

    twizzt , to random
    @twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

    This male Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) has a huge casque (beak extension). When vying for females, they do mid-air battle with them. So why do the females have them? You can tell the females apart because they have white skin around their eyes whereas the males are all black.

    #Wilpattu #SriLanka #Birds #Aves #Bucerotidae

    A massive bird with a black head, neck, and wings with a white belly and long beige tail sits on a branch of a dead tree. It has a massive pale orange beak with what looks like an extra mandible growing from the top of it. This section is almost all black and extends nearly as far as the rest of the beak. It has a dark red eye.
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    • + loren
    twizzt , to random
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    Beetle beatbox time. Snoots and Boots and Snoots and Boots.

    Happy #WeevilWednesday

    #Insects #Arthropods #Colombia #Weevil #Baridinae #Coleoptera

    vampiress , (edited ) to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    twizzt ,
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    @vampiress
    That explains all the raccoons...

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Fact of The Day: Most photos of weaver ants show an ant angry that a photographer is too close to her tree.

    twizzt ,
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    @futurebird

    Hmm... I do have some good behavior pics but yeah...

    futurebird , to random
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    Agonizing over the ethics of ant incest.

    twizzt ,
    @twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

    @futurebird And then there are the fig wasps to consider... They don't even let their sisters pupate. To be fair, some of the males don't leave their puparium to conjugate with their sisters. Quite impressive really... I think there is something in Life in the Underbrush series on this.

    futurebird , to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Math classes I wish existed:

    The History and Theory of Mathematical Notation Use and Design

    Mathematical Communication: Communicating Proofs and Data with Clarity to Varied Audiences

    Fingers, Algorithms, Abacuses and Computers: Tools of Mathematical Calculation

    What would you add to your dream course catalog?

    twizzt ,
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    @futurebird Perhaps it exists, but practical uses for binary and other bases. Base ten is great, but it isn't always the best

    futurebird , to random
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    The half-baked philosophical conundrum that keeps me up at night most often is simply: why is my consciousness limited to me in particular? Why am I not everyone? Or everything? or nobody? Or you? Or an ant? Or an ant colony? How did I find myself in this particular stream and what is the nature of the boarders that keep me within it?

    This idea generally frustrates and freaks me out and I doubt there is a sensible answer, I doubt it's productive to think about, but I worry on it over and over.

    twizzt ,
    @twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

    @futurebird @kmck Not sure what rabbit hole made me stumble across this old post, but it needs to be turned into a short story!

    twizzt , to random
    @twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

    Daily life of the Asian Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina). First, a couple of cute sisters. These inquisitive ladys had to poke their heads out to see what was approaching their nests. Moments later they were lined up with mandibles wide and abdomens flinging formic acid at me. But it started cute and intimate.

    Next, an attentive farmer wondering why I am getting so close to its cattle.

    An orange ant with large sythe like mandibles stands over a cluster of mealy bugs that are huddled at the center of the frame. The have a waxy exudate that covers most of their body.

    loren , to random
    @loren@flipping.rocks avatar

    frog meeting. ur not invited

    twizzt ,
    @twizzt@sauropods.win avatar

    @loren this illustration just made my brain do a hard freeze and reboot....

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