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obeckett98.bsky.social
Entomologist with the National Biodiversity Data Centre 🐝🐞🦋 Ireland
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Three bumblebee species, Bombus lucorum, Bombus terrestris and the most notable one, Bombus hypnorum, enjoying the winter heather in Armagh today. This species only arrived in Ireland around 10 years ago, but is now quite common in the northeast in particular.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Make sure to grab your ticket for my upcoming online talk, Irish Bees for Beginners. Or maybe you can get one as a late Valentine's Day gift for someone who loves bees, insects or invertebrates! If you're not in, you can't win.* *Knowledge is the prize. 🙂 bit.ly/irish-bees-2...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Anthophora hispanica es mi especie favorita de ese género. Tamaño de abejorro y velocidad de avión. Con suerte la podréis ver por estas fechas alredededor de plantas de Erophaca baetica. Aquí un macho repostando un instante, sin parar el motor. Lo mejor de mi día de abejeo.

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

Empezando la diversión. Un pequeño muestrario de abejas que ya están volando estos días en el bajo valle del Guadalquivir: macho de Eucera nigrilabris y hembras de Andrena florentina, A. trimmerana y A. antigana.

submitted 25 days ago • 1 comment

Velvet ants (Mutillidae and Myrmosidae) are pretty cool creatures! Despite their name, they are actually wasps, and not ants. (Most) males are winged, and females do not have wings.

submitted 271 days ago • 1 comment

One week to go before the closing date on this ansum PhD. Like rainforests? Like Beetles? Like Devon and Cornwall? Then resolve to apply now!

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments

A summary of the most interesting observations from my field trip to southern and central Spain in May 2024, including new records and floral preferences of some rare mining bees (Andrena) and blunthorn bees (Melitta): www.researchgate.net/publication/...

submitted 62 days ago • 0 comments

An important discovery of new population of the Endangered Euchloe bazae in southern Spain by our partners in @asoczerynthia.bsky.social . www.researchgate.net/publication/...

submitted 67 days ago • 0 comments

2024 Highlights #5. One of the best wasp-mimics I've ever seen: Temnostoma vespiforme, a spectacular hoverfly I found in Brittany, France while cycling along the Nantes-Brest canal. It's got all the right markings and even waves its front legs to look like long wasp antennae. #Diptera #Hoverfly

submitted 81 days ago • 4 comments

Spruce Cone Bug (Gastrodes abietum) seen in Loughgall, Co Armagh. This species was first found in Ireland by @joshecology.bsky.social earlier this year and has since been found at three sites. It lives on the cones of Norway Spruce, so it's probably more widespread than current records suggest.

submitted 83 days ago • 0 comments

Digging below the surface: Hidden risks for ground-nesting bees such as bumble bee queens & the hoary squash bee, are commonly exposed to pesticide residues in soil which can lead to lethal & sublethal impacts on behavior & brood prodn. #SabrinaRondeau in #sciencemag www.science.org/doi/full/10....

submitted 106 days ago • 0 comments

It's hard not to get dragged down by the negativity on Twitter, so thought I'd give this a go. Here's a lovely Heather Mining Bee (Andrena fuscipes) from the Mourne Mountains, Co. Down last year.

submitted 111 days ago • 3 comments