@alexwild@mastodon.online
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alexwild

@alexwild@mastodon.online

Curator of Entomology at the University of Texas at Austin. Photographer of more living ant species than any other person, and still hasn't reached even 10% of them.

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alexwild, to random
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Campuses aren't being rocked by protests.

They're being rocked by politicized administrators ordering students beaten and jailed to satisfy the political elite.

Let's be clear who is causing the violence.

alexwild,
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@thepoliticalcat Texas.

alexwild,
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@thepoliticalcat it sucks here. The Texas elite would not hesitate to pull a Tiananmen Square.

alexwild, to random
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Jay Hartzell, President of the University of Texas at Austin, yesterday broke the single most important compact that academics have with each other and their institutions: do not intentionally hurt students.

The TX governor, for his own political purposes, sent state troopers to campus before a student protest even began. Hartzell both let these outside law enforcement agencies in, and provided cover for the violence they inflicted on dozens of peaceful, unarmed UT students.

alexwild,
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The political elites of Texas are trying to create the optics of violent chaos on college campuses, for reasons that I won't go into here but are clear if you've been paying attention this election year.

It is the duty- perhaps the most important duty- of UT faculty, staff, and administrators to provide for the safety of students. Upper admin helping the state use our students as punching bags is such a core violation of this duty that it is unlikely trust can or should be regained.

alexwild,
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Hartzell must resign.

alexwild,
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@thejacenallen not everything is about Biden.

alexwild, to Texas
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First statement from University of Texas at Austin president Jay Hartzell about today’s protests.

image/jpeg

alexwild,
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The UT faculty council responds appropriately.

alexwild, to tesla
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Tesla cutting a lot of jobs in Austin.

https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/tesla-layoffs-austin-gigafactory-travis-county/269-e8dfa8dc-3a92-4072-a45a-6d4200427671

alexwild, to random
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What's going on with Mastodon's text search function? It hasn't worked for a while now.

alexwild, to random
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Imagine having a cat-sized parasite living upside-down clamped to your chin, stealing food every time you try to take a bite.

Such is the life of an ant with an Antennophorus mite.

alexwild, to random
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Moved into a new house last fall. The yard was fine, but mostly neglected. The sprinkler system had broken at least 5 years prior and was never fixed. Infrequently mowed.

Imagine my surprise this spring when a sizable chunk of the front yard did this:

alexwild,
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@wendinoakland These are our local Texas equivalent, showy primroses, Oenethera speciosa. Pretty common roadside wildflower. We're quite happy to have them!

alexwild, to Bloomscrolling
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Primrose pollen is bound by sticky viscin threads that make collection difficult for non-specialist pollinators. Here, a honey bee struggles but persists with a load. Texas.

alexwild, to Texas
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Well this is sobering. In terms of biodiversity, a new study predicts Austin might be one of the worst hit of 60 North American cities evaluated under different climate change scenarios. Far more species lost than gained.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299217

alexwild, to photography
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I haven’t had much time for photography this year, but spring is here, the bugs are going full tilt and I’ve been able to do a few quick sessions. Here’s my gallery of recent shots:

https://www.alexanderwild.com/Photography/Recent/n-js6qN

alexwild, to random
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It's time for an old-fashioned Bee-Off.

Which is the better bee? Bee one? or Bee two?

Close-up photograph of an extremely fuzzy yellow bee with blue-green eyes, in a purple thistle flower.

alexwild, to random
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Ran an insect blacklight during the totality, with a control run the evening before. Got a ton of insects during both, but very different species. Fascinating. More later.

alexwild, to random
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Texas sky update.

alexwild, to climate
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Study: butterfly species that overwinter as eggs are experiencing more climate-change related seasonal mismatch with the plants they feed on than other butterflies, and are declining faster.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14543

alexwild, to random
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“The Beekeeper” (2024)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-accused-unleashing-bees-deputies-serving-eviction-notice-massach-rcna53087

alexwild, to random
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The iconic World of Insects calendar is now accepting submissions for next year’s edition.

https://entsoc.org/publications/world-insects-calendar

alexwild, to australia
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A gallery of Australian ants, the animals that pretty much run the entire continent.

https://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Regional-Ant-Faunas/Australian-Ants

alexwild,
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@gay_ornithischians Good question. That's the labium. It folds up under the head. Here, in another ant species:

https://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants/Natural-History/Soldier-Ants/i-MgDhTrP

alexwild,
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@gay_ornithischians In Myrmecia they aren't quite so tidy, but they sort of fit in under the head and only stick out a little.

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