Mastodawn

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Jan 12

Alex Wild Jan 9

Spider or puppy? We report, you decide.

#Spiders #Nature

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Nov 25

Michael Busch Apr 11, 2025

Science fiction author: "I have created this extremely alien alien."

Biologists: "We have an insect that does that."

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Nov 10

Vicent Gisbert Cardona Nov 9

Illustration of an oil beetle (Meloe impressus) 🐞
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#scientificillustration #zoology #biology #insect #animal #boardgame #insectarium #menagerie #cardgameart #sciart #beetle #oilbeetle #bug

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Oct 25

Brynnbo the FrogMxstress Oct 24

I took home a pocket full of seeds and turned some of them into a cute little acorn bug

#autumn #crafts

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Sep 9, 2025

Small ciccadelidae, 3 mm , yet displaying a fancy coat.

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Sep 8, 2025

A Miridae , a stare contest.

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Sep 4, 2025

Sarah Arnold Sep 3, 2025

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09425-w Wow this paper.

So:
- there's a species of ant with queens
- the queens mate with males of the same species to make more queens
- or the queens mate with males of a *totally different species that diverged millions of years ago* to make hybrid workers, that enable eusociality
- and also the queens can lay male eggs of both species of ant

Love it. Time to rethink our understanding of the concept of "species" again, I guess. I adore these sorts of examples of species that looked at the textbook, said, "Nah, that sounds dull," and then try something so mind-blowing that you wonder if they're just having a laugh.

One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants - Nature

In a case of obligate cross-species cloning, female ants of Messor ibericus need to clone males of Messor structor to obtain sperm for producing the worker caste, resulting in males from the same mother having distinct genomes and morphologies.

Nature

Thomas Chouvenc / Termite Lab Sep 2, 2025