Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD

things keep changing / we will, too 💫

Exactly! I'm just hoping that the recommendations from the ABRS review are taken to heart - I know a big increase in funding was one of them. That was a few years ago now though, and I don't think the report will ever be made public. :(

‘I love midges because I know what their hearts look like’: is the passion for taxonomy in danger of dying out? Insect taxonomist Art Borkent has described and named more than 300 species of midges but fears his field of science is dying out, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be ...

Yes. Taxonomy is very much in danger of dying out. Simply because other scientists don't understand its importance and there is very little money for doing this work. 1/n

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The lack of taxonomic funding/positions makes my heart so heavy. This is my dream job and I'd love to do it forever, but realistically that's unlikely to happen. 😔 I don't see a top-down solution happening any time soon either. What do we do?

Sign the Petition Save the Nullarbor

The caves of the Nullarbor Plain are fragile time capsules of biodiversity, supporting species found nowhere else on Earth. While it sounds good on paper, the proposed "green" energy hub will destroy this ancient ecosystem. Please consider signing. #SaveTheNullarbor

change.org/p/save-the-nullarbor

A bee without a gut microbiome My recent PhD study on an Australian native solitary bee, Megachile tosticauda, challenges a longheld assumption in insect biology: that all bees rely on a functional gut microbiome. Toda…

Our postdoc @dr-ewilliamson.bsky.social's recent PhD study on an Australian native solitary bee, Megachile tosticauda, challenged a longheld assumption in insect biology: that all bees rely on a functional gut #microbiome. So what happens if it's missing? #bugsky invertebratelab.com/2026/02/24/a...

Did you know gum blossoms don't just attract bees - Australia's eucalypts rely on a huge range of species for pollination!

Stay tuned for more stories about #OurEucalyptHome in the lead up to National Eucalypt Day on March 23rd! Cartoon in collaboration with @eucalyptaus.bsky.social!

How do you intend to clone a live moa if you can’t even be bothered to draw one? Really sums up how seriously we should take these people.

I miss when Alt meant like heavy eye makeup and putting a pile of your zine style campus newspaper on a table in the college student union, and not like people who won't get vaccianted but insist on drinking non-pasteurized poo milk.

Frame #59750 from S03 -E07 - Giant Lobster-627717

The Cowardice Of American Medicine On Trans Youth Care After capitulation by hospitals across the country, the ASPS and AMA have both thrown trans kids under the bus on surgical care.

The ASPS has come out against trans youth surgical care.

The AMA then endorsed the ASPS.

Meanwhile, WPATH's president-elect testified on behalf of a detransitioner who won their case.

And hospitals capitulate to Trump.

I write my indictment of the American medical system on trans youth care.

I know it’s intentional but we should stop calling everything AI, lumping useful machine learning techniques for science with large language models that tech companies are trying to cram into everything.

Tucked in little claws 🦀

A crab sitting like a cat loaf. So cute𓈒𓏸︎︎︎︎

Trans athletes may not have fitness advantage in women’s sport, landmark study finds Findings suggest physical performance in trans women converges toward that of cis women over time

What's that you say!

It was all just fear pushing by bad faith groups and that trans women pose no threat to cisgender women.

www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

Jumpscare of an image

Male Pale Brindled Beauty.

Ocys quinquestriatus.

Cluster of 2-spot, Harlequin, 10-spot & Cream-spot Ladybirds.

2 Buchananiella continua (top) with Anthocoris nemorum.

Highlights from #Edinburgh cemeteries last week: Male Pale Brindled Beauty, Ocys quinquestriatus (nationally scarce), cluster of 2-spot, Harlequin, 10-spot & Cream-spot Ladybirds & Buchananiella continua with Anthocoris nemorum. #insects #CemeteryWildlifeWatch recording activity on #iRecord.

Pinned specimen of an adult Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus, 1758); lateral view.

The infamous human bot fly (Dermatobia hominis). This specimen is from a rainforest in Honduras, deposited at the Biological Museum, Lund University.
[MZLU 00131504]
#Diptera #Oestridae 🪰

That'd be so cool! The minor arcana isn't explained nearly as much, but here are the four suits. Knives/staves are black and symbolise "the welcome night" and globes and basins are red for "the sun and the day it brings". I can send you the whole entry if you'd like :)

Nah, if they used AI it doesn't count - if I'm interpreting their "thinking machines" comment correctly, anyway

definitely glabrous

Flashbacks to that person handling a blue-ringed octopus 😱

demonology is about subjugating beings with huge spiky teeth so this is actually so true

Recently got a copy of the out-of-print #Dune Encyclopedia (1984) and am obsessed with the design of these tarot cards. These are the only ones there are illustrations for, but the entire major arcana is described in-text. The book even provides sample spreads for divination!

Imo it's a forgone conclusion that the ALP will win the upcoming SA election, but it's going to be very interesting to see preference flows...

This is great.

A dark brown cave cricket stretched out across a rocky grey cave wall. Its antennae are so long they reach offscreen.

Taxonomists, which names are you workshopping right now? For this cave cricket I'm thinking aedituens (temple-keeper). Found in the same caves as the oldest known fossils of coral reef fish, so I like the idea of it "guarding" them and their memory. #bugsky #taxonomy

📷: Hannah Zurcher

Headline 1, 1/21/26: Pregnant woman in medical distress deported from US, says attorney Woman who's eight months pregnant sent to Colombia by ICE, despite belated court order to keep her out of the air https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/21/pregnant-woman-ice-deportation-atlanta Headline 2, 1/23/26: A pregnant mother in ICE detention says she's bleeding — and hasn't seen a doctor in weeks Cecil Elvir-Quinonez, who is still breastfeeding her youngest child, is awaiting deportation in a Louisiana ICE facility states away from her family and children. https://19thnews.org/2026/01/pregnant-mother-ice-detention-medical-care/ Headline 3, 1/23/26: An asylum seeker found out she was pregnant in ICE detention. She says ICE refuses care. Couple's issue getting medical care reflects systemic problems detainees in federal https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/an-asylum-seeker-found-out-she-was-pregnant-in-ice-detention-she-says-ice-refuses-care

These three stories were all published this week. Abolishing ICE is a reproductive justice issue

It can get lower!

First, the Board decided not to implement motions passed by members to make trans rights a key focus of this year's festival - intended as a response to rising persecution in the US. Now, the only openly trans director has not only been censured by the Board but also misgendered in the process.