Frank Ashwood
Soil ecologist & macrophotographer | Author-in-progress | He/Him | www.frankashwood.com
- I bring you exciting news... I FOUND THE FIRST EVER GIANT SPRINGTAILS IN CHRISTCHURCH! The closest population before this were at Arthur's Pass, but now we can add the Port Hills to their distribution. Definitely my best observation from the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge. #SoilBiodiversity🧪
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- If you're an entomologist/soil invertebrate scientist, then it's likely your dream job advert just went live at Reading University in the UK! #Invertebrate 🧪 jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
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- Excuse the radio silence from me lately, it's been a very intense University teaching semester. On the plus side, I've done LOADS of entomology lecturing, which has been great fun! Naturally, I've squeezed in some soil invert content, like this bizarre not-quite-an-insect Proturan! #Invertebrate 🧪
- Reposted by Frank Ashwood📢 🪱 Earthworms enthusiasts 😁 : The official website for the 13th Symposium on Earthworm Ecology is now live! ✨ 🪱 📅 SAVE THE DATE: August 23-28, 2026 in Wageningen, the Netherlands 🔗 Check it out and stay tuned for updates! event.wur.nl/isee13/home-2 📸Amazing pictures @frankashwood.bsky.social
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- This gorgeous creature is the prickly stick insect (Acanthoxyla prasina), one of New Zealand's 23 species of stick insect. Huge thanks to @morganemerien.bsky.social for pointing this out on a recent University of Canterbury field trip - it's great fun teaching entomology! #Invertebrate 🧪
- We've all been there: You've been hunting a moth all morning, and when you finally land the killing blow, you overcompensate and savage it so violently, you get its wing scales all up in your eyes. Then a human comes along with a camera to immortalise your embarrassment. Typical! #Invertebrate 🧪
- Now Bug of the Year is over, normal service can resume! Here's an incredibly feathery velvet mite (Chyzeriidae) from New Zealand. These active predators wander the forest floor, looking for springtails to ambush and drink dry using their piercing mouthparts! Beautiful but deadly. #Invertebrate 🧪
- Introducing New Zealand's latest Bug of the Year- the magnificent Ngāokeoke / Velvet Worm! NZ has two genera: one lays eggs (Ooperipatellus, 1st photo) and another gives live birth (Peripatoides, 2nd). They also deposit sperm which burrow through their partner's skin, but that's another story! 🧪
- Reposted by Frank AshwoodHello, internet! Things are bad for our trans & queer friends in the US, so I teamed up with bsky's nature artists to create this pack containing 80 wallpapers and growing. 1. Donate to one of the two orgs below 2. DM me your receipt 3. I'll give you a download link Valid til the end of the month
- Podium finish for the Giant Springtail - thanks for all the support! Congratulations to the Velvet Worm for a well-deserved win. Having two soil inverts in the top three is great awareness raising for soil biodiversity! Nice to see my photos in the Guardian too: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
- We're all on tenterhooks waiting for the results to be announced tomorrow for the NZ Bug of the Year competition! Here's a few of my favourite contenders. Now voting is over I'll admit I have been quietly rooting for the velvet worm too - they're amazing animals! Good luck #TeamGiantSpringtail!
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- ONLY THREE HOURS LEFT TO VOTE! Anyone in the world can vote in the Bug of the Year contest - It's quick and easy! Please go vote for the Giant Springtail RIGHT NOW! bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... If it wins, I'll get one as my first ever tattoo!! #Invertebrate #TeamGiantSpringtail 🧪
- Only 24 hours left to vote for Giant Springtails to win Bug of the Year! If I haven't convinced you yet, perhaps this photo I took of one DEFENSIVELY BLEEDING will win you over. So metal. We need every vote we can get, so please vote now: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... #Invertebrate 🧪
- Colouring contest results! There were so many amazing entries, but these two were so good I couldn't decide between them and made two categories 😅 Congratulations to Kora and Heidi for these epic giant springtails, I'll be in touch to arrange your prizes! bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...
- Only four days left in the Bug of the Year 2025 contest! If every single one of my followers on here votes RIGHT NOW, we'll DOUBLE the winner's votes last year. Let's make it happen - we can't lose to the velvet worm in the last leg! bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... #Invertebrate 🧪
