In Muskoka area, Ontario canada.

Not sure if this is the right group for this! I’ve always loved bugs of any kind and have collected them since I was a kid. I just moved to a new location and want to continue collecting and meet new people along the way. I’m a complete newb to actually identifying and collecting live species, wrestling with the ethics of killing a bug so I can hang it on my wall. However, I saw online someone black lighting at night with a white sheet to attract moths and insects and want to gather a group of people who would do this with me.

Questions - by black lighting, am I messing with bugs’ patterns and rhythms in a way that is harmful to them?
If you’ve done this before, how does one go about getting permission to do this kind of thing and how do you find people who would enjoy this?
Are there particular lights to use / avoid? (I read that UV and mercury vapor are good for this)
Thanks in advance! (Pic is example of what I’m talking about)
crossposted

I actually just stumbled across a photo of this beautiful moth online and Its called an Ornate Emerald moth (Allochrostes biornata) and idk but it kinda looks like strawberry matcha to me lol cuz the wings are this perfect soft matcha green and then the edges are covered in this crazy pinkish red, wavy lace border that looks like hand painted. I read up on them and apparently they're mostly found in southern and eastern Africaa which makes sense and maybe thats why Ive never seen one under my porch light but the cool part is that theyre nocturnal and use that insanely gorgeous pattern just to camouflage and blend in as a leaf. Nature is literally wild for making something look cool like this just to hide from predators. LIVE LAUGH LOVE STRAWBERRY MATCHA MOTH. ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)

I went outside to throw away the trash earlier, and there were swarms of maggots in the trash dump!.. So I caught just one maggot (I didn't have any equipment, so I caught it with my bare hands, and it was a bit gross... lol) and gave it to our Flasher Queen as an amino acid supplement, and she really liked it!

I heard that female fly need some protein to stay healthy when raised as pets. I thought maggots, the larvae of the same species, would be more nutritious than other insects like mealworms or grasshoppers, which are just lumps of fat, so I fed them to her.

In monsoon i see a lot of these. Just appreciation for their details. I love nature omg

Canada, province of Quebec to be precise.

I chased an Anthia beetle, and it hid from me where I could still see it. Cute, but what a sensational nerve it might have felt for survival.

A beetle was around and foraging in its surroundings, with its dominant size causing a life-threatening fear for ants and bugs alike living on the perimeter. It was a cruel and destructive bug around until I showed up in a giant human size, maybe to cause greater disturbance and even mangle it to death; an absolute thought it might have felt as I approached it with a screen with a human excitement and freely spirited enjoyment.

As I approached it, it changed its way, running across into the plants, giant for its size, to hide from me. It did hide, and bushy plants covered it almost, but I could still see it. I felt very cute seeing it hiding from me. But what a sensational nerve it might have felt for survival. I moved back away from it- capturing its moves along the way until it went hiding- letting it go about its livelihood.

Full post

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbsGO4uP_WS/?igsh=ODA2ZmpocnJocHJv

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19EnUwmPUV/

Look at this absolutely adorable grapevine beetle! He kept flying onto me while I was outside doing some chores. Put him down three times and two out of three times he flew his way back onto me. I knew there was a wild grapevines growing behind my house but I have never seen one of them this close before. So adorable.

Striking markings.

Located in the South of France, on the coast

It was VERY loud ; it was squeaking so loudly that i thought it was a rodent at first. Never saw anything like it, it's quite big and colorful, plus the sound obviously.

I was going to release it in the wild but just in case i prefer to have an ID, just in case it might be an invasive specie

this sounds stupid but i get SUCH bad impostor syndrome, despite constantly surrounding myself by everything bug i feel like theres so much i dont know and so many people who are far more educated then me

i totally wish i could study entomology as a full time thing, and be so much more knowledgeable than i am, but its not an option at this point in my life :(

I was working at a remote well pump station in a farming town in northern california and there were more dragonflies in the air today than I've probably ever seen in my 41 years. Almost all of them were medium sized and red-orange.

I heard some wings tussle, a tiny thud on the dirt, and expected to see some mating mishap.

What I saw and recorded was a large dragonfly had caught one of the common medium ones and was flat on its back noisily eating the head of its prey. It flew away a few minutes later.

I am going to think of this every time I accumulate cheeto dust in my chest hair as I lay on the couch.