The #woodlouse #Oniscus #asellus (Oniscidae) is originally distributed in Western #Europe, but today one of the most common isopods in #CentralEurope, occuring e g. in dead wood or #leaflitter and is neozoon in North America. D. T. Bilton (2008), names two morphologically/ecologically different #subspecies, O. asellus asellus and O. asellus #occidentalis.

© #StefanFWirth Bln 2025

Reference

D. T. Bilton (2008):
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1994.tb01478.x

Photos
O. asellus, #Berlin © S. F. Wirth 2020, edit 2025

Beetle #Clytra #laeviuscula (#Chrysomelidae) is #myrmecophilous. Its juveniles carry cases of feces for #antprotection. F. A. Agrain et al. (2015) state that myrmecophily in #leafbeetles only appears in #Clytrini and #Cryptocephalini within #Cryptocephalinae. Numbers of origins of the strategy are unknown, but there were preadaptations as e.g. feces cases.

© This sci-com. text #StefanFWirth 2025

Reference

F. A. Agrain et al. (2015):
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.547.6098

#Photos
© Me, Bln, new edits 2025

When elements of a #foodchain are lost, this can have #ecologicalimpacts with other species getting more abundant. N. Hammerschlag et al. (2025) report a sharp #decline in the #whiteshark population in #FalseBay, South Africa, possibly due to attacks by #orcas. This has implications for Cape fur seals and sevengill sharks.

© This text #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

Paper

N. Hammerschlag et al. (2025):
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1530362

Photo

White shark by Terry Goss, Cr. Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

#Terraristics and its #pettrade can increase people's sense for responsibility and #biodiversity. But even strictly protected species are traded illegally, harming their populations. M. Auliya et al. (2025) point to the #illegaltrade with #Galápagosiguanas, e.g. Conolophus subcristatus.

© This sci blogarticle #StefanFWirth 2025

Reference

M. Auliya et al. (2025)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111104.

Photo
C. subcristatus, by Haplochromis, 2008, Creative Com. 3.0 Unported, 2.5, 2.0, 1.0 Generic licenses

The #broadclub #cuttlefish #Ascarosepion #latimanus lives e.g. along the Australian coast. Matteo Santon et al. (2025) studied its striking #camouflage #hunting, in which it extends two arms to each side, with up to down moving dark stripes, #unsettling the #prey. #behavior
© This text #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

References:

Matteo Santon et al. (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr3686

"New Scientist" YouTube (2025):
https://youtu.be/BTNfDMYb5Qg?si=qWZq9i3UL_H8AmqM

Photo:
by Nick Hobgood, 2006, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

#Snails are primarily marine #mollusks. According to current hypotheses, the #sistergroup might be #Cephalopoda plus #Scaphopoda (Link below) . One #Apomorphy, i.e. evolutionary new acquisitions of the stemspecies, is the #asymmetrical #shell that is wound in one direction, which is due to a #torsion of the #mantle and visceral sac.
The species in my #photos is #Cornu #aspersum from Italy. #biodiversity,
© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

Reference

Sumner-Rooney et al. (2015):
https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fede.12164

My #preLights #article about a preprint dealing with the role of color #polymorphisms in woodland #salamanders to trigger faster #speciation and phenotypic #evolution rates. See also my former post. Photo creative Commons see linked article.
#StefanFWirth Berlin

https://prelights.biologists.com/highlights/loss-of-a-morph-is-associated-with-asymmetric-character-release-in-a-radiation-of-woodland-salamanders/?share=mastodon

My #SEM shows a female of the #mite #Histiostoma sp. (H. feroniarum-complex, special fixation) on #rottenlemon from Italy, #feeding a mixture of #fungi and #bacteria. It is seen from above and displays the symmetrically #fenestrated #proterosomashield that i.a. stabilizes muscle origins and still needs research. I published research information on that mite as poster #publication.

© #StefanFWirth Berlin (2006-) 2025

Poster S. F. Wirth, FAO, Global Soil Partners. (2024)
https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/gsid24/posters/en/

My digital #artwork from 2020, newly edited in 2025: I used image editing software to stereographically project the image plane onto a #spherical surface. This created a #littleplanet projection with the impression that this #tree is the only one on its #tinyworld. With my artwork, I honor the tree itself, not only because it can bind CO2, but because it represents a #community of diverse #organisms, on which I have conducted numerous #mite #related research.
© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

The #warmthloving #paperwasp #Polistes #dominula (Polistinae) was originally native to central/ southern Europe and Asia, but is increasingly spreading towards Scandinavia due to #globalwarming. In e.g. Australia and #NorthAmerica it occurs as #neozoan. 50 or more nest cells are created by one or several young #queens with the strongest subdueing its competitors. The wasp can be #parasitized by #Xenos #vesparum (#Strepsiptera).
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2025

#Halictus #subauratus (#Halictidae) is a wild #bee widespread in the Palearctic and is still common enough to not require a protection status. The #species is #eusocial with only a few #auxiliaryfemales and builds underground #nests in sandy soil. It is not picky about the plants, where it collects pollen (#polylectic). The conspicuous #brush on the #hindlegs is used to collect #pollen. Photos: on a dry meadow in #Berlin in 2020, new edit 2025. #biodiversity #evolution #macro
© #StefanFWirth

#Forsythia are #ornamental #shrubs in Central #Europe that are originally native to #Asia. The shrubs planted in #parks in Germany are the hybrids Forsythia x #intermedia. It is a hybridization of the species F. suspensa and F. viridissima. As a result of €globalwarming, the flowering period in Central Europe is shifting further and further forward. The flowers are #sterile and therefore of no interest to #pollinating insects.
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2025, photo 2022

#Helix #lucorum (#Helicidae) is a land #snail #species with a noticeably large shell that is originally distributed in Asia Minor and the Black Sea region. Like Cornu aspersum, the species is popular as a #delicacy in Europe, but is rarely bred and is instead taken from the field. Author I. Ekin (2023) deals with the #reproductiveprocesses of H. lucorum and studied them in the field for several years. #biodiversity

© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

Ekin, I. (2023): https://doi.org/10.1080/13235818.2023.2201904

Although February is the #meteorologically last month of winter, there is currently a #coldfront over #Germany with unusually much #snow in #Berlin on the night to 02/14/2025. The further outlook also points to an unusually cold February due to polar air from the east. But despite this exception the trend towards warmer Feb. temperatures due to #globalwarming has been particularly noticeable since 2020 at the latest and reached a peak with the #warmthrecord in 2024.

© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

Overview of the topic of #muscleattachment and origin points and #muscle #morphology in #Astigmata #mites (#Acariformes). Figs. 1-3 show a view from the #proterosoma towards the #gnathosoma of a mite of the #Acaridae. Fig. 4 shows a female of a #Histiostomatidae mite in the area of #​​legs 1 and 2 with the associated muscles and muscle attachment points. The already older preparations were critically - point dried before #SEM observations. #acarology #biology
© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

The #jumpingspider #Pseudeuophrys #lanigera (#Salticidae, #Araneae) is a #species that, according to Heiko Bellmann: (Der Kosmos Spinnenführer.2016), originally was #native to #southwestEurope, but has #spread in #CentralEurope since the 1950s, where it lives in the area of ​​human #buildings. According to L. J. Ramseyer & R. L. Crawford (2017) it occurs in #NorthAmerica as a #neozoon.

© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2025

Reference
L. J. Ramseyer & R. L. Crawford (2017): https://doi.org/10.3956/2017-93.4.226

A big #city like #Berlin is a priori not necessarily well suited to accommodate a large #diversity of #species; #streets can be barriers to the spread of animals. The buildings are hostile to many species. And yet #urban #biodiversity in Berlin is high, thanks to extensive fallow land, thanks to the large urban #forestareas of Grunewald and Tegeler Forst and thanks to the dense network of urban #parks with species preservation #managements.

© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025, photo 2020, newly edited

My #digitalpainting "The Magic Forest" shows #fantastic #creatures in a mysterious forest of an undetermined future on Earth. #People are not visible in my painting, and I am not at all inclined to be pessimistic, but I do criticize the current #globaltrend towards #nationalism and the rejection of measures against #humanmade #globalwarming. We need to think more about those who are not yet born today but will be at the zenith of their lives in 2050.

© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

#Cuckoowasps (#Chrysididae) always have a close relationship with other insects, mostly other #Hymenoptera, they can be brood parisites, which kill the host larva but mostly feeding their #foodsupply. They can also be #parasitoids that feed on older larvae or pupae. I previously identified the species shown as #Hedychrum #rutilans, but it may be H. #gerstaeckeri, the #hosts would then be: #Cerceris rybyensis and C. ruficornis. #biodiversity
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin 2020, new edit & text 2025

My #digitalpainting "#forestpeople" was part about an #artistic #reflection about how aliens might describe #mankind on earth to those aliens who never ever saw humans. Would it be positive or negative? Or even far away from our #expectations? I fear there is a tendency to negativity, but it might at least be due to uncareful observations by too superficial aliens. I mean I hope so. My digital #paintingseries #behance: https://www.behance.net/gallery/215809871/The-Aliens-Assessment

© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2024/2025