Paul Williams
Bumblebee taxonomy / evolution / biogeography - at NHM London:
guides to the species of the Himalaya, Sichuan, North China, &
North America
working with genes & morphology
pic: Yuzhu Mt, Kunlun range
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsINSECT TAXONOMY IN THE 21ST CENTURY @entsocamerica.bsky.social Online, April 27-29! Featuring keynotes from Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social, Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, and Dominic Evangelista. Now accepting contributed talks! Grant deadline Feb 4, abstracts due Mar 6. entsoc.org/membership/b...
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsBrown belted bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus griseocollis) are widespread across much of North America. They take pollen and nectar from a variety of plants, including Rocky Mountain beeplant (Cleomaceae: Cleomella serrulata). Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska, 29 Jul 2025.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsMy first queen 🐝 of the year, foraging hard in the beautiful @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social also carrying lots of lovely Parasitellus mites who will help keep her nest clean once she founds it
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsI have been interested in the faunistics of northern #Canada and #Alaska for some time. This lovely volume on the #arthropods of #Greenland is an excellent contribution; the three bee species are covered on three pages, though what was called #Bombus hyperboreus should now be Bombus natvigi.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsMinnesota National Guard members have arrived at a federal building and were directed to distribute donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate to anti-ICE protesters. Guard members were issued reflective vests so they would not be mistaken for federal agents.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsWhen @omearabrian.bsky.social saw the manuscript, he described it as: ‘What if this figure could be an entire paper?’ I choose to interpret that as high praise. Now accepted at AmNat: The geometry of macroevolution (with Dan Rabosky). www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsGood morning!
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsDisheartening to learn that after 18 years, founder Ken-ichi Ueda has left iNaturalist, citing irreconcilable differences in the direction of the company. kueda.net/blog/2026/01... He has a Patreon while he figures out his next move: www.patreon.com/cw/kueda
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsWishing everyone a strong start to 2026! 🎆 Quick note: the Imperiled Bombus Conservation Task Force 🐝 (part of Pollinator Partnership) is accepting research proposals ➡️ graduate students and postdocs encouraged to apply. Deadline 🗓️ is January 31. More info 🔗 www.pollinator.org/nappc/imperi...
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsBest wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all my followers
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsI must admit, I have not seen many specimens of #Bombus variabilis, this #cuckoo #bumblebee was collected in Florida in 1984. @paulwilliamsnhm.bsky.social
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsBuff-tailed Bumblebee worker foraging at Mahonia in Calverley Grounds today
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsBombus Consobrinus, Norway 2022. This bee has the longest tongue of all scandinavian bees. It is specialised on Monkshood flowers with deep corolla's. Lovely, very fast, quite large bees 😘
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsCheck out our review/perspective piece on phylogenetic diversification analysis, intended for the 75th anniversary of @systbiol.bsky.social. I had the privilege of working with great coauthors, @fhenaodiaz.bsky.social, @tvasconcelos.bsky.social and @roszenil.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsOne of my favourites, it took two vacations in the French alps to find these beauties. Bombus Brodmannicus, a specialized bumblebee dependend on Cerinthe. This was 2023 July. Mind: running on a slope diving low to shoot the bees hanging under low flowers being very shy 😍 Very Mindful activity.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsThe ‘shocking’ water crisis in parts of South East England www.channel4.com/news/the-sho...
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsMale Redtailed bumblebee (B. Lapidarius) foraging, Sweden spring 2024. Typical: long antennae and moustache, I love the colours. Verge of a grey gravelroad.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsWeekend starter 😊 A male Red Shanked Carderbee (B. Ruderarius) foraging on Greater Knapweed, Sweden spring 2025.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsForaging worker with full pollen-baskets and queen of Buff-tailed Bumblebee in Calverley Grounds today
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsDorothy Hodges' remarkable book 'The Pollen Loads of the Honeybee' (1952) has seasonal colour charts to identify which flowers the pollen comes from
- Christmas comes early to the sunny southeast
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsFor #EntSoc2025 folks interested in insect responses to extreme weather, Neal Williams and I are hosting a session, "Hot Bees" in D133/134. We'll focus the methods and tools we can use to understand how heat waves impact wild pollinators across ecological scales. Join us! 🌡️🐝💨🌼
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsSouth Sweden summer 2024, lucky shot having two bumblebees sharp at once. Tree bumblebee and a white tailed bumblebee.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsToday the 2025 State of the Cryosphere report was published by over 50 leading cryosphere scientists. An urgent warning about the global consequences of the meltdown of ice, including the risk of shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean current system #AMOC. 🌊 iccinet.org/statecryo25/
- Bombus terrestris queens and pollen-collecting workers on Fatsia in the garden today despite early November
- Reposted by Paul Williams#EntSoc25 Curious about the future of bee taxonomy? Join our workshop to explore its current state, identify research gaps, and discover innovative solutions shaping the field. Wednesday at 1:30 PM in C25 @entsocamerica.bsky.social 🐝🧬🔬 @isabellamanning.bsky.social @mmlopezu.bsky.social
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsMorning! @nhm.org looking lovely before the hordes arrive 🤩
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsICE is stockpiling arms, including chemical weapons, guided missile warheads and explosive components. The spending dwarfs anything we've ever seen in the agency - a 700% increase. The President is building an army to attack his own country.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsOur new paper “On the nomenclature of Bombus flavifrons Smith, 1866 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombini)” @paulwilliamsnhm.bsky.social jhr.pensoft.net/article/1632...
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsRed-tailed Bumblebee queen in Calverley Grounds today
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsSlopes of Mt. Mottarone, north Italy. Few flowers now and few bbees (mostly probably B. pascuorum). This one a male.
- Reposted by Paul Williams#MacroMonday A big bumble bee for today’s #macro Monday. #bee #insects #pollen #EastCoastKin #photography
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- Reposted by Paul WilliamsThe job of CEO of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust is now being advertised, as the wonderful Gill Perkins has announced she is stepping down. Fab opportunity for the right person: www.bumblebeeconservation.org/what-we-do/v...
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsThe morning #bee 🐝
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsGood walk round Grassholm Reservoir, Co. Durham.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsThree years ago at Canvey Wick, brown site next to the Thames estuary. After a wildfire new vegetation was flourishing with beautiful Shrill carder males foraging.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsThank you! And what an honour to be appointed Director of the amazing @zoologymuseum.bsky.social Sad to leave @rhulbiology.bsky.social after a wonderful 16.5 years, but very excited by this new challenge and amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to get started!
- 📢We’re delighted to announce that the Vice Chancellor has appointed @markjfbrown.bsky.social as Director of the University @zoologymuseum.bsky.social and Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology. Congratulations Mark! We look forward to welcoming you in Jan 2026. Read more: bit.ly/3UVHmey
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsIn 2023 we found Bombus Brodmannicus in the French Alps. This bumblebee is dependend on pollen of Cerinthe Minor. Amazingly fast bees, difficult to shoot beautifull coulours. Three days later all was eaten by sheep sadly.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsRemoval of a hornet’s nest.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsReally enjoyable day surveying scarce insects at the Balmoral Estate with @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social, @savebutterflies.bsky.social East Scotland, and Balmoral Ranger Service. Bilberry Bombus monticola and Broken-belted B. soroeensis Bumblebees both new to me.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsQueen of Garden Bumblebee at Watermill Cove, St Mary's, Scilly
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsDisgusted to see this beautiful landscape ruined by wind turbines.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsAn evening walk at Milton Creek CP, Sittingbourne. At least 2 Song Thrush & 2 Blackcap in song, 2 Common Sandpiper (yt) on the creek. The carder Bumblebee’s liked the flowering Knapweed with (hopefully Shril, Brown-banded & Common seen along with Red-tailed & Buff-tailed. A few Gatekeepers also seen
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsPlenty of Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus sylvarum) workers seen on today's survey of a brownfield site in Cardiff - we're so lucky to have these beautiful bees in South Wales! 😍 Brown-banded Carder Bee (B. humilis) also present in abundance.
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsTwo nice backyard shots of Bombus lapidarius male foraging.
- Reposted by Paul Williams#MacroMonday a Nevada bumblebee drone looking out for new queens. Note his big antenna and his very big eyes. Male bumblebees queue up on long tall pieces of grass watching for queens while chasing other drones away. They’ll mate with new queens, She’ll overwinter and start a new quality next year.
- Reposted by Paul Williams"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsCame across an odd what I first thought was a Wasp species at Oare recently......but I,m now leaning towards a huge male Ant ,a Large Velvet Ant (Mutilla Europea ) .The Bumblebee a male Red -Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus Lapidarius) Happy to be corrected. @ianbeavis.bsky.social
- Reposted by Paul WilliamsTiengemeten yesterday, a Bombus veteranus (Zandhommel) foraging. This was the only one I've seen wich is quite disappointing.
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