Caturday felid trifecta: The love hormone we share with cats; Cleopatra the cat gets groomed; the Great Cat/D*g divide

September 5, 2026 • 9:30 am

We’re back with another Caturday post with three—count them, three—items of substance, and two of lagniappe. The first one is from The Independent; the “love hormone: turns out to be oxytocin, which has this complex structure (it’s a neuropeptide, with the amino acid residues labeled):

Edgar181, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Click the headline to read how the “love hormone” soothes us when we interact with cats:

An excerpt (indented):

Cats may have a reputation for independence, but emerging research suggests we share a unique connection with them – fuelled by brain chemistry.

The main chemical involved is oxytocin, often called the love hormone. It’s the same neurochemical that surges when a mother cradles her baby or when friends hug, fostering trust and affection. And now studies are showing oxytocin is important for cat-human bonding too.

Oxytocin plays a central role in social bonding, trust and stress regulation in many animals, including humans. One 2005 experiment showed that oxytocin made human volunteers significantly more willing to trust others in financial games.

Oxytocin also has calming effects in humans and animals, as it suppresses the stress hormone cortisol and activates the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest system) to help the body relax.

Scientists have long known that friendly interactions trigger oxytocin release in both dogs and their owners, creating a mutual feedback loop of bonding. Until recently, though, not much was known about its effect in cats.

Cats are more subtle in showing affection. Yet their owners often report the same warm feelings of companionship and stress relief that dog owners do – and studies are increasingly backing these reports up. Researchers in Japan, for example, reported in 2021 that brief petting sessions with their cats boosted oxytocin levels in many owners.

In that study, women interacted with their cats for a few minutes while scientists measured the owners’ hormone levels. The results suggested that friendly contact (stroking the cat, talking in a gentle tone) was linked to elevated oxytocin in the humans’ saliva, compared with a quiet resting period without their cat.

Many people find petting a purring cat is soothing, and research indicates it’s not just because of the soft fur. The act of petting and even the sound of purring can trigger oxytocin release in our brains. One 2002 study found this oxytocin rush from gentle cat contact helps lower cortisol (our stress hormone), which in turn can reduce blood pressure and even pain.

The oxytocin of cats also goes up when they’re having pleasure being cuddled (if they don’t want cuddling, the hormone doesn’t increase):

 

Research is pinpointing specific moments that cause the release of this hormone in our cross-species friendship. Gentle physical contact seems to be a prime trigger for cats.

A February 2025 study found that when owners engaged in relaxed petting, cuddling or cradling of their cats, the owners’ oxytocin tended to rise, and so did the cats’ – if the interaction was not forced on the animal.

The researchers monitored oxytocin in cats during 15 minutes of play and cuddling at home with their owner. Securely attached cats who initiated contact such as lap-sitting or nudging showed an oxytocin surge. The more time they spent close to their humans, the greater the boost.

. . . Are cats just less loving than d*gs?

It’s true that studies generally find stronger oxytocin responses in dog–human interactions. In one widely discussed 2016 experiment, scientists measured oxytocin in pets and owners before and after ten minutes of play. Dogs showed an average 57% spike in oxytocin levels after playtime, whereas cats showed about a 12% increase.

This is of course because d*gs have been bred to be worshipful sycophants, while cats retain a measure of independence. At any rate, words to remember:

So, next time your cat blinks slowly from across the sofa or climbs on to your lap for a purr-filled cuddle, know that something invisible is happening too: oxytocin is rising in both your brains, deepening the trust and soothing the stress of daily life. Cats, in their own way, have tapped into the ancient biology of love.

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Meet Cleopatra, who, in this 7-minute video, gets groomed for the first time. She’s “severely compacted” rather than matted, with tons of shedded undercoat remaining in her fur. There is a ton of fur. She even gets her nails cut and has a bath, but, with her hoodie and cone, she remains relatively calm. As the groomer says, “[Cleopatra] was an absolute pleasre to work with.”

I don’t know if amost groomers are this kind and thorough, and of course she knows she’s on camera, but if I had a fur-clogged moggy I’d take her to this person.

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This article, from MetLife Pet Insurance (click screenshot to read) is full of useful information. Which states are “dog states” versus “cat states”? Which cities have the most of the best pets versus d*gs?

Here’s the method behind the survey, and realize that the same is not all that large. Also, determining the “leaning” of cities and states is done by using Internet searches, which is dubious. But let’s assume for the time being that the results are fairly accurate:

This survey, conducted by Fractl on behalf of MetLife on July 7, 2026, gathered responses from 1,005 U.S. adults to settle America’s dog-versus-cat divide and uncover how pet preference aligns with personality, lifestyle, and relationships. Respondents had an average age of 42; 50% identified as men, 49% as women, 1% as nonbinary, and under 1% declined to specify their gender. Generationally, 35% were baby boomers or Gen X, 47% were millennials, and 18% were Gen Z. Of those surveyed, 84% were pet owners: 39% owned a dog only, 24% owned a cat only, and 21% lived in multi-species households with both a dog and a cat, while 16% had no pets at the time of the survey.

In addition to the survey, Fractl analyzed Google search volume data from June 2025 to May 2026 to determine each state’s and major city’s dominant pet preference. The research reviewed 84 dog- and cat-related search terms, organized into 40 matched dog-versus-cat pairs (such as “puppy adoption” vs. “kitten adoption” and “dog park near me” vs. “cat cafe near me”), across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 55 major metropolitan areas.

Because dog-related terms out-search cat-related terms nationwide, researchers measured each location’s relative lean, meaning its share of paired dog searches compared with the national average, rather than raw volume, so that a “Dog State” or “Cat State” leans relative to the rest of the country rather than in absolute terms. Researchers weighted all 40 pairs equally and excluded four unpaired terms (“dog leash,” “dog walker,” “cat litter,” and “litter box”) that had no cross-species counterpart, to keep the index balanced.

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The main results:

Mississippi, Wyoming, and South Carolina are America’s most dog-obsessed states, led by Mississippi, where dog-related searches run 120% above cat searches.

  • Washington, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts are America’s most cat-obsessed states, anchoring a cat belt across the Pacific Northwest and New England.
  • America splits 27 dog-leaning states to 23 cat-leaning states, plus Washington, D.C., a near-even national divide.
  • El Paso, TX, is the most dog-obsessed metro in the country, and Philadelphia, PA, is the most cat-obsessed, with big cities leaning far more feline than the states around them.
  • Americans call themselves dog people over cat people by nearly 2 to 1 (47% vs. 28%).
  • Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. pet owners (31%) would choose their pet over their partner in a serious conflict.
  • Over 1 in 2 U.S. adults (57%) say a partner’s pet preference could be a dealbreaker, and 18% say a partner must share their preference, no exceptions.

The last result surprised me the most!  Here’s the geographic split, which leads me to believe, to my satisfaction, that, compared to Republicans, Democrats are more likely to own cats than dogs: Somebody should do the correlation between percentage of Democrats versus percentage of cats (and ditto for Republicans). From the site:

Mississippi is the most dog-obsessed state in the country, where dog-related searches run 120% above cat searches. A dog belt runs through the Deep South and Mountain West, while a cat belt stretches across New England and the Pacific Northwest. Each state’s lean index below shows how far its dog-versus-cat search mix runs above or below the national average, with positive scores leaning dog and negative scores leaning cat.

The East and West coasts have a relatively higher ownership of cats than do the middle-of-America states and the South.

And for cities:

El Paso is the most dog-obsessed metro in the country, with dog-related searches 135% above cat searches. The strongest dog metros cluster across the Sun Belt and South, mirroring the dog belt at the state level.

Philadelphia is the most cat-obsessed metro, and the cat list is dominated by coastal and tech hubs. Cities also polarize more than states. The most cat-obsessed metro leans nearly twice as feline as the most cat-obsessed state, so the divide sharpens in urban America.

And some psychology and behavior. I’m surprised that people post more on their dogs than their cats, but not that cat people tend to be more introvert-ish and judgmental about their partner’s pet preferences.

Make what you will of these data, and post it below.

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Lagnaiappe:

Click below to learn how the police removed a bunch of ice to reach a cat (now named Cadence) trapped behind an ice machine (the news story is also on Chicago’s WGN news site):

More:

I can’t guarantee that this is real video, but I hope so:

 

h/t: Nicole, Erik

I kissed a squirrel and I liked it

September 5, 2026 • 8:15 am

Yesterday, after second lunch for the ducks, I was chatting with a grad student in medical research when I was—as I often am—besieged by squirrels begging for nuts.  After several months of getting them habituated to me and to the way I look and smell, I have made them fairly friendly (I want to avoid bites at all cost!)

At this point several of them will climb up my leg and onto my shoulder for a nut.  When they do that, only a quick turn of the head is necessary to allow me to kiss them on their furry flanks.

See below for the short video showing this. The smack of the kiss is audible.

I can now credibly claim that I am the only person at the University of.Chicago who has kissed a squirrel. I may be the only person in the history of the University of Chicago who’s done this.

If any readers have osculated a squirrel, let me know below.  (h/t to the woman who took the video).

And here’s another squirrel begging for a nut, unaware that his face is decorated with a leaf. With his eyes on the sides, perhaps he can’t see it.

Saturday: Hili dialogue

September 5, 2026 • 6:45 am

Welcome to CaturSaturday, September 5, 2026. It’s shabbos for Jewish cats and National Hummingbird Day. Here are five facts you didn’t know about hummingbirds, but even if you knew some of them, there is some nicc video here:

It’s also International Bacon Day, International Vulture Awareness Day, National Cheese Pizza Day, and World Samosa Day.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the September 1 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*Mirabile dictu: the NYT has published an explicitly anti-Hamas op-ed, “To save Gaza, resist Hamas,” written by Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, identified as “a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.” (h/t Peggy, article archived here).  And the Atlantic Council is apparently a think tank established to promote amity between America and Europe.

Despite its posturing as an elite club, Hamas, from its inception, behaved like a mob of gangsters, brutalizing Palestinian women who violated its fanatic sense of morality, torturing and killing those who were suspected of opposing them and carrying out grisly suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, which weakened the Palestinian Authority and empowered the extremist right in Israel, which seized the opportunity to destroy hopes of a new Palestinian horizon or future.

Now, in the ruins of my once beautiful homeland, we are witnessing the coda of the group’s two decades of horrific rule. By agreeing in principle to a disarmament plan after their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and slaughter of hundreds of civilians led to over two years of Israeli bombardment that killed tens of thousands of Gazans, including much of my family, Hamas is acknowledging what Palestinian leadership knew 30 years ago: that only peace could lead to freedom and armed struggle was a disastrous strategy.

Yeah, right. Hamas is supposed to acknowledge that peace is essential and armed struggle futile. Does this mean they’re going to stop terror attacks on Israel for good and renounce the parts of their charter calling for elimination of the Jews? I don’t think so. All they did was agree to disarm “in principle”. I’ll believe it when I see it. But wait; there’s more:

Hamas should have no role in Gaza’s future but, appallingly, so many in the West who consider themselves allies of the Palestinian people still see the group as honorable resistance fighters. Their support for, or failure to denounce, the group only helps perpetuate the degradation of Gaza.

. . . ““Hamas turned Gaza into a cautionary tale for Israel of what might happen under Palestinian self-governance. Revulsion at the group’s rockets, tunnels, smuggling and violence empowered Israel’s far right, which used Hamas’s actions to excuse their attack on the two-state solution.

Repeated wars killed thousands of Palestinians and wounded or displaced hundreds of thousands, locking Gaza into a cycle of destruction, reconstruction, resource theft and deeper Hamas entrenchment. Billions of dollars were wasted and the development that I saw emerging as a child was arrested.

This alone should have delegitimized Hamas among Western activists, academics, students, journalists, protesters, politicians and those who claim to be pro-Palestine. Yet after Hamas carried out the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the worst catastrophe in modern Palestinian history, I watched with dismay and anger as activists, students, academics, politicians and writers expressed a chilling appreciation for the massacre.

. . .Gaza needs to be reimagined so it is no longer sustained by an NGO complex or a refugee framework. Gaza will need deep deradicalization across schools, mosques, media and public language to cultivate and produce builders and creators.

Once security issues are credibly addressed and Gaza is placed on a new path, Israel would no longer have the justification it has used for decades to restrict the free movement for people and trade and to treat Gaza as an occupied nation. U.S. and international pressure could push Israel to change its approach to Gaza.

A Palestinian miracle on the Mediterranean is within reach if Gaza rejects Islamism, Jihadism, Hamas and stale nationalist notions, all of which have left it devastated.

Yes, yes, a nice dream, but a pipe dream. This is not happening. Gaza is not on a new path; it is stagnating under Trump’s “Board of Peace,” nor do I think Hamas is anywhere near ready to lay down its arms. If anything is clear by now, it’s that the Palestinians do not want a two-state solution; they want a one-state solution in which Jews are expelled and Palestinians are in charge. What has Alkhatib been smoking?

*I liked John Fetterman as a straight-talking, shorts-wearing Democratic Senator (PA), and one of the few people in Congress who openly supports Israel.  However, it appears he’s not doing much as a Senator, at least to a WSJ article (not an op-ed) called, “Behind closed doors, John Fetterman shows little interest in the work of a Senator” (Subtitle: “Poised to be a possible swing vote in a divided Congress, he churns through staff as he dodges constituents, alienates fellow Democrats, and courts Israel lobby.”)

With his hoodie-and-shorts wardrobe and working-class appeal, Fetterman occupies a unique place in a Democratic Party increasingly populated by leftist insurgents. Fetterman often portrays himself as a “regular Democrat” calling out aspects of his party’s progressive fringe—just the profile that past centrists have leveraged in a divided Senate to cut bipartisan deals and score big wins.

But behind closed doors, the first-term senator shows little interest in doing the job beyond cultivating relationships with conservative media figures and advocating for Israel, according to interviews with more than a dozen former staffers and lawmakers, as well as text messages and other internal records.

With a pivotal election looming in November that could yield a split Senate and give Fetterman outsize influence, his office is staffed with a revolving door of aides who are constantly scrambling to keep up the face of a functional operation, the interviews and text messages show.

Fetterman keeps a light daily schedule, often refusing to meet with constituents and fellow lawmakers, or canceling at the last minute, records and interviews show.

. . .It marks a contrast to his 2022 campaign, when Fetterman spent long hours traveling to small rural communities, embracing people who felt left behind. “He won because he worked his heart out,” said Judy Hines, chair of the Democratic Party in Mercer County, in rural northwest Pennsylvania. Hines said she was worried about what she sees as a transformation in Fetterman in the years since the campaign.

In the background are concerns about Fetterman’s longstanding struggle with depression, which flared up after a near-fatal 2022 stroke that left him with lingering speech issues. Last year, Fetterman’s former chief of staff publicly aired concerns that Fetterman had stopped following his recovery plan, was damaging personal relationships, exhibiting paranoia, and addicted to his smartphone.

. . . Fetterman didn’t reply to multiple requests for an interview for this story. The senator walked away from a Wall Street Journal reporter at a public event in Erie, Pa., late last month, declining to answer questions. His office also didn’t reply to multiple emails summarizing the reporting for this story.

. . . In May, Fetterman publicly denied he’s considering a party switch, but recent news events have done nothing to stifle the speculation. In July, campaign filings showed he received money from a prominent conservative donor. In recent interviews, Fetterman has left open the possibility he could feel the need to leave the Democratic Party, if it adopts language in its platform on the one issue that has come to dominate his time in the Senate.

That month, he said: “If our party ever becomes…the anti-Israel party, you know, that’s when I would leave.”

I got news for Senator Fetterman: the Democratic Party already is the anti-Israel party. Is he going to become a Republican, an Independent, or not run for re-election at all? This is all very demoralizing, but if he doesn’t even do his job as Senator, I can’t really support his remaining in the Senate, regardless of his stand on Israel. As for me, I’m not voting for any Illinois Congressperson or governor who doesn’t support Israel. Fortunately, our state will go Democratic no matter who runs, so I can always write in a candidate and keep my conscience while knowing I’m not promoting the election of a Republican.

*As usual, I’ll pick a few items from Nellie Bowles’s weekly news-and-snark column in the Free Press, called this week, “Once postpartum, always postpartum.”

→ Lindsay Clancy jury deadlocked: I know the Lindsay Clancy trial is not technically the most consequential story of the week, but in my circles (moms) it is The Only Conversation, so bear with me. The jurors are deadlocked. Twice they have gone to the judge to say the jury cannot come to a decision. If they cannot reach a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial. There are some clues as to what may be happening. For example, at least three of the female jurors were spotted curiously wearing pink, the color worn by Clancy supporters who think she is the victim of pharmacology and maternal stress and believe that—after a stint in a healthcare facility where she will be declared no longer a danger, which, by the way she has already been declared—she should go free. The deeper idea being proposed here seems to be that moms should kind of be able to kill their kids. Like, if they’re really, really stressed. In Canada, that’s the law already. If a parent kills a kid under the age of 1, it’s a maximum five-year sentence. We’re now going to see a movement to bring that to the U.S., and also to expand it to older kids. Death cults will death cult.

Here’s the CBC this week. They called up criminal law expert Isabel Grant, a professor at the University of British Columbia, to say how this is a perfect example of how the infanticide law should expand to older kids.

Technically, in Canada, Clancy could have raised infanticide as a defense for the murder of Callan, who was eight months old, said Grant, the criminal law professor at UBC. But the killing of Clancy’s older children could not be defended as infanticide even if she hadn’t recovered from the birth of the youngest child when she killed them, she added. “That is a shortcoming in the Canadian law.”

A shortcoming in the law, says the law professor, is that a mom might be in jail longer than five years if she kills a bunch of kindergartners since the postpartum might not carry over to each killing. Maybe postpartum should last until the kid’s 18, right? Maybe moms—if they’re under a lot of pressure and like, super, super stressed and changing Zoloft dosages and can’t figure out the Snoo—should be able to kill her offspring at any age?

Nellie predicts that Clancy will walk free. As of yesterday, the judge has declared a mistrial and the prosecution must decide what to do next.

→ Good lawsuit moving forward: An Asian American student just won a key little procedural victory in his lawsuit alleging universities engaged in “racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian American applicants.” Stanley Zhong was rejected by 16 of the 18 colleges he applied to, despite having a 4.42 weighted GPA, a successful tech start-up, and an SAT score of 1590. Yes, 1590! And you know his parents probably asked him what happened to those other 10 points. Stanleys are made, and I salute Mr. and Mrs. Zhong.

Stanley should’ve been heading a lab right now but, batted away from college, Google hired him as a software engineer out of high school. Spokespeople for the UC system have denied using race to inform their admissions decision. But again, Zhong didn’t get into any of the UC schools. He and his dad filed a bunch of lawsuits, and his suit against the University of Washington, at least, is moving forward.

“With that ruling, we can now proceed into discovery, request internal documents, internal communication and, most importantly, admissions data,” Zhong’s father said. I’m not saying that college should just admit based on SATs and grades. But there is so much anti-Asian racism built into the admissions systems at every level, and it’s just totally accepted by both sides of the political aisle, because Asian success is not helpful for the affirmative action supporters, nor is it helpful for the white supremacy supporters, since in general whites don’t win the IQ test (sorry!).

→ Burning Man is old people now: Burning Man, that incredible desert festival in Nevada, has gone from its early years of wild artists building a city (amazing) to. . . being the hot spot of the tech rich who paid those artists to build them a city (fun!) to. . . middle-aged people hauling their RVs to the desert to help with their wrist arthritis (might as well go visit your parents). The always great contrarian data scientist David Shor brings us the grim reality. He writes: “Burning Man peaked in size in 2019 and has been in decline since then—at this point the median age is 40 and the share of people in their 20s is a third of what it was a decade ago.” Which means it’s so 38-years-old for me to say that I still think Burning Man is cool! Look at their Instagram! Why not go to the desert and frolic naked and then dance around a fire? And my joints do hurt a little, so that nice, dry heat sounds good. Don’t 40-year-olds deserve nice-ish things too? Don’t we deserve to wobble around on a bike covered in dust, searching desperately in our cargo shorts for our electrolyte packets? We don’t care if Burning Man is lame now. We prefer that. It’s why we feel safe there. Maybe next year this can be our family vacation. Can you imagine Bar’s beefy bodyguard following her around the playa and fishing her out of the mosh pit? Me too.

Bari Weiss has a six-person detail of bodyguards!

*Maarten Boudry has caught another person with their pants down using AI, this time a famous Belgian physician, Marc Van Ranst, whom Boudry calls the “Belgian Anthony Fauci”.  It’s extra bad because it was a newspaper column;  look at the sentences (in Dutch) that he used!

English translation:

“Hey  @vanranstmarc

, I hope you’ve rewarded your ChatGPT for this nonsense too, with a digital sugar cube or something? I think your AI is secretly laughing at you, by putting sentences like these in your mouth: “Stupid people are the result of choices: speed over care” “Complexity costs energy”. “Thoughtfulness (just like this column) often sits behind a paywall” Did you let a Claude spin out of control?”

*And one I analyzed with Pangram.  As you see from my tweet below, I analyzed some of Rawan Osman‘s Facebook posts for AI content, and there is substantial content of that type in some posts. The latest FB post, below, was deemed 100% written by AI.  I also found 100% AI or substantial AI in her blog posts published by the Times of Israel.

As Wikipedia notes,  Osman is “a Syrian-born German political activist and influencer. She is a self-described Arab Zionist and advocates for the normalization of relations between Arab states and Israel.”  In the last year or so, I read her writings and became an admirer. Now, however, the wind is out of my sails. I still admire her politics, ideology, and zeal (she goes around the world speaking about Israel and the Arabs). But somehow finding out this kind of AI analysis makes me less willing to read her, for reading “her” is reading whatever the bot trawls up from the literature. 

The same goes for anyone who uses AI but won’t say so (if you do, you must admit it, for they are not your words). I will not read them.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has the blues:

Hili: I’m depressed.
Andrzej: Why?
Hili: Just because.

In Polish:

Hili: Mam depresję.
Ja: Z jakiego powodu?
Hili Tak sobie.

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From Pyers; Canada strikes back, and be sure to get the pun:

From CinEmma:

From America’s Cultural Decline into Idiocy:

From Masih; the travails of two Iranian women facing long prison terms or execution for protesting. The torture is unbelievable. Cases like this are what convince me that the U.S. should be aiming at Iranian freedom, difficult as that may be.

The Number Ten Cat speaks truth to fashion:

From Jeff Maurer. Now most people dislike “brat” but I always hated it. Do you think I fell out of a coconut tree or something?

From Malcolm. Is this a passel of jokes that someone put on the air?

One from my feed. Inflation is rampant in Iran, but these people are risking arrest:

And one I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:

Two from Dr. Cobb. This first video is stunning:

Dolphins swimming in bioluminescence, Merritt Island, Florida.IG: @patricke_lao Taken with a Sony Alpha a7S II

— Luca (@lucagalletti.bsky.social) 2026-09-03T21:06:57.085Z

And a lovely murmuration. Matthew and I both love these formations.

A murmuration of starlings above Sardinia, Italy. One of my favorite natural phenomena.

— Jen , the MT liberal bird lady (@liberal-jen.bsky.social) 2026-09-03T18:57:48.183Z

Readers’ wildlife photos

September 4, 2026 • 8:30 am

Very few people are sending in wildlife photos, so if you have some good ones, shoot them my way, please.  Fortunately, ecologist Susan Harrison has come through with another batch from Oregon. Susan’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them.

Mt. McLoughlin, Oregon  

In southern Oregon at the tail end of summer, climbing a volcano to look for Gray-crowned Rosy-finches (Leucosticte tephrocotis) seemed like a fun thing to do.

Gray-crowned Rosy-finch (photo from AllAboutBirds):

Per AllAboutBirds, “This delicate pink-and-brown songbird is among the hardiest of all birds. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches nest in the highest parts of the highest mountains in North America… they forage, seemingly at complete ease, on snowfields, forbidding talus slopes, and in high winds or snowstorms… (It) probably holds the record for highest-altitude breeding bird in North America.”

Who could resist looking for such superlative birds??  It required only a day hike to a 9,500-foot peak not far from my home base in Ashland, Oregon. The peak, Mt. McLoughlin, is just north of Mt. Shasta in the Cascade volcanic chain. The trail goes up its east (= right, in the photo below) side.

Mt. McLoughlin from the south:

Hikers often get lost as they descend the peak.  Near the summit there is no clear trail in the loose ash and talus, and if you start a few degrees off-course you’ll end up far from your destination.  Accordingly, there are many warning signs and route markers.

Trail warning sign:

The last half-mile to the summit is steep and slow going.  This is the likeliest place to see Rosy-finches – which, alas, I did not see.

Approach to the summit, with trail on the left:

However, I did make it to the summit and back safely!

Summit:

The main birds I saw at the top were several Rock Wrens (Salpinctes obsoletus) and a pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus) chasing around a Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius).

Rock Wren:

Hawk chasing Harrier:

On the descent it became easier to pay attention to other small wildlife.

Scruffy juvenile Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis);  or is it an “American Jay” now??:

Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi):

Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus):

Rounding out this photo set, a few other recent scenes from the southern Oregon Cascades…

Upper Rogue River just below Crater Lake, where it flows through the collapsed lava tubes of ancient Mount Mazama:

Lower Rogue River at Blossom Bar rapid, where it flows through a scary and occasionally lethal (to rafters and kayakers) feature called the Picket Fence:

Friday: Hili dialogue

September 4, 2026 • 6:45 am

Welcome to Friday, September 4, 2026, and National Wildlife Day. Today you should not just photograph the animals with your iPhone camera and move on, but stop to look at the animals. (This is one of my pet peeves about visitors to Botany Pond.) Here are three species of cats I photographed in game reserves in South Africa almost exactly two years ago:

It’s also National Macademia Nut Day (along with cashews, this is the top of the nut scale), Eat An Extra Dessert Day, and National Chianti Day.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the September 4 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The Trump Administration has taken yet another step in its anti DEI policies, saying it will strip the tax exemption from any schools, public or private, that discriminate on the basis of race or national origin (article archived here).

The Trump administration has proposed stripping private schools of their tax-exempt status if they consider race, furthering the administration’s intense pressure on institutions that have sought diversity in their classrooms.

President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly targeted efforts to benefit Black and other racial–minority students, saying many such policies violate the law in the wake of a 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning the use of race-consciousadmissions. It recently has accused several medical schools of discriminating against White and Asian students in admissions, and has opened investigations into numerous universities.

The IRSand Treasury Department proposal announced Thursday would eliminate tax-exempt status for private schools that discriminate “on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational, admissions, scholarship, athletic, or other policies.”

The agencies estimate that if it takes effect, the rule could affect as many as 18,000 primary and secondary schools, colleges, universities, professional schools and trade schools.

. . .Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a written statement that the administration is ensuring racial discrimination has no place in American education. “Schools rebranding race-based preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversity-enhancing does not change their discriminatory nature,” he wrote. “Today’s Treasury and IRS proposed regulations establish a clear standard, and the institutions that continue to use discriminatory practices will no longer receive the benefits of federal tax-exempt status.”

Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, said if the proposal takes effect, it would be hugely impactful.“But it’s not going to come to pass.”

In 1983, the court ruled that Bob Jones University and the Goldsboro Christian Schools in North Carolina were not entitled to tax-exempt status because they practiced racial discrimination — the university prohibited interracial dating and marriage, and the schools did not admit Black students.

Well, doesn’t that cut both ways, i.e., does illegal discrimination go only one way?

Because I still think that some form of preference should obtain, not based on race alone but on palpable disadvantage, I am in favor of this provision:

The Trump administration proposal still would allow schools to help disadvantaged students in admission or financial aid using race-neutral criteria such as family income, hardship or academic achievement.

*After five days of deliberation, the jury in the case of Lindsay Clancy, who pleased not guilty to strangling her three young children on the grounds of “postpartum psychosis,” is still deadlocked (article archived here).

Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are expected to return for a sixth day of deliberations on Thursday, after growing indications that their impasse could prove unbreakable.

The judge presiding over the case, William Sullivan, read them what is known as a “dynamite charge” on Wednesday afternoon, in a last-ditch attempt to break their deadlock, and then sent them home a little over an hour later.

The jurors, nine women and three men, have now deliberated for about 30 hours over five days, and twice told the judge that they could not come to a unanimous decision as to whether Ms. Clancy should be convicted of murdering her three children.

A hung jury would result in a mistrial, and Judge Sullivan has urged the jurors to keep trying. On Wednesday, he read a set of instructions saying that they should work toward consensus and “consider that it is desirable that the case be decided.”

He has also thanked jurors for their work, noting the extent of the evidence and witness testimony presented during the monthlong trial, which featured often heart-wrenching details.

In the event of a mistrial, prosecutors would decide whether to try Ms. Clancy all over again in front of a different jury, for first-degree murder or less serious charges. Considering their options could take a week or more, experts have said.

. . .Rosanna Cavallaro, a Suffolk University law professor, said that judges “walk a tightrope” when they read the formal “dynamite” instructions to a deadlocked jury.

The goal is to nudge the jurors forward toward consensus, she said, “without making them feel coerced by a judge’s criticism.”

I can understand the jury’s difficulties, as there are at least four different judgments that could be made, including “not guilty,” and the jurors must rule unanimously. But if there’s a mistrial, then the whole expensive and multi-week show has to be repeated, and perhaps with the same outcome. At that point Clancy will apparently walk free, and though she’s partly paralyzed from her suicide attempt, she will suffer no punishment, or even psychiatric treatment in a confined space, for killing her children.

*This is surprising; the WSJ reports that “Hundreds of colleges are sending acceptance letters to kids who didn’t even apply.”

Hundreds of colleges are sending students letters of admission—without even requiring an application.

Schools are increasingly agreeing to admit students based on a handful of criteria, like high school transcripts. Known as “direct admissions,” this expedited process is free and omits required essays, questions about extracurriculars and mandated standardized tests.

In turn, the colleges—which are seeking ways to attract more students amid broader financial headwinds—gain exposure to prospects who may never have heard of them otherwise. They then woo the young people into enrolling.

Proponents call the approach a solution for both sides.

“Instead of a student applying to the institution, the institution applies to them,” said Angel Perez, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. “It’s a way for students not to have to jump through hoops in order to get into college.”

Direct admission has ballooned in popularity, particularly among less-selective private schools vying for a shrinking pool of college-goers. On the Common App, the number of participating institutions has more than tripled since 2023-24, representing about a fifth of the app’s partners, said Chief Executive Jenny Rickard. More than a dozen states now have direct-admissions initiatives.

Colleges across America are reckoning with the demographic cliff as the pipeline of 18-year-olds dwindles. Lesser-known campuses sit at the forefront of these enrollment challenges, though cracks are spreading throughout. And since most colleges admit more than half of applicants—the acceptance rate in the U.S. topped 70% among four-year, not-for-profit schools in a 2023 NACAC report—supporters say direct admissions is a no-brainer.

The process aims to be straightforward: students interested in direct admissions fill out a form—not a full application—on various sites that essentially act as matchmakers. The students, or their high schools, also submit their transcripts. From there, the offers roll in automatically. (As with the traditional pathway, though, colleges can yank acceptances if a teen’s grades tank in their senior year.)

I wish they had this process when I was applying to college, as I had good grades and SATs in high school, and it would have saved me some trouble. On the other hand, I applied formally to only one school—William & Mary—for early admission, and I was successful, so I was spared a lot of worry during my senior year of high school.  (I really wanted to go to Princeton because I was enchanged by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first book, This Side of Paradise, but my parents said they couldn’t afford to send me to Princeton. In the end, I think I did better by going to William & Mary. And I still love Fitzgerald. As for this automatic acceptance, well, it seems to apply mostly for schools that are hurting for students, and I have no opposition to it. If the plan doesn’t work, we’ll see.

*In honor of Gloria Steinem’s death, reader Jez mentioned a 2019 article she wrote in the journal Woman’s Reproductive Health, called “If men could menstruate.” It’s not only accurate but hilarious, and you can read it for free at the link. Here’s an excerpt:

What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?

The answer is clear—menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event:

Men would brag about how long and how much.

Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.

Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts.

Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne Tampons, Muhammad Ali’s Rope-a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shields—“For Those Light Bachelor Days,” and Robert “Baretta” Blake Maxi-Pads.)

Military men, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite menstruation (“menstruation”) as proof that only men could serve in the Army (“you have to give blood to take blood”), occupy political office (“can women be aggressive without that steadfast cycle governed by the planet Mars?”), be priests and ministers (“how could a woman give her blood for our sins?”) or rabbis (“without the monthly loss of impurities, women remain unclean”).

Male radicals, left-wing politicians, and mystics, however, would insist that women are equal, just different, and that any woman could enter their ranks if she were willing to self-inflict a major wound every month (“you MUST give blood for the revolution”), recognize the preeminence of menstrual issues, or subordinate her selfness to all men in their Cycle of Enlightenment. Street guys would brag (“I’m a three pad man”) or answer praise from a buddy (“Man, you lookin’ good!”) by giving fives and saying, “Yeah, man, I’m on the rag!” TV shows would treat the subject at length. (“Happy Days”: Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still “The Fonz,” though he has missed two periods in a row.) So would newspapers. (SHARK SCARE THREATENS MENSTRUATING MEN. JUDGE CITES MONTHLY STRESS IN PARDONING RAPIST.) And movies. (Newman and Redford in “Blood Brothers”!) Men would convince women that intercourse was more pleasurable at “that time of the month.” Lesbians would be said to fear blood and therefore life itself—though probably only because they needed a good menstruating man.

There’s more, but I’ll let you have the pleasure of reading it yourself. Back in my youth, I saw a cartoon of a man in a bookstore looking for funny books, and the woman behind the counter saying, “I’m sorry, sir, but we have no humor section: this is a feminist bookstore.”  Steinem shows that that’s wrongheaded.

*I’ve started investigated whether someone’s prose involved AI by putting it in the reliable source Pangram (it’s been tested thoroughly), and you get three free tries per day. Disappointingly, many of the people whom I follow on Facebook, and admire for their political or ideological stands, use a lot of AI.  When I see that, I lose interest. (Some nonpolitical sites are 100% AI.). But my philosopher friend Maarten Boudry takes the cake for finding an entire published short story that is not only AI generated, but won a prize! Here’s his tweet:

From Maarten Boudry,

From Maarten’s email to me: “A literary First Prize has been awarded to a short story that is 100%. AI. Do you know Moth Magazine? Never heard of them, but they have 12K followers on X and have a WikiPedia page, so it’s not completely fringe. Maarten’s tweet gives the story, “The Shoulder,” by Jeffrey Michael Kane, and it’s still up.

Maarten added this:

It’s fascinating to read the short story: it’s superficially coherent and vaguely poetic, but once you reach the end you realize it’s going nowhere. Using AI for a literary prize is much worse than for an FB post: it’s cheating, and unfair to the other contenders.
Agreed, but I still think that if anybody uses AI in any substantial way, even writing a Facebook post, they should note that and give us the prompts.  It’s fun to check stuff out yourself, though it’s also disappointing when it’s someone you respected.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is down on philosophers again:

Hili: I feel, therefore I am.
Andrzej: That’s rather obvious.
Hili: Not to philosophers.

In Polish:

Hili: Czuję więc jestem.
Ja: To raczej oczywiste.
Hili: Nie dla filozofów.

*******************

From Clyde, who said, “This is a beast that I found lurking in the White River in Indianapolis.”

From Cats Doing Cat Stuff:

From TherionArms:

From Masih; a young Islamic man, who already had his eye shot out, may lose his life as well. The charge? “Corruption on earth.”

From Colin Wright on the Nature editorial I wrote about yesterday. Read the whole tweet and be sure to look at the screenshots of Nature articles.

From Luana. Is this the State Department trolling the administration? “Deadnaming”?

From Malcolm; “gifts” from cats:

One from my feed, and yes, it features a cat:

And one I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:

From Matthew: Nice arthopods on the sand. Note the first Latin binomial..

Lots of action around exposed sand banks at Allerthorpe Common @yorkswildlife.bsky.social reserve today. Astata boops seems well established there now and Green Tigers, Ammophila sabulosa, Anoplius nigerrimus all very active in the sun. Super little reserve. 🙂 @ynuorg.bsky.social #hymenoptera

— Ian Andrews (@suillia.bsky.social) 2026-08-26T18:25:24.955Z

A cool paper in which scientists used fossil insects to reconstruct their calls:

THE SOUND OF JURASSIC INSECTSReconstruction of an extinct soundscape reveals ultrasonic communication in the Jurassicwww.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/…

— (@dactylioceras.bsky.social) 2026-08-26T16:29:25.241Z

Nature extols Jason Arday

September 3, 2026 • 10:00 am

I thought I was through writing about Jason Arday, but I didn’t anticipate that he would become some kind of hero, or at least that many people would emphasize how he was hounded to death—always pushing the “racism” angle and blaming Cambridge and the press but neglecting the fabulism and preferential hiring that got Arday so much attention.  Now the prestigious journal Nature has published an editorial (see below) that completely neglects two of the main reasons why Arday got so much attention, and pinning the blame for his death on nearly everyone. Luana brought the article to my attention by sending this tweet (note the “Community Note” below it).

As I said, I think there are two reasons why the Arday case got so much attention. The first is the breathtaking extent of his fabulism, involving extensive (and now verified) instances of plagiarism in his Ph.D. thesis, claims of appearances on t.v. shows that he was not on, claims of marathons that he actually did not run, claims of extreme autism that have not been substantiated, threats he said he got that also couldn’t be verified, multiple instances of cancer (also not verified), and many other stories he told that were not credible. Not to mention that he padded his c.v., larding it with positions he never held. Beyond the plagiarm, the Times of London reported that Arday stole another researcher’s work (as well as quotes that the researcher obtained in interviews), publishing it as Arday’s own. If true, this is wholesale academic fraud.

Second, Arday was the youngest black full professor at the University of Cambridge (his speciality was the sociology of education), and one of the few at the University. He apparently had an engaging personality and was lionized by his department, with Hilary Cremin (head of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education and the person who oversaw Arday’s appointment) praising him to the skies in the statement below as “the best in the world at some of the research [he did].”

This lionization was wholly unwarranted. Nature doesn’t mention that this is another reason why Arday’s tragic life and death got so much attention: the case was so egregious that it finally became okay to discuss whether ethnicity and disability should override merit in academic appointments. The fact that many people and media sources fault Cambridge University—even blaming (as does Nature) for Arday’s apparent suicide—shows clearly that Arday’s appointment was questionable at best. (As I’ve said, nobody is responsible for Arday’s death save Arday himself.) It is because of the clear-cut nature of this case that the media jumped on it, though, as I said, one cannot reject the notion that some racism (against Arday) was involved.

Instead, Nature takes up several issues about Arday’s life, ultimately blaming his death on “systemic racism” in academia and in the media.

The first issue is Arday’s plagiarism, which Nature fobs off as having been dismissed by Arday’s Ph.D. university. As Nature says below:

Liverpool John Moores University, the UK institution that awarded the PhD, investigated the allegations [of plagiarism] and concluded that the PhD stands.

But the allegations were correct and John Moores University simply dropped the ball on the whole affair, perhaps to protect what reputation it has. Nature doesn’t mention the academic fraud uncovered by the Times of London.

Nature also blames Cambridge—not for appointing an unqualified professor, but for publicly announcing their investigation of Arday, which, says Nature, violates the confidential nature of the UK disciplinary process. But all Cambridge announced, as far as I know, is that they were investigating the charges—and nothing more (I don’t even think they said which issues they were investigating). Since the media was on Cambridge’s case about Arday, I don’t think that announcing an investigation without giving details is out of line: American universities do it all the time, saying things like “We are not commenting pending an investigation of these accusations.”

It is true that Arday apparently killed himself after Cambridge’s announcement, but it’s not clear that the announcement played the decisive role in the apparent suicide.  Yes, it’s very sad that Arday killed himself when, if he’d been fired from Cambridge, he still could have gone on to have a productive life. He also had kids who now have no dad. But the frenzy to blame every person and institution for Arday’s death save Arday himself just shows that virtue signaling is still with us despite the other side: the more open debate of equity versus merit.

Finally, Nature rushes to blame systemic racism on Arday’s death, and by “systemic” they mean that racism is embedded in the rules and structure of the University itself.  That is surely wrong, though of course one cannot rule out that racism was somehow involved in the media and social-media attention that Arday got.

But systemic racism? Many would say the opposite: that anti-racism is pervasive in academia, to the extent that someone like Arday could even be hired.  Anti-racism is embodied in DEI policies in play at many schools. As I said, now it’s possible to discuss this tension without being demonized as a racist, and in that sense Arday’s life and death could constitute a watershed moment in our discussions of race.

You can read Nature‘s editorial below, which answers the question “Who is to blame for the death of Jason Arday?” by answering, “Academia, the University of Cambridge, systemic racism, and the media.” In other words, everyone but Arday himself.

I’ll just quote part of the article in case you don’t want to read the whole thing, but the link is above and it’s free, so you can read it all. I’ve already given my own comments above, except to say that Nature has really outdone itself this time with both virtue signaling and pointing the fingers at the wrong people.

. . . Arday died after relentless media coverage of his professional and personal life. It is an enormous tragedy for his family, friends, students and colleagues. It is also a catastrophe for the research community. The death of an autistic Black scholar who inspired a generation is shocking. The persistent media attention, the racism that pervaded much of that coverage and the plagiarism allegations against Arday, and the University of Cambridge’s handling of his case all raise difficult questions. These are concerns not only for the institutions involved, but for everyone in higher education and the media.

In this Editorial, we focus on two issues in what is a complex and evolving situation. One is how academic institutions should treat investigations into research misconduct amid unrelenting media attention. Investigations need to be carried out according to transparent processes with appropriate confidentiality for those involved, including whistle-blowers, whose testimony is often central to the outcome. These processes exist to ensure that all concerned are treated fairly and protected from harm, but were they followed? The other, related issue is how the media should ensure fairness when reporting on research misconduct and how it can do so without causing harm.

Arday’s fate is distressing, and especially so for Black scholars and those from other communities that are under-represented in academic research, many members of which report feeling vulnerable and unsupported at this time. There is systemic racism in academia. It is an unwelcoming place for many who enter it through hardship and struggle, as Arday’s story illustrates. It is not acceptable that these barriers persist. On top of this, scholars from Black and other under-represented communities fear that the intensity of attention Arday faced could one day be focused on them. The question many are asking is: ‘Could I be next?’

. . . Matt Walsh, head of journalism at Cardiff University, UK, did an initial analysis of UK media reporting of Arday between 25 July this year — when the latest wave of coverage of the plagiarism allegations started — and 20 August. He counted 242 substantive articles published in the print editions of UK national newspapers and concluded that there is strong evidence of racism. “Framing associated with race is present throughout the sample, and some articles explicitly accuse Cambridge of only appointing Arday as a professor because of the colour of his skin,” Walsh wrote in an article for The Conversation news website that describes his analysis.

. , ,Media organizations are not the only ones whose role in events must now be scrutinized. The University of Cambridge must also explain the decisions it made — in particular its announcement on 5 August, amid sustained media coverage, that it would investigate matters. On the same day, Arday resigned.

According to the code of practice from Acas, the independent UK body responsible for workplace arbitration, including at universities, an employee under investigation is entitled to confidentiality. An investigation is not a disciplinary process, but rather a fact-finding effort to explore whether there is a case to answer. But Cambridge’s decision to announce the investigation amid a media feeding frenzy offered no possibility of confidentiality — and risked adding to the impression that Arday had done something wrong before due processes had been completed.

. . .In his resignation letter, Arday wrote: “The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.” He added: “For my own wellbeing, for my family, and for those who have stood by me throughout this difficult period, I have concluded that the only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away.” He also promised to return “stronger, wiser and with the same determination that has always defined my journey”.

Arday did not return, so it is incumbent on all of us in the media and academia to reflect on our roles and responsibilities. Both research and media organizations have an obligation to communicate information fairly and accurately — and to avoid causing harm to the people they employ or report on. We can and must learn from this tragedy.

I think Nature is learning the wrong lessons.

Readers’ wildlife photos

September 3, 2026 • 8:30 am

Today’s arthropod photos come from a visit to Poland from reader Jan Malik.  Jan’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them (once or twice):

During my visit to Poland in June this year, I spent a few hours with a macro lens, looking for arthropods in three different habitats: a xerothermic dry meadow, a subalpine bog, and an alpine zone in the Tatra Mountains. I did my best to identify the species, but I can offer no guarantees as they were new to me.

First, the dipterans from the hoverfly family, all Batesian mimics of the more ferocious Hymenoptera. The Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) resembles a honeybee or a small bumblebee quite convincingly; it even buzzes like a bee. I believe this is a female, judging by the widely spaced eyes:

Another hoverfly, this time a wasp mimic, is possibly a Sphecomyia vespiformis. Like all Diptera, its antennae are short, but here, to increase similarity to a wasp with long antennae, they grow from an elongated column on the insect’s face:

Rounding up the order Diptera is a possible Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus). This female is a peaceful pollinator as an adult, but its larva is a predator of aphids:

Moving over to the order Lepidoptera, the first is a moth (genus Gillmeria); at first sight, I thought it was a crane fly, but long antennae place it firmly as a plume moth, even though I’m not sure which species it is. When at rest, these insects are masters of camouflage, resembling dried-out twigs:

Possibly a Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus), which is common in this part of Europe:

A final lepidopteran is a skipper (family Hesperiidae), but it is difficult to pin it down to a species. Possibly a Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris), going by the orange tip of its antenna?:

Now for Coleoptera (beetles): a Black longicorn beetle (Spondylis buprestoides). Both adults and larvae have powerful jaws which they use to chew through the wood of dead trees, accelerating the carbon cycle:

The next insect, from the same longhorn beetle family as the previous one, is a Black-striped Longhorn Beetle (Stenurella melanura), probably a female. The larvae feed on rotting wood, but adults prefer pollen:

Another coleopteran is a Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva). Its red color is an honest warning—when disturbed, they exude a fluid containing defensive acids that can cause chemical irritation. Here it feeds on pollen, but like other soldier beetles, if an aphid or a caterpillar is found, it is also eaten.

The last coleopteran, hiding in a flower during the rain, is a leaf beetle from the genus Cryptocephalus (I will go out on a limb and say the Dead-nettle Leaf Beetle, Cryptocephalus aureolus). The genus name originates from its head, which is tucked below the protective chitin armor:

Now for the arachnophiles amongst the readers, an orb-weaver spider (family Araneidae) having a meal out of a fly. Orb-weavers are highly variable in color, changing them to match their surroundings. They recycle their webs often by eating them and spinning new ones:

Another araneae, possibly a Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi), is a close European cousin of the common American yellow garden spider. Like its New World relative, it spins a ladder-like structure called a stabilimentum. The discussion is ongoing as to what the adaptive purpose of this structure is: possibly a UV reflector to lure bees or flies, or a warning for birds not to fly into it and destroy it, much like our window decals to prevent bird strikes:

The spider waiting inside the flower is a flower crab spider, likely a pale variant of the common Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia); I believe the same spiders are also abundant in North America. The flower could be a bellflower (genus Campanula). These spiders also change color, from greenish to yellow to off-white, matching the flowers where they sit in ambush:

Now for a few Hymenoptera—possibly a Black Garden Ant (Lasius niger) tending to a dense colony of Black Bean Aphids (Aphis fabae). Like many other ant species, they tap aphids with their antennae, and if the sucking hemipteran is ready, it releases a drop of sugary honeydew. In return, ants act as bodyguards, protecting the aphids from predatory hoverflies and ladybugs:

A parasitoid ichneumon wasp, possibly a Hoverfly larva parasitoid wasp (Diplazon laetatorius). It lays eggs in hoverfly larvae or eggs, and the wasp larva waits until its host grows big enough to become a substantial meal, then devours it from the inside. This species is said to be mostly parthenogenetic, with males being a rarity:

Another hymenopteran, a sawfly, is probably the Common Green Sawfly (Tenthredo mesomela). These sawflies are active predators of other small insects:

Lastly, I didn’t expect a Red-banded Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata). Its two chief weapons are a nice red and black aposematic coloration, a habit of making itself scarce via powerful jumps, and joints in its legs that ooze a foul-tasting hemolymph if a predator decides to bite. Did a scientist actually taste that fluid to report on its bitter taste, or are we still waiting for a volunteer?: