These ants navigate with a newly discovered ‘Moon compass’

Bull ants use a first-of-its-kind lunar compass to find their way home.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/4uc9zy6

It was amazing being part of this group for so many years...

@ebablab.bsky.social

Structural genomics sheds light on protein functions and remote homologs across the insect tree of life - Cell Research Cell Research - Structural genomics sheds light on protein functions and remote homologs across the insect tree of life

A phylogeny of 4'854 #insects --- with structural #genomics shedding light on protein functions & remote homologs www.nature.com/articles/s41... #biodiversity

Emerging tools to advance neuroethology in butterflies and moths - Journal of Comparative Physiology A Journal of Comparative Physiology A - Butterflies and moths have played historically important roles in developing our understanding of both ecology and evolutionary biology, and neuroethology. In...

New paper covering what we think is a pretty nice and comprehensive overview over tools suitable for neuroethology in butterflies and moths.
Also, check out the whole special issue if you're an insect neuroethologist.
@neuroethology.org @dzg-neurobiology.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1007/s003...

This is my boss! 💪

Ant systematics: past, present, and future Abstract. The classification of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) has progressed in waves since the first 17 species were described by Linnaeus in the 1758 ed

An impressive review on classification and study of #ants, taken from an historical perspective 🖥️🧬🐜 includes also loads of insightful sections 👀

#bugsky #phylogenetics

academic.oup.com/isd/article/...

Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social

Highly Detail 3D Butterfly Made with Gaussian Splatting A new great work by Dany Bittel.

😱

Really like this paper, led by @ficusorganensis.bsky.social, the supplementary videos aren’t up yet but will post them when I’m back in the office!

Human exceptionalism is at the root of the ecological crisis, claims evolutionary biologist In the grand story of evolution, the crowning human distinction is our big brain. But our large heads have been slow to recognize a less admirable trait of Homo sapiens—self-centeredness.

Exceptionally arrogant for sure 😊
share.google/zjLDckGoX3Xt...

Over 4,600 odorant receptors annotated across 70+ Nymphalids (mostly Heliconiinae) and moths!
Our new paper reveals lineage-specific OR expansions/contractions shaping butterfly olfactory evolution.
Huge thanks to @giorgiobianchini and his amazing treeviewer.org
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

We find striking lineage specific expansions and contractions...

Evolution of the olfactory system during the radiation of Heliconiini butterflies Abstract. Sensory system evolution plays a crucial role in shaping species’ interactions with their environment, yet the extent to which olfactory system d

New paper out! A nice collaboration.
We explore how olfactory brain structures and receptors evolved across this remarkable group, Heliconiini butterflies.

Olfactory floral mimicry of injured ants mediates the attraction of kleptoparasitic fly pollinators Mochizuki reports a plant that lures pollinating flies by imitating the scent of ants injured by predators. This study reveals the first known case of ant mimicry in flowers and uncovers previously un...

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Finally... Grant proposal submitted!

MBE | Tales of a Super Butterfly: Is Vanessa carye a Truly Migrant Species? Unraveling Migration Using Morphological and Genomics Approaches

Villalobos-Leiva et al. analysed population structure, genetic diversity, and geometric morphometrics of wing shape in Vanessa carye, supporting its status as a migratory species with the longest journey among American butterflies.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molb...

#evobio #molbio #migration

Scientific productivity gap based on English-language peer-reviewed papers. Shown are the maximum % differences in the number of peer-reviewed papers published by female native English speakers from a high-income country (-45%), female non-native English speakers from a high-income country (-60%), and female non-native English speakers from a lower-middle income country (-70%), compared to male native English speakers from a high-income country (red flag).

Women, non-native English speakers & those form low-income countries are disadvantaged in science but by how much? We found that women with non-English first languages from low-income countries publish up to 70% fewer in English than their counterparts. 1/5
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
#languagebarriers

#GameOverIsrael

Rapid Divergence of Visual Systems and Signaling Traits to Contrasting Light Regimes During Early Speciation of African Crater Lake Cichlid Fish Abstract. Sensory adaptation is widely hypothesized to drive ecological speciation, yet empirical evidence from natural populations undergoing early stage

Very proud of this extremely collaborative piece: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Here, we show that divergence in visual systems - in response to differences in the light environment - leads to rapid divergence in sexually selected colour traits. Work brilliantly led by Madeleine Carruthers. 🐟👀🎨

Genomic signatures indicate biodiversity loss in an endemic island ant fauna Insect populations have declined worldwide, but the extent and drivers of these declines are debated. Most studies rely on field surveys performed in the past century, leaving gaps in our understandin...

A new Science study of ants in Fiji—involving genomic sequencing of over 4000 ant specimens from museum collections—shows that most native species have been in decline since humans first arrived in the archipelago 3000 years ago. https://scim.ag/489mI2o

𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘱.

Distinct evolutionary trajectories of two integration centres, the central complex and mushroom bodies, across Heliconiini butterflies

Our paper on central complex evolution in Heliconiini butterflies is now available as reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social 🎉🎉. Please check out the helpful and constructive reviews which we are going to address in the next weeks 🤗 elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre... @ebablab.bsky.social

Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that this extraordinary karyotype is ...

This is figure 2, which shows trends in incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases across the Amazon.

Protecting Indigenous territories in areas of the Amazon rainforest with high levels of forest cover may help reduce the number of cases of several diseases in the surrounding areas, according to an analysis in Communications Earth & Environment. go.nature.com/47z1jPX 🧪

'Butterfly' Explores 4,000 Years of Our Fascination with Lepidoptera in Art and Science A new book forthcoming from Phaidon celebrates our love for these prolific winged things throughout millennia.

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

Boop!

More on the ancient foundation of animal development. Coyle & King illustrate how core regulatory modules were present in our pre-animal ancestors. The key was not invention, but recycling & new protein interactions. #CellBiology #multicellularity #protistsOnSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How Did Evolution Halve Genome Size During an Oceanic Island Colonization? Abstract. Red devil spiders of the genus Dysdera colonized the Canary Islands and underwent an extraordinary diversification. Notably, their genomes are ne

Red devil spiders from the Canary Islands have a genome half the size of mainland counterparts - Pisarenco, @jrozasub.bsky.social et al. show how purifying selection against slightly deleterious DNA and TE insertions is the primary mechanism.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206

#evobio #molbio #TEsky

MBE | Similar Genetic Routes Are Independently Targeted for Mimetic Color Convergence in Bumble Bees

Hines et al. examined the genetics of parallel color pattern acquisition in three bumble bees in Western N. America - in three lineages, color shifts map to the regulatory region of a segmental-fate-determining Hox gene called Abdominal B.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf187

#evobio #molbio