Cleaner ants in the desert!
I think this paper beautifully illustrates how much we don't know about ants and their relationships with other species!
Fascinating study!
Also, I learnt today that a group of kea is called a circus!
I took this modeling course in 2022 and really enjoyed it! The course provided me with a great framework to understand modeling papers. So if you are interested in modeling in biology in any capacity, check out the pre-print below!
Check out my interview with Insectes Sociaux!
This gave me a chance to reflect on my journey, my fascination with ants and the things that keep me going!
ICYMI, link to my recent paper: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Lecture on what we can learn from collective behavior about the world in general - www.youtube.com/watch?v=oioL...: algorithmic thinking, how to make groups behave better, how to get at truth despite our failing intuition
My first first-author paper is now published online at Insectes Sociaux! I loved this project and sharing it with yβall at IUSSI-NAS and ABS. Check it out! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
For Day 1 of #Invertefest -
I'm (once again) highlighting the Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social! ποΈ
Specifically it's wonderful "Meet Your Neighbors / ε·¦θ²ε³ι" series on BSky (as well as IG and FB) that showcases some of the stunning insects ππ° has to offer!
We (me and @njdowdy.bsky.social) are hiring a PhD student! Come work with us!
We seek a PhD student to investigate the evolution of acoustic behavior in Lepidoptera within a comparative evolutionary framework...
Job closes this week! Apply ASAP!
njdowdy.gitlab.io/balogh-fello...
Bruce, a kea parrot missing his entire upper beak, achieved alpha male status with
the aid of an innovative lower-beak jousting technique. Grabham et al. demonstrate
that behavioural innovation can he...
I give an account of an undescribed ant species from Arizona that licks and nips the much larger workers of a different ant species in manner remarkably parallel to the actions of cleaner fish that c...
Honey bee nests are warm and resource-rich, making them attractive targets for animal intruders during winter, including mice. Beekeepers often protect their nests from mice, but have also documented ...
link.springer.com
π¨ PhD opportunity π¨
Fully funded PhD at the University of Bristol (UK) on how ant colonies remodel their nests to optimise performance under pressure, combining experimental work, quantitative analysis, and field work.
Detail/how to apply: stroeymeyt-lab.co.uk/open-positio...
Deadline: 5 June 2026
Chinmay Hemant Joshi
Chinmay Joshi grew up photographing insects in India and never really stopped. Now a fresh PhD from the University of Arizona, he studies how ant colonies hold together when things go wrong. A reseβ¦
A PhD position investigating the evolution of acoustic behavior in Lepidoptera, co-advised by Dr. Nicolas J. Dowdy (Milwaukee Public Museum) and Dr. Chelsea Cook (Marquette University). Apply by June ...
Preprint: What good is modeling? Introducing biology students to theory - arxiv.org/abs/2604.13344 - how to teach and think about what modeling contributes to science. How does it fit into the scientific method? This is often misunderstood.
New interview with a social insect scientist! ποΈ
Chinmay (chjoshi.bsky.social) has spent years figuring out how ant colonies keep it together when everything goes wrong.... π
insectessociaux.wordpress.com/2026/05/06/i...
#SocialInsects #Ants #BehavioralEcology #FieldWork #ScienceLife
Because they process so much sugar, ππΊπ³π°π±π΄ π€π’π―π₯π¦ππ’π³πͺπ’ excrete a sweet, sticky substance known as honeydew. In the delicate ecosystem of Hong Kongβs village edges, this waste product becomes a sought-after resource, often attracting swarms of ants and even certain species of moths.
Dr Nathalie Stroeymeyt
Theory and empirical science should be in constant dialogue, but often find it hard to understand one another. Here we describe a graduate-level university course we developed to improve matters. The ...
Day 2 of #Invertefest!
Amplifying some cool insect papers that have crossed my feed recently!π£
~~
Q: Why do rewardless flowers still exist, rather than being shed? πΊ
A: π€·ββοΈ We still don't know, but this test with bees & fake flowers show it's probably not "decoy" effects!
doi.org/10.1111/een....
Some plants change the colour of flowers which were already pollinated, and are now rewardless. We thought perhaps they were using a behavioural economic trick - the decoy effect - to make theβ¦
