Please visit Ark Rewilding Netherlands, a powerful illustration of the ecological benefits of deadwood: arkrewilding.nl

INSECT GIGANTISM IN THE CARBONIFEROUS: Why NATURE paper (Snelling et al, 2026) is wrong based on thermodynamics:

With the Spring Equinox comes an ecological shift in behaviour geared toward reproduction, a bountiful season of plenty. The temperate weather, insects returning from diapause make an attractive prospect. I'm looking forward to observing the elusive Song Thrush, Turdus philomelos in the coming days.

"The inference that ancient Metazoa were even more developmentally plastic than modern ones implies that the general correspondence of a given genotype to one morphological phenotype is a product rather than a precondition of evolution." - Before Programs, Newman pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16479496/

One of the beautiful ways Prof Suo's thermodynamics lectures may be applied, is to aspects geological. Take crystal formation in igneous rocks for instance. Whilst I always understood the process well, now much deeper in relation to marginal entropy per joule increase. The probabilistic quantum

Professor Zhigang Suo's excellent lectures on Carnot Cycles made me revisit the efficiency limit of my original reciprocal design. Carnot Cycles (and Stirling Engine modifications) match both the adiabatic work done to the system (power stroke) and entropy removed by expansion of working fluid from

A gift reading through Prigogine's 'Order out of Chaos' is his processual framing of science. From the Ancients, through to Newton, Hamiltonian, the complex thermodynamics of Maxwell, thereafter quantum mechanics. Accompanying this then, not only the historicity of processual science but philosophy

Fast signalling, thus associated complexity, is only made possible by dissipative structures incurring extreme entropy production. Of these at every level, autocatalytic reactions being most effective. Without high coupled entropy -TxΔSi to irreversible calcium signals in fertilisation for instance,

1/8: Thermodynamics influenced my viewing open biological systems similarly. My workings how I use Gibbs as primary metric, calculating 'human dissipative structure Fitness' against 'net biodiversity dissipative structure Fitness' over 'closed Earth system': H=U+pV ΔU = q + w

Neotropical Cassida sp. from top right I think. Precisely why Coleoptera are so speciose, and formidably adaptive as an order. Their sclerotised elytra/pronota unlocked diverse habitats, denied to most other Insects. The physiological quirk (via mRNA) for quinones repurposed then sent to the

Earth BioGenome Project 🌍@ebpgenome.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🧬 Not all DNA comes out easily! Some species lock their secrets behind tough shells, rigid walls, or tricky chemistry. Extracting high-quality DNA can mean cracking exoskeletons, dissolving cell walls, or working around inhibitory compounds — science meets detective work 🔬💥

Phenotypic plasticity is all the rage when defining convergent evolution at the macroscale. Very seldom do nucleotide bases randomly assort, thereafter selected by convergent evolution at the microscale. Here's one such example, however: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Distinct genomic architectures but the same gene underlie the convergent evolution of a plant supergene

Evolution reflects a balance between innovation and constraint, often repurposing existing components in new contexts. Convergent evolution exemplifies this interplay, with similar traits evolving ind...

biorxiv.org

Aeshna cyanea, Aeshnidae, 12/9/25, Denham Lock Wood, UK:

Tropical rainforests in the SW Pacifics. Dr Novotný took us on an epic adventure featuring Terry Erwin! On the arms race between plants and insects in the tropics, and the army of people it takes at a local scale to provide the raw data for these interactional insights over decades. #Ento25

Royal Entomological Society@royentsoc.bsky.social · 11mo ago

"Insects and plants in tropical rainforests: the story of a turbulent relationship" 🌿 Starting now - Welcome to our first Plenary of #Ento25, Dr Vojtěch Novotný. Read more about the Ento25 plenaries 🔽 buff.ly/pccuXfc Lecture sponsored by @harperadamsuni.bsky.social. #Entomology #InsectScience

Eriocampa ovata, Tenthredinidae, 24/8/25, Denham Lock Wood, UK:

Carabus nemoralis, Carabidae, 22/8/25, Brush Hill Woods, Chilterns, UK:

Sermylassus halensis, Chrysomelidae, 22/8/25, Brush Hill Woods, Chilterns, UK:

Euplagia quadripunctaria, Erebidae, 17/8/25, Brush Hill Woods, Chilterns, UK:

I explored #Ancient Hodgemoor Woods late last night (#Chilterns, UK) and came upon this #rare #Symphytan:

Very pleased my two Dolerus sp. are healthy and thriving, currently morphed from eonymphs to prepupae. I found this small pop. of rare Tenthredinidae larvae in an ancient woods (Northmoor Hill Wood, Denham UK). Interesting too whether they overwinter as pupae or emerge this year:

A twitter post today made me unexpectantly sad. The last known recording of a male Kauaʻi ʻōʻō (1987), calling out for a mate that would never come. He died alone, and the species went extinct. So I wrote a poem:

Platystomos albinus, Anthribidae, 16/7/25, Denham Lock Wood, UK. I found this specimen climbing an ancient alder tree, it engages in thanatosis when startled. Quite a scarce species.

Ichneumon suspiciosus, Ichneumonidae, 9/7/25, Denham Lock Wood, UK. A tentative ID, would appreciate any suggestions please @gavinbroad.bsky.social?

Melanostoma scalare, Syrphidae, 3/7/25, Denham Lock Wood:

Dorcus parallelipipedus, Lucanidae, 3/7/25, Denham Country Park, UK:

www.facebook.com/chrisantonio...

A couple of nights ago I found a small pop. of rare Tenthredinidae larvae in an ancient woods (Northmoor Hill Wood, Denham). I think Tenthredopsis sp.... | By Christos | Facebook

A couple of nights ago I found a small pop. of rare Tenthredinidae larvae in an ancient woods (Northmoor Hill Wood, Denham). I think Tenthredopsis sp....

facebook.com

But also reduces associative fixation with cereals like switchgrass. See this great paper from Michael Udvardi, for instance: apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

Nitrogen Fertilization Reduces Nitrogen Fixation Activity of Diverse Diazotrophs in Switchgrass Roots | Phytobiomes Journal

The use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to grow biofuel crops adds to the economic and environmental costs of biomass production. Biological nitrogen fixation provides an alternative, eco-friendly s...

apsjournals.apsnet.org

@jeanmichelane.bsky.social So similarly would infusion of fixed nitrogen inhibit enzymic nitrogen fixation within rhizomes (& associated bacteria)? Or as the chloroplasts (formerly cyanobacteria) are well endosymbiosed, whereas the symbiotic root bacteria nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Exogenous sugar addition can exacerbate root carbon limitation in trees

In most tree species, roots serve as major carbon (C) sinks, where C is depleted first when C assimilation is limited. Recent methodological advancements in sugar infusion allow for a better underst...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Worrying development, and another cause of human ecological disturbance. The ‘triboelectric effect’ is well known in slightly ionising cuticular surface of insects (friction by rapid wing movement etc). Yet now the coadapted electrostatic attraction to partially negatively charged angiosperm plants

@georgemcgavin.bsky.social @steveormerod.bsky.social @rdawkins.bsky.social @danielkronauer.bsky.social @mcaterino.bsky.social @pjie2.bsky.social @bertonemyia.bsky.social @beetlequeen.bsky.social @coleopsoc.bsky.social‬ Hope you enjoy the journey through deep evolutionary time!....

Christopher Antoniou@christosa89.bsky.social · last yr.

THE COLEOPTERISTS EVOLUTIONARY TOOLKIT: HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR BEETLE FROM A PRIMORDIAL CHEMISTRY

THE COLEOPTERISTS EVOLUTIONARY TOOLKIT: HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR BEETLE FROM A PRIMORDIAL CHEMISTRY