Denise D Dell'Aglio
@ficusorganensis.bsky.social
Research Fellow at University of Bristol and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. Fascinated by Heliconius butterflies, their behaviour and ecology in tropical forest.
Here's a video of @grahancock.bsky.social & I discussing our new butterfly motion confusion paper 🦋 www.youtube.com/watch?v=joos...
Butterfly wing patterns create powerful motion illusions
YouTube video by Jolyon Troscianko
youtube.com
How long does a butterfly live? 🦋 A few weeks for most, but pollen-eating Heliconius can live up to a year – and have much bigger brains. @ebablab.bsky.social from @camzoology.bsky.social is exploring how brains and behaviour can drive the evolution of new species 👉 bit.ly/4jFJJzG
I loved writing this! Make sure to watch the videos! 🦋🧪
Stephen Montgomery@ebablab.bsky.social · 3mo agoA very nice observation and write up of gaurding behaviour in #Heliconius sapho by @ficusorganensis.bsky.social! esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Very excited to finally have this out in the world! The first paper from my PhD (and my first first-author publication) makes the case for a new entrant to the world of long-lived animal models: Heliconius butterflies. Out now in @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... (1/10)
Evolution of increased longevity and slowed ageing in a genus of tropical butterfly - Nature Communications
Studying long-lived species across the animal kingdom could provide insights into healthy ageing in humans. This study reveals long lifespans and slowed ageing in Heliconius butterflies, identifying t...
nature.com
🦋 Symposium submissions for BOB + ELEN 2027 are now open! Researchers and group leaders are invited to submit proposals until Aug 31, 2026. More information available via the link in bio. #bobelen2027 #lepidoptera #science #unicamp #butterflies
🎉 Congratulations to the ASAB Video Competition winner Amaia Alcalde Anton! Check out her video: “What Did I Leave in the Fridge” 🎉 #ASABSpring2026 Want to know more? Read the paper this entry was based on: doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
🦋 SAVE THE DATE / RESERVA LA FECHA X Biology of Butterflies + IX Encontro de Lepidoptera Neotropicais 📅 30 Mar–3 Apr 2027 📍 Unicamp, Campinas, BR #bobelen2027 #lepidoptera #science #unicamp #butterflies 🇧🇷 Mais informações em breve / 🇪🇸 Más infos pronto / 🇺🇸 More informations soon
@heliconians It's nice to see a Heliconius butterfly on the cover of "Evolution" again! Elizabeth Hodge et al. 2026, on why Heliconius are smarter than other butterflies. doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Introducing the campest katydid of all time. 🦄💅🏽👸💞 Why would this animal (Arota festae) have evolved this way, other than to look utterly fabulous? We have unleashed some (slightly whacky) thoughts, now out in @esajournals.bsky.social. Photo credit: @zekerowe.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... 1/n
Excited that my 2nd MSc paper is out in @journal-evo.bsky.social 🦋🎉 doi.org/10.1093/evol... We find Heliconius’ impressive visual memory is not due to increased visual-structure investment over that of their outgroup relatives, but instead consistent with specialisation of the central circuitry.
Some sad news to close out the year, our beloved tapir friend, Valencia has died. I wrote a little memorial about her life here: mailchi.mp/e9c87190f578... But I'll share some nice photos here too
🎉 Congratulations to Professor Stephen Montgomery @ebablab.bsky.social winner of a @zslscience.bsky.social Scientific Medal! Read more: bit.ly/4a9AD9J
Thank you Denise Dalbosco Dell'Aglio @ficusorganensis.bsky.social @ebablab.bsky.social for sharing your experience of fee-free #OA publishing @jexpbiol.bsky.social via our #ReadAndPublish agreement @bristolbiosci.bsky.social Read Denise’s paper: bit.ly/4977c7N See all institutions bit.ly/3O7BxGi
Now in its birthday suit with videos journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/... And an interview with @ficusorganensis.bsky.social! journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
ECR Spotlight – Denise Dalbosco Dell'Aglio
ABSTRACT. ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-...
journals.biologists.com
Stephen Montgomery@ebablab.bsky.social · last yr.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!
We are looking for a physics/maths graduate with an interest in biology, or a biology graduate with strong computational/mathematical skills/interests, to join us as a PhD student working on biomechanical modelling of butterfly wing scale structure formation www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Another is this hovering flight where they dance back and forth around before landing, again they do this repeatedly in a feeding bout… they also do it to artificial flowers that lack floral odours… 5/n
One pronounced behaviour are circular flights around a floral resource, where they turn back on themselves in a loop. They do this repeatedly while feeding; loop, feed, repeat… 4/n
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!
International Society for Neuroethology@neuroethology.org · last yr.Protein-rich flowers are spatially scattered food sources for Heliconinii 🦋. This requires a sophisticated spatial memory. @ebablab.bsky.social et al. monitors the flight behavior when 🦋 encounter novel 🌺 and compare this behavior with other 🦋 species. journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
Insectember day 4: Heliconius clysonymus Common name: Montane longwing Bug with hat, my go-to apparently 🎨 #insectember2025 #anthro #bugart
The Ñeque-Oke celebration for #InternationalAgoutiDay went really really well!
Happy to share that the second edition of our course will take place in Argentina from November 24th to 28th. Application deadline: September 1st, 2025. biodiversitygenomicslatam.weebly.com
New from @gadusmo.bsky.social’s PhD thesis 👐🏼 with @dickmerrill.bsky.social, Jake Morris, Camilo Salazar and Carolina Pardo-Díaz ‘Repeated evolution of reduced visual investment at the onset of ecological speciation in high-altitude #Heliconius butterflies’ 1/n 🧪 academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Repeated evolution of reduced visual investment at the onset of ecological speciation in high-altitude Heliconius butterflies
Abstract. Colonization of new habitats is typically followed by divergent selection acting on traits that are immediately important for fitness. For exampl
academic.oup.com
🚨Anyone want a job?🚨 We have two #postdocs up for grabs! 🧪 - cell developmental biology/#evodevo/#neuroevodevo - bioinformatics and molecular biology Both working on brain evolution in Heliconiini butterflies Details below! Please repost 🙏 1/n
Do you use Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) genomes for your work or grant applications? If so, can you please fill out this form? docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... We are gathering info on how DToL genomes are used. It will help us raise money to continue producing publicly available high-quality genomes.
Darwin Tree of Life Impact Assessment
This form is used to share information within DToL about case studies, ongoing research, and funding awards that demonstrate the impact the Darwin Tree of Life consortium project has had on Global and...
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📜 Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) genome provides new insights into convergent evolution of caffeine biosynthesis 🧑🔬 Federico A. Vignale, Andrea Hernandez Garcia, Todd J. Barkman, Adrian G. Turjanski, et al. 📔 @elife.bsky.social 🔗 elifesciences.org/articles/104... #️⃣ #PlantSciene #PlantMetabolism
Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) genome provides new insights into convergent evolution of caffeine biosynthesis
DNA sequencing of the yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) genome reveals convergent genomic changes, biochemical pathways, mutations, and substrate-binding orientations responsible for caffeine biosynthe...
elifesciences.org
#Butterfly people - do any of you know any references for the ways in which butterflies fly around flowers when feeding? 🙏🏻 I can’t much but I find it hard to believe some diligent flutterologist hasn’t sketched this out…