Come join the FAN-dom: Wing-fanning presents an underexplored avenue in social insects 🌬️ Megha shows how a simple wing movement opens a window onto some of the biggest questions in social insect biology. insectessociaux.wordpress.com/2026/10/04/c... #SocialInsects #Thermoregulation #HoneyBees

Come join the FAN-dom: Wing-fanning presents an underexplored avenue in social insects

By Megha Majoe Megha is a postdoctoral researcher interested in animals that live in social groups. In her work, she uses tools such as RNA-seq and RNAi to disentangle and explain mechanisms affect…

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New review article! 📚 Majoe & @phdbee.bsky.social argue that wing-fanning is a plastic behaviour that can serve as a model system to understand how insect societies respond to their environment 🌬️ 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Plasticity #Thermoregulation #ColonialBehaviour #Biology

Join the FANdom: This review published thanks to @insectessociaux.bsky.social is a synthesis of all we know & so much more we don’t know about wing-fanning across social insects. Thanks a lot to @phdbee.bsky.social for sowing the seed that has become this cool review

New research article! 📰 @chrisleduck.bsky.social, @molamelipona.bsky.social, @fsnascim.bsky.social et al. show that nesting in buildings comes with smaller colonies but a more stable environment 🏙️ 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #StinglessBees #UrbanEcology #Urbanisation #Meliponini

New short communication! 📄 Kühn et al. find that the microplastic type bees most commonly encounter on roadsides is also the one that ends up in their brood cells 🐝 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Microplastics #BumblebeeHealth #Pollution #PollinatorDecline

New research article! 📰 @morganmorrison73.bsky.social, fmandredini.bsky.social, markjfbrown.bsky.social et al. find that a wing-deforming bee virus is still prevalent in bees across UK protected grasslands 🌿 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #BeeHealth #Virus #Pathogen #Conservation

New short communication! 📄 Wang & Billen describe a previously unknown gland hidden in the leg of the bullet ant, bringing the total count of exocrine leg glands in ants to 28 🐜 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #AntAnatomy #ExocrineGlands #BulletAnt #Myrmecology

New research article! 📰 Cardoso et al. map the genetic landscape of this leaf-cutting ant found only in Brazil's threatened restinga coastal habitats 🌿 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #ConservationGenetics #LeafCuttingAnts #Phylogeography #AtlanticForest

New research article! 📰 Haouzi & Darrouzet reveal that the alarm pheromone of the invasive yellow-legged hornet is not a fixed signal but shifts in chemical composition as workers age 🚨 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #InvasiveSpecies #AlarmPheromone #VespaVelutina #ChemicalEcology

Special issue “A glimpse into a little-known world: organisms associated with social arthropods”: part I 🗣️ link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Special issue “A glimpse into a little-known world: organisms associated with social arthropods”: part I - Insectes Sociaux

Insectes Sociaux -

link.springer.com

New research article! 📰 A. D. dos Santos et al. demonstrate that soldier ants are deployed only at protein-rich food located close to the nest 🐜 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #DivisionOfLabor #AntForaging #CasteAllocation #Pheidole

When I did my project about ponerine diet with stable isotopes, some Lepidopteras had a carnivore signal… i wonder back then if this was a mistake or not. Nice that this predatory lepidopterans are been discovered!

Insectes Sociaux@insectessociaux.bsky.social · last mo.

New research article! 📰 Amador Vargas et al. document for the first time a butterfly caterpillar that starts life eating treehoppers before sneaking into ant nests to feed on their brood 🦋 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Myrmecophily #Lepidoptera #Carnivory #TrophicSwitch

New research article! 📰 Amador Vargas et al. document for the first time a butterfly caterpillar that starts life eating treehoppers before sneaking into ant nests to feed on their brood 🦋 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Myrmecophily #Lepidoptera #Carnivory #TrophicSwitch

Book Review 📔 Insect flight: an insect-eye view of flight behaviour in the wild—by John H. Brackenbury 2026 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

New research article! 📰 Polidori & Ferrari reveal that whether a bee nests underground or in the open, and whether it lives alone or in a colony, largely determines which parasitic flies will target it 🐝 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Parasitism #WildBees #CoEvolution #Diptera

The tarantulas that decided to live with ants 🕷️ What happens when you go looking for one spider and find dozens of tarantulas living inside ant nests? A discovery nobody saw coming. insectessociaux.wordpress.com/2026/08/27/t... #SocialInsects #Tarantulas #Myrmecophily #DesertEcology #Arachnology

The tarantulas that decided to live with ants

by Gabriel Pompozzi Gabriel is a researcher at CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina), based at the Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas (IADI…

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New research article! 📰 Euo et al. uncover the hidden larval side of Korea's wasp-mimicking hoverflies, confirmed for the first time developing inside native yellowjacket nests 🪰 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Syrphidae #BatesianMimicry #VespidNests #InsectDiversity

Caterpillars eat plants, right? 🌿 Not always, some are carnivorous! 🥩🐛 Our new paper documents the life history, behavior, and vibrations of Juditha odites. It feeds on treehoppers, then moves into ant nests to consume ant brood! 🐜🐛🦋 link.springer.com/article/10.1... @insectessociaux.bsky.social

An insect-eating caterpillar associated with arboreal ants: life cycle, diet, social integration and substrate-borne vibrations - Insectes Sociaux

Herbivory is the predominant feeding strategy in Lepidoptera, whereas carnivory has evolved rarely. The life cycles of carnivorous species, however, remain poorly documented. Here, we confirm that Jud...

link.springer.com

New research article! 📰 Cabral et al. show that a tiny tarantula raises its young inside active leaf-cutting ant nests, exploiting them as a refuge against the scorching Argentine desert heat 🕷️ 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Myrmecophily #Theraphosidae #Arachnology #Symbiosis

New interview with a social insect scientist! 🎙️ Hannes argues that requeening a hive is, from a biological standpoint, killing it 🐝 insectessociaux.wordpress.com/2026/08/20/i... #SocialInsects #HoneyBees #Superorganism #Beekeeping #EvolutionaryBiology

Interview with a social insect scientist: Hannes Bonhoff

Hannes is a newly graduated master’s student of biology at Lund University, Sweden. His main interests are social insects and evolutionary transitions in individuality, with a master’s …

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Dr. Luis M. Jaimes-Niño: 2026 West-Eberhard Award recipient! 🐜🏆

IUSSI-Congress@uissi-social.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Meet this year’s West-Eberhard Award recipient, Dr. Luisa Jaimes Niño! The formal ceremony will take place at #IUSSI26 on Wednesday, 19 August, starting at 9:00.

Looking for your next read? 📚 Dive into the fascinating world of insect flight! 🪰 I was captivated by Insects Flight: An Insect‑Eye View of Flight Behaviour in the Wild by J.H. Brackenbury. Check out my book review in @insectessociaux.bsky.social Link 👉 shorturl.at/Y0EEl #reading #science #review

New research article! 📰 Gamboa et al. show that in Veromessor andrei, who you are reproductively predicts your bacterial community better than what job you perform 🐜 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #HarvesterAnts #Microbiome #AntMicrobiome #TaskAllocation

Beyond what meets the eye: where do the galleries of arboreal termite nests extend? 🌱 In this blog, Mário takes us underground to discover the chambers built by tree-nesting termites. insectessociaux.wordpress.com/2026/08/16/b... #Socialinsects #Termites #EcosystemEngineering #SoilEcology

Beyond what meets the eye: where do the galleries of arboreal termite nests extend?

Mário Herculano de Oliveira is a biologist and Ph.D. in Ecology and Conservation with over a decade of research experience in social insect behavior and ecology. Since 2013, his work has focused on…

insectessociaux.wordpress.com

New research article! 📰 Schneider & LaPolla demonstrate that ant-associated root mealybugs have evolved distinctive body structures found in no free-living species 🔬 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #Myrmecophily #Trophobiosis #InsectMorphology #NewSpecies

New interview with a social insect scientist! 🎙️ Samuel walked into a spider’s web one evening, and came back to find the spider sitting in “the most beautiful work of art” he had ever seen 🕷️ insectessociaux.wordpress.com/2026/08/13/i... #SocialInsects #Spiders #Science #Ecology

Interview with a social insect scientist: Samuel J. John

Samuel John is the co-founder of Spiders and The Sea where he works as an educator bringing people closer to nature. He is also an independent writer and researcher. John is particularly curious ab…

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📢 Introducing @uissi-social.bsky.social, the Bluesky home of the XX International Congress of the IUSSI. The Congress runs 16–20 August 2026 in Freiburg, Germany, hosted by the University of Freiburg. Tag your posts, abstracts, and travel plans with #IUSSI26 so we can find each other.

New review article! 📚 Bonhoff & Helanterä argue that a honeybee colony is not immortal but a succession of mortal superorganisms, each giving birth to the next much like a viviparous animal 🐝 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #HoneyBee #Superorganism #ColonyLifeCycle #EvolutionaryBiology

New research article! 📰 M. H. de Oliveira et al. found that a tree-nesting termite extends its colony underground, enriching soil nutrients in one of Brazil's harshest dryland environments 🌱 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #TermiteEcology #EcosystemEngineering #SoilScience #Caatinga

New research article! 📰 Li et al. show that termite workers fight hard against ant predators only when their queen is present, switching to escape when she is gone 👑 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #TermiteBehavior #ColonyDefense #BehavioralPlasticity #QueenControl