I wrote about a reason not to use generative AI in your writing that I haven't seen anyone talking about. Once I realized this, banning GenAI in our lab's writing became a no-brainer. Feel free to share, I think this is probably useful especially for trainees: www.carlsonlab.bio/thoughts/the...

The only reason you’ll ever need not to write with AI — The Carlson Lab

Over the last year, our lab has been developing a policy on AI use. To do this, we did three main things: We read a lot of academic publications and tech news. We set up an #ai channel on our la...

carlsonlab.bio

Huzzah! Today begins the Big Butterfly Count, a huge effort to collect data by @savebutterflies.bsky.social. Need help understanding why study butterflies? I interviewed @charlottewright.bsky.social co-lead of @projectpsyche.bsky.social and learned heaps. sangerinstitute.blog/2025/12/11/f...

Five questions on butterfly and moth genomics with Charlotte Wright - Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog

Drawn to genomics like a moth to a flame, Wellcome Sanger Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Charlotte Wright, shares with us how she uses genomics to shed light on the evolutionary history of butterfl...

sangerinstitute.blog

Take a few minutes to read. This is the next in my series about what we learn from evolutionary biology. Free to read, as always. open.substack.com/pub/profmcin...

Added a small tweak to BOLD View that displays #datacitation for @boldsystems.bsky.social datasets, for example DS-ININD20 boldview.iphylo.org/recordset/DS... is cited by doi.org/10.1007/s110.... This provides context for a dataset (e.g., why did people do this barcoding?).

DNA barcoding of insects from India: Current status and future perspectives - Molecular Biology Reports

Insect fauna occupy the largest proportion of animal biodiversity on earth, but the assessment or quantification in terms of species diversity is far from complete. Several recent studies have demonstrated the rapid pace at which insect population decline is occurring. There is an urgent need to document and quantify the diversity of insect fauna for a proper understanding of terrestrial ecosystems. This can be achieved by using modern technology to identify species much faster than relying on traditional methods alone. In line with this, the molecular approach through DNA barcoding coupled with morphological identification needs to be focused and accelerated. The present paper describes the current status of barcoding of insect species in India along with the gaps that need to be remedied. This analysis shows that barcoded specimens cover a very meagre proportion of less than 3.73% of the known taxa/described species and the most represented orders are Lepidoptera and Hemiptera followed by Diptera and Coleoptera. There is a need to expedite insect species discovery and documentation in a collaborative mode between traditional taxonomists and molecular biologists, to accomplish the DNA barcoding of all known insect taxa from India.

doi.org

Every day I think about this passage

I'm happy to share our latest publication which records the first evidence of intraspecific variations in the venation of D. chrysippus. These variations are of taxonomic importance vis-a-vis the genus. doi.org/10.33307/ent...

Bye-bye butterflies. Since 1991, more than half of Europe's grassland butterflies have vanished, according to the European Environment Agency's grassland butterfly index. europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/byebye-...

Bye-bye butterflies

Summer has returned to Europe. The butterflies, less so. Since 1991, more than half of Europe's grassland butterflies have vanished, according to the

europeancorrespondent.com

Springer Nature has removed two studies by Max Planck. A bot may be to blame. www.science.org/content/arti...

Why have papers by one of history’s most famous physicists been retracted?

Springer Nature has removed two studies by Max Planck. A bot may be to blame

science.org

BHL is featured in @theguardian.com's Age of Extinction series. The article highlights the extraordinary value of BHL and the urgent need to ensure it remains free and open into the future. Please read and share: www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🧪 🌎 📖 🔗 🐟 💚

A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge with everyone

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt

theguardian.com

Just start writing. My new post: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Duke of Burgundy numbers in Kent have increased 9000% over the last two decades thanks to nature recovery efforts! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rare butterfly population increases by 9000% in Kent in 20 years

A record number of Duke of Burgundy butterflies were recorded in Kent last year, a charity says.

bbc.co.uk

I've been keeping this quiet for a while, but now's as good a time as any to announce: I have a book contract for a new textbook, Applied Evolutionary Medicine, with Princeton Univ Press. Core theme: "What, if anything, do medical practitioners do differently when they understand evolution"?

Our team at @arcadiascience.com is hiring! We're looking to hire a computational evolutionary biologist interested in asking how and why protein sequences/structures/functions differ across the tree of life 🧬 jobs.lever.co/arcadiascien... Please share widely!

🎉 Big news! Our WG4's first meeting report is now published in Evolutionary Applications! A milestone for our working group, check it out 👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #LepEU #10KLepGenomes #Genomics #Lepidoptera

LepEU: A Consortium to Study the Population Genomics of Butterflies and Moths Across Europe

LepEU, the European Lepidopteran Population Genomics Consortium, was launched in 2023 to coordinate continental-scale collections and generate population-level genomic data for butterflies and moths ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

academics trying to normalize acceptance of AI hallucinated citations in their field: do you seriously expect me to show my work and check my work me, baffled, a naïf, a fool: yes that’s why it’s called *your* *work*

This series of crow portraits, with others showing the nictitating eye lid in operation, were really satisfying. #BirdOfTheDay #ScrollBack #Favourites #Crows #Birds #Photography #Wildlife #Nature

PhD Funded Position in Medical Entomology at University of Basel, Switzerland A fully funded PhD in Medical Entomology at Swiss TPH offers hands-on research in mosquito ecology, vector control strategies, and global public health. Ideal for biology and epidemiology graduates.

PhD Funded Position in Medical Entomology at University of Basel, Switzerland

A fully funded PhD in Medical Entomology at Swiss TPH offers hands-on research in mosquito ecology, vector control strategies, and global public health. Ideal for biology and epidemiology graduates.

agristok.net

Open #PhD #position on “Projecting the #human #impact on #biodiversity” (fully funded 4 years position) in my group @University Zurich & @eawag.bsky.social 🌐 🌍 📈 🦀 🐟 🌳 All #details & application instructions 🎯: apply.refline.ch/673277/1356/... ❗Thx for spreading the word / apply now!

New PhD position: Butterfly Evolution at High Elevations 🦋⛰️🧬 The project aims to understand the rapid evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics. DEADLINE: May 8, 2026 Start: Autumn 2026 (Czechia) More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/

Join us

Opportunities Below are the positions currently open in our lab. Regular open positions If you have an exciting research idea and are interested in applying for your own funding, feel free to get i…

pavelmatos.wordpress.com

Offering a free online class titled “how to ignore the thing you don’t like on the internet”

The horrors persist, but so do mushrooms

I am NOT saying there are not lots of interesting features in organisms. What I am saying is that just because something is interesting and seems to be important does not mean it came to be via natural selection and also does not mean you can immediately conclude that it always improves fitness.

Nice summary of long distance insect migration in the Guardian today with fancy graphics www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations

Trillions of insects embark, largely unnoticed, on epic journeys every year across mountain ranges, deserts and seas, and it is only now, as their numbers suffer huge declines, that scientists are tra...

theguardian.com

the "lost" species Monarda mexicana is still out there! Known from just 2 historical collections (most recent from the 1950s). Imagine my joy in stumbling on a picture of it on @inaturalist.bsky.social !!! We've now documented the first known modern populations and revived the species name:

iNaturalist-facilitated rediscovery of Monarda mexicana (Lamiaceae) in high-elevation habitats of Durango, Mexico | Phytotaxa

doi.org

📣The CETAF Scientific Research Working Group is organising an upcoming live webinar: "What Defines a Species in the Molecular Age? Delimitation and Diagnosis with DNA Barcodes" 📅 13 May | 14:00–16:00 CET 👉Registration is now open: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #Taxonomy #Systematics

"Apatura ilia" 💜 Photography by Rita Barbie [FB] in Piedmont, Italy 🇮🇹 Apatura ilia, the lesser purple emperor, is a species of butterfly native to most of Europe and east across the Palearctic. It is named for its similarity to purple emperor butterflies #butterflies #purple #nature #photography

MLK Jr. said America suffers not just from "the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." Remember this.

Do you study disinformation or want to start working in that area? Come to the DSI June 15-18th with @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @katestarbird.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, @rcalo.bsky.social, @naomioreskes.bsky.social, @emmaspiro.bsky.social, and many more. disinfoinstitute.org

Disinformation Summer Institute (DSI) - Disinformation Summer Institute

Disinformation Disinformation is false or misleading information created and spread to advance policy, political, economic or ideological goals. It is sometimes used by industries, governments, and ot...

disinfoinstitute.org

As we all settle back in at home after an amazing #ssb2026 in Baton Rouge, it seems fitting to share this recent pub from @mbomaaaron.bsky.social where he writes about the utility of taxonomic education. Aaron was a @systbiol.bsky.social mentee and so it is very exciting to see this work of his out!

Aaron Mboma@mbomaaaron.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I'm happy to announce that my paper, which makes a case for the enduring utility of taxonomy in biological research, has officially been published (open access). Gratitude to my mentor @oschwery.bsky.social who took time to read the initial drafts. qubeshub.org/community/gr...

Finally got some photos of Australia’s “blue ant”, Diamma bicolor, which is not an ant at all but a shockingly large metallic blue thynnid wasp, wingless and solitary, that hunts mole crickets. Been meaning to shoot this thing for years.