I'm pleased to share a new paper on the phylogeny and evolution of the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae, just out now in Syst Ent: doi.org/10.1111/syen..., written with the amazing coauthors @jilloberski.bsky.social and Brendon Boudinot.

The origin and evolution of Dolichoderinae, a dominant ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The phylogeny of Dolichoderinae is inferred from phylogenomic data for the first time, based on 131 terminals representing all extant genera except Ecphorella, with divergence dating and time-strati...

doi.org

New research article! 📰 Schroeder et al. showed that the soil density shapes how a colony organises its home 🏗️ 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000... #SocialInsects #NestArchitecture #AntNests #SoilEcology #Myrmecology

Spontaneous neural activity is prevalent in the developing mammalian olfactory system, and this activity seems to be important for proper neural wiring. In this new preprint by Dominic Frank, we show that a similar phenomenon occurs in ants: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Join our 🏛️ museum @smnstuttgart.bsky.social 🇩🇪 as Curator & Research Group Leader for Hymenoptera 🐝🐜! Leverage >500k specimens to understand & conserve biodiversity 🧬 🔬 Collection research (NGS, micro-CT) 📌 path to tenure + habilitation 🤝 supportive community 🗓️ Apply by Nov 30 🔁 Please repost

Research Group Leader (m/f/d) for Hymenoptera Systematics – Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart

naturkundemuseum-bw.helixjobs.com

New paper on functional trait space of arthropods along elevation with some interesting patterns 🐜🦗🪲🦋 ⛰️

Basic and Applied Ecology@basicapplecol.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🦋🏔️ New article: How do arthropod traits shift with elevation? Across four groups in Italy's Vinschgau Valley, orthopterans and butterflies lose trait diversity higher up, while ants gain it. 🐜 DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba... @gfoesoc.bsky.social

In 2023 we reported Europe's first established fire ant population, in Sicily. Our new update: residents recall Solenopsis invicta since the 1990s, and it now also occurs in 3 more provinces, over 120 km away. We also list 78 ant species around the invaded areas. 🐜🔥 doi.org/10.21426/B6....

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

Polyrhachis illaudata (which is certainly a complex of partially cryptic species) is a common sight over large parts of SE Asia. Up close, its golden pilosity is particularly striking :) Singapore 🇸🇬

Yesterday I finally found an ant I’ve been looking for for many years: Polyrhachis muelleri, the only ant species known to (always) have green larvae! Its cocoons are so thin that even the pupae appear green until sclerotization :) Northern Bali, Indonesia 🇮🇩

Excited to share our new paper on injuries in ants! 🥳 🐜 Together with Alina Koeters and @etf1989.bsky.social, we quantified injury rates and affected body regions among native ant species collected in Bavaria. If you’d like to learn more, read the full paper here: academic.oup.com/auk/article-...

@jexpbiol.bsky.social / @biologists.bsky.social published our paper on Rescue behaviour in desert ants 🐜🤝🐜! Check it out here journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-... and the ERC spotlight 💡https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/229/14/jeb253034/372247/ECR-Spotlight-Luisa-Maria-Jaimes-Nino

ECR Spotlight – Luisa Maria Jaimes-Nino

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-career res...

journals.biologists.com

Our new commentary rdcu.be/ftx6h in @natecoevo.nature.com written with folks from @inaturalist.bsky.social and @cornellbirds.bsky.social shows that use of AI to manipulate existing or create new wildlife images undermines the huge value of vast citizen science databases. 🌍🪰🪶 #Ornithology 🧵 1/10

Citizen science platforms must mitigate against the threat of generative AI

Nature Ecology & Evolution - Citizen science platforms must mitigate against the threat of generative AI

rdcu.be

Today!

Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart@smnstuttgart.bsky.social · 4mo ago

#SvaeTheDate 14.07.2026 | 16:00 | Museum am Löwentor & online Research Colloquium: Large-scale digitization of insect morphology: recent advances in synchrotron X-ray imaging and data analysis by Thomas van de Kamp (Karlsruher Institute of Technology) zoom.us/j/94510498226

There is still time to sign up and join us for for a week of ANT CAMP in Downeast coastal Maine at the beautiful Eagle Hill Institute!

New paper from the lab on the molecular regulation of parenting in ants. Spearheaded by postdocs Alex Paul and @tomaskay.bsky.social

Tomas Kay@tomaskay.bsky.social · 4mo ago

In an article published today, we show that ancient feeding-related neuropeptides have been repurposed to control brood care in clonal raider ants. Photo: Bart Zijlstra, UNIL /1

Our lab is recruiting 🐜🧬 : - PhD student, functional genomics, Chinese nationals only - Postdocs, population genomics, open internationally Lab info and contact: lab-darras.github.io Based at Zhejiang University 🇨🇳, one of the very best research universities in the world (tinyurl.com/4nb56pv6).

Excited to share that our paper on Horizontal Gene Transfer is now out in its final form in @gigascience.bsky.social! 🥳 By analysing 163 high-quality ant genomes, we show that HGT from bacteria is widespread across the ants and likely has adaptive functions! doi.org/10.1093/giga... 🐜📸: Alex Wild

Our lab at Rockefeller University is looking for a Research Technician to help with our studies of ant social behavior and evolution. 🐜 🧠 🐜 🧬 🐜 Please share and apply here if interested: hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...

Research Technician I - Kronauer Lab

Primary Work Address: 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. About the Role: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is seeking ...

hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

📣 Funded* #PhD position (4 years) Wood #Ant #conservation project in Ireland🐜 @maynoothuniversity.ie Application close: 3 June 2026 More info: dirilgenecology.com/contact/ - @muresearch.bsky.social | @mu-gra25.bsky.social | @maynooth-bgs.bsky.social | * @npwsireland.bsky.social #findaphd

Join us

Join the Terrestrial Ecology Lab VacanciesOPEN [closing 3 June 2026] PhD: Irish wood ant conservation project (4 years) Postdoctoral ResearchersReach out to me if you are interested in pursuing sup…

dirilgenecology.com

Pellen, @shaggyschrader.bsky.social @eyalprivman.bsky.social et al. analyse the most comprehensive ant odorant receptor dataset to date, showing that worker polymorphism involves extensive adaptation of chemical communication. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag103 #evobio #molbio #ant

Adaptive evolution of odorant receptors is associated with elaborations of social organization in ants

Abstract. Cooperation in social insect colonies depends on complex chemical communication, requiring a large array of chemosensory receptors. Ant odorant r

doi.org

SAVE THE DATE 5th Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on Social Insects 31.3.- 4.3. 3027 Keynote speakers: Shelley Berger Margarita López-Uribe Christopher Jernigan Brock Harpur Qiaowei Pan Nathalie Stroeymeyt Philipp Brand Orit Peleg Ofer Feinerman Abstract submission: 1.7. 2026 - 17.1.2027

📄 Beyond formic acid: Peptides in carpenter ant venoms aid in disease protection 🐜🧪 ⬇️ www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Beyond formic acid: Peptides in carpenter ant venoms aid in disease protection

Contrary to common belief, the acid sprays of carpenter ants contain lipids and antifungal peptides, aiding in disease protection.

science.org

my paper on pogonomyrmex harvester ant biogeography with bob johnson and @corriemoreau.bsky.social came out today! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/MEB3T9...

Our PhD student Max Bolder @boldest-ant.bsky.social published a very fascinating story about the vampire #ants Stigmatomma pallipes. Queens may look alike but they differ in behavior and gene expression. Do you want to know more? Check below! 🐜

Max Bolder@boldest-ant.bsky.social · 6mo ago

When a small side project about the observation of "queens" going outside the artificial nest turns into a full story featuring the elusive vampire ant Stigmatomma pallipes: doi.org/10.1111/mec.... Very grateful to have one of my PhD chapters published. More to come!

Great to see these results finally published! Data Blanca (@bioivanezb.bsky.social) and I collected during my master’s research in Peruvian cacao agroforestry systems, where you can learn more about the favorite food of leafcutter ants and how herbivory damage strongly depends on distance! 🐜

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg@uni-wuerzburg.de · 7mo ago

Ant trouble in cacao forests? 🐜 Researchers from @ecoresearchzoo3.bsky.social found a way to protect crops in Peru. Turns out, leaf-cutter ants prefer papaya over cacao! 🥭 Smart intercropping saves the harvest #Agroforestry #Sustainability 📷 Melvin Opolka ➡️ go.uniwue.de/leaf-cutter-...

🎉New paper out from the lab, led by @baptistepiqueret.bsky.social: ant larvae chemically suppress the reproduction of their caregivers. bit.ly/4t8uZLG An example of how social interactions are regulated at the molecular level. The work was made possible by the unique environment @mpi-ce.bsky.social

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology@mpi-ce.bsky.social · 7mo ago

A research team from @yukoulrich.bsky.social‘s lab at our institute has identified the first brood pheromone in ants—thereby proving that larvae of clonal raider ants actively influence the colony’s reproduction cycle. www.ice.mpg.de/550783/PR_Pi...

💶🧿 Value illusions in insects 🐝🐜🦗 Insects make many of the same weird choices we do, and fall for many of the same marketing tricks - but not all! A very short piece by Tanya Latty and me doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

Apply to our Master Evolutionary Biology

Deadline alert: early bird registration ends next Tuesday (March 31)! XX. International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects iussi2026.org

XX. International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects

Visit the post for more.

iussi2026.org