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EZ Lab

@ezlab.bsky.social

Arachnology / Evolutionary Zoology / Systematic Zoology / Behavioral Ecology / Biodiversity and Conservation / E-mail: eazylab@gmail

34 Posts60 Follower52 Folgt
EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🕷️ New paper! We describe the remarkable hunting behavior of the Malagasy spider Vigdisia praesidens, a termite specialist that uses silk to "fish" for termites inside damaged nests. This one, too, is from a student field camp in Madagascar! Congrats to all coauthors! www.ezlab.si/post/spider-...

Spider "fishing" for termites

A group of student researchers from the University of Iceland and the University in Antananarivo (Madagascar), led by dr. Ingi Agnarsson (University of Iceland) and dr. Matjaž Gregorič (Research Centr...

ezlab.si

Matjaž Gregorič@matjazgregoric.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This was a rapid one: idea May 15, fieldwork May 16, submitted May 24, reviews June 11, resubmitted June 18, accepted June 23, published July 8. Idea to acceptance 42 days, to publication 54 days. 🥳 Congrats to undegrad student coauthors!

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A simple observation during a student field course in Madagascar led to a publication in The Science of Nature: wind-exposed golden orb-weaver webs host fewer kleptoparasitic spiders, independent of web size.🕸️🕷️ www.ezlab.si/post/gone-wi...

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A simple observation during a student field course in Madagascar led to a publication in The Science of Nature: wind-exposed golden orb-weaver webs host fewer kleptoparasitic spiders, independent of web size.🕸️🕷️ www.ezlab.si/post/gone-wi...

Gone with the wind: Windy spider webs host fewer thieves

Can wind determine where animals choose to live? Our new study, published in The Science of Nature, suggests that it can! Even for tiny kleptoparasitic spiders that spend their lives stealing food fro...

ezlab.si

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🕷️ New editorial! "Horizons in Arachnid Science" introduces a collection of invited reviews on the latest advances in spider, scorpion, and mite research, from evolution and ecology to silk biomaterials and venom. www.ezlab.si/post/new-edi...

New editorial highlights the future of arachnid science

Our colleague Matjaž Kuntner has co-authored a new editorial in Frontiers in Arachnid Science, introducing the journal's inaugural "Horizons in Arachnid Science" collection.The editorial showcases a s...

ezlab.si

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Spider webs don’t just catch insects, they also catch DNA from the air. 🕸️ Our new study shows they can detect a major forest pathogen more effectively than conventional passive samplers, offering a low-cost tool for biodiversity and disease monitoring. 🌳🔬 www.ezlab.si/post/spider-...

Spider web eDNA detects fungal pathogen

Researchers from the National Institute of Biology, the Slovenian Forestry Institute, and ZRC SAZU have demonstrated that spider webs can serve as highly effective natural collectors of airborne envir...

ezlab.si

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

New publication! Updated taxonomy of “coin spiders” (genus Herennia, family Nephilidae). This group is known for extreme size dimorphism, ladder-like webs, and varied distributions across Asia and Australasia. Check out what’s new in their taxonomy in biogeography. www.ezlab.si/post/new-spe...

Updated coin spider taxonomy

We publushed an updated overview of the spider genus Herennia, a group nicknamed “coin spiders” because of their appearance. These spiders belong to the family Nephilidae, a fascinating branch of the ...

ezlab.si

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New publication! 🕷️ In the Analamazaotra National Park, Madagascar, we investigated how kleptoparasitic spiders choose host webs. The answer isn’t random! Which web to invade? Argyrodine kleptoparasites differentiate amongst architecturally different host webs. bdj.pensoft.net/article/1721...

Which web to invade? Argyrodine kleptoparasites differentiate amongst architecturally different host webs

Kleptoparasitism, the theft of resources from another organism, is a widespread foraging strategy amongst animals. Many Argyrodinae cobweb spiders (Theridiidae) are obligatory kleptoparasites that hav...

bdj.pensoft.net

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New publication! 🕷️ In the Analamazaotra National Park, Madagascar, we investigated how kleptoparasitic spiders choose host webs. The answer isn’t random! Which web to invade? Argyrodine kleptoparasites differentiate amongst architecturally different host webs. bdj.pensoft.net/article/1721...

Which web to invade? Argyrodine kleptoparasites differentiate amongst architecturally different host webs

Kleptoparasitism, the theft of resources from another organism, is a widespread foraging strategy amongst animals. Many Argyrodinae cobweb spiders (Theridiidae) are obligatory kleptoparasites that hav...

bdj.pensoft.net

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

1/8 A new spider genus from Madagascar! Researchers led by Matjaž Kuntner (National Institute of Biology, Slovenia) have described Osmooka aphana, discovered in the montane forests of Marojejy National Park.

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Matjaž Gregorič@matjazgregoric.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Check out our new paper! Not only do we describe a cool spider (new genus) from Madagascar, related to an Australian one, but we also make a deep dive into orb weaver morphology to better understand family relationships and synapomorhpies. Proud of this one!

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

1/8 A new spider genus from Madagascar! Researchers led by Matjaž Kuntner (National Institute of Biology, Slovenia) have described Osmooka aphana, discovered in the montane forests of Marojejy National Park.

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

1/8 A new spider genus from Madagascar! Researchers led by Matjaž Kuntner (National Institute of Biology, Slovenia) have described Osmooka aphana, discovered in the montane forests of Marojejy National Park.

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EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Extreme Silk Toughness in Caerostris Spiders Is Limited to Adult Females - Gregorič - Integrative Zoology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Extreme Silk Toughness in Caerostris Spiders Is Limited to Adult Females

We ask whether species with exceptionally tough silk, like Caerostris bark spiders, show different developmental patterns in silk toughness between ontogenetic stages and sexes. We found that only la...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Matjaž Gregorič@matjazgregoric.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New paper on bark spiders, who build the largest webs made out of the toughest silk. We show that their extremely tough silk, which is potentially metabolically costly, is limited to large females. Juveniles and males use inferior silk.

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New publication! Orb weavers evolved some of the toughest silk, reaching extremes in bark spiders, genus Caerostris. We investigate sex and stage specific patterns in silk properties and find that extremely tough silk is limited to adult females. www.ezlab.si/post/extreme...

EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New publication! Orb weavers evolved some of the toughest silk, reaching extremes in bark spiders, genus Caerostris. We investigate sex and stage specific patterns in silk properties and find that extremely tough silk is limited to adult females. www.ezlab.si/post/extreme...

Extreme silk toughness in Caerostris spiders is limited to adult females

Spider silks are protein fibers, renowned for their remarkable intrinsic mechanical properties. Dragline or major ampullate (MA) silk is particularly noteworthy for its combination of high tensile str...

ezlab.si

MultiplEye Lab@multipleye-lab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Come and work with us in our new home @bristolbiosci.bsky.social ! This fully funded PhD opportunity is open to anyone interested in spiders/eyes/light pollution/evolution/development! 🕷️👀 ⏰Deadline 15th December, online info event TODAY @2pm! Link in the PhD advert👉 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Funded PhD - The impacts of light pollution on plasticity and evolution in spider visual systems at University of Bristol on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Funded PhD - The impacts of light pollution on plasticity and evolution in spider visual systems at University of Bristol, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

Lauren Sumner-Rooney@laurensr.bsky.social · 9mo ago

And last - but definitely not least! - for anyone interested in spider vision / light pollution / eye development / evolutionary morphology, come and work with us @multipleye-lab.bsky.social ! This funded PhD is open globally, incl. fees+stipend! ⏰Apply by 15 Dec! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

ZooKeys@zookeys.pensoft.net · 11mo ago

Our journal congratulates @ortizmovliavc.bsky.social l for her award at @35theca2025.bsky.social ! Her work, “Winter warming increases metabolic stress and mortality in an overwintering spider,” got her a free publication in a @pensoft.net journal. zookeys.pensoft.net/news/993

PhD student Carolina Ortiz Movliav wins Best Oral Presentation at European Congress of Arachnology

Carolina Ortiz Movliav, a PhD student at the University of Greifswald, has won the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 35th European Congress of Arachnology for her work “Winter warming inc...

zookeys.pensoft.net

Chuck Wendig@chuckwendig.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Okay, I warned you yesterday but SPIDER POST SPIDER POST SPIDER POST. Look. Spiders are great! They're our friends. They do good work out there and in our houses. I love spiders and how can you not love THIS spider, who is both a work of art *and* wildly successful at this game of hide-and-seek?

I DON'T SEE ANY SPIDER HERE DO YOU SEE A SPIDER HERE GOSH I SURE HOPE THAT ANYBUGGY WHO WANTS TO COME VISIT THIS FLOWER DOESN'T SEE A SPIDER HERE okay fine there's a spider here. This landscape-oriented photo is a black-eyed susan except tucked against the middle of the flower is a perfectly blended-in crab spider. A white-banded crab spider, maybe? Even though there's no white band -- this spider is yellow as the flower's pedals, with reddish Rorshach test ink blots on its plump crabby body that also blends into the center of the flower. It's really something else. You can barely see it. Spiders are so cool. They're great. I am admittedly glad they're not human-sized, though, though I guess that's true of all bugs, even the cute ones. Photo by me, Chuck Wendig
EZ Lab@ezlab.bsky.social · 11mo ago

In a new publication, we focused on the little-known African spider Megaraneus gabonensis, in which females are 4x larger than males. We provide an overdue taxonomic description, phylogenetic placement, and reconstruct the evolution of sexual size dimorphism. www.ezlab.si/post/taxonom...

Taxonomy, phylogeny, and size evolution in Megaraneus

Many spider species show large differences in size between males and females, but biologists still do not fully understand how or why this evolves. In this study we focused on the systematics and evol...

ezlab.si