A few recent ant photos from Aroostook county, Maine. Ok and one of me, too.

Grateful for an accepting, welcoming, and trans-supportive community at #iussi26 #iussi2026. Thanks, all! 🏳️‍⚧️🐜🏳️‍🌈

Why Pogonomyrmex would make the worst desk clerks at motel 6… the lights will not be left on for you!! Christina Kwapich (UCF) shared the coolest mix of natural history and division of labor theory in an absolutely heart-wrenching story about nest door-closing. @pogonokwap.bsky.social #IUSSI26

As a native New Yorker, I see what you did here, and love it. From a stellar discussion of evolutionary (ecological?) dynamics in mixed-lineage clonal raider ant colony groups by Tomas Kay (Rockefeller). @tomaskay.bsky.social #IUSSI26

Libby Tseng (Rockefeller) uses clonal raider ants as a model to study collective decision making: do they retrieve distant prey or transport larvae to the prey? Colonies are sensing and integrating many parameters w/ respect to the supply and demand for work! #IUSSI26 @danielkronauer.bsky.social

Anna Dornhaus making the case that *evolution shapes variation*, even among individuals within a colony at the same time. Absolutely stunning examples of diligent tracking of variation in ant walking speeds vs. activity, corpulence, and even antenna sensilla density! @dornhaus.bsky.social #IUSSI26

Jen Fewell (ASU) came out swinging! “Emergence of division of labor is not the same as *adaptive* DOL.” That, and that males should handle removal of trash (or at least the fecal packs). #IUSSI26

Disheartening morning at #iussi26. Seeing a known abuser show up on multiple co-author and acknowledgement slides. Seeing that someone updated the name of the species on their slides, but left the anachronistic and harmful metaphors. We need decolonization, now. And pronouns on badges, please!

@nstroeymeyt.bsky.social is hiring! Collective behavior, disease, and social organization - if you’re looking for a PhD or postdoc! #IUSSI26

Achtung, tigermucke!

Putting up my lab’s poster for this afternoon at #IUSSI26!

Extant natural history makes inference from fossils possible. Dr. Phil Barden (NJIT) @haidomyrmex.bsky.social at #IUSSI26 - morphological signatures of div of labor - evidence of coll. behavior & cooperation - dating origin of eusociality But… anteaters!!

Rangelands are important for ecosystem services but 50% are degraded! What role do seed-harvesting Pogos play? 🐜🐜🐜 They’re generally not stealing restoration seeds! Dr. Joanie King @joanieking.bsky.social (New Mexico) at #IUSSI26

Meredith @leafhopper.bsky.social speaking about aphid predation by Crematogaster at #IUSSI26… they’re (maybe) not chomping them for the reason you think!

Two tales of mutual aid: Rachelle Adams (OSU) described how fungus garden ant interloper Megalomyrmex helps protect its host fungus and Melina Kienitz (Würzburg) studies Vachellia plants and their tenant Pseudomyrmex responses to plant wounds! #iussi26

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In the thermal ecology symposium at #IUSSI26, Maria Eduarda presented terrific data on CTmax and metabolic rate in DINOPONERA! What a dreamy ant to do respirometry with! And strikingly high thermal limits and metrate q10s too! 👀

Lots of love for the clonal raider ant, Ooceraea biroi! Thanks @yukoulrich.bsky.social for an amazing talk at #iussi26

In Freiburg and for #IUSSI26 participants, there is a service to help folks get home safe at night. Haven’t tried it yet, but sharing a link in case anyone needs. Feel free to find an ally with a pink heart on badge if you need anything else! www-vag--freiburg-de.translate.goog/fahrplan/nac...

“Females contain multitudes, even into adulthood.” RJ Milena (Rochester) speaking at #IUSSI26, sharing longterm vs short-term Polistes host neurotranscriptomics; their hitchhiking Xenos riding the endocrine wave to differentiation & development. @entomolrj.bsky.social @avispatica.bsky.social

Many folks interested in ants recently credit AntsCanada and YouTube as inspiration… but decades ago for me and so many others it was Alex Wild and his website cataloging gorgeous insect ecology & behavior through macrophotography. Roberto Keller thanked @alexwild.bsky.social and I do too! #iussi26

Everyone at #iussi26 who wants to learn about honey wasps (yes! They are real!) should attend @joholley.bsky.social ‘s talk at 4:15 this afternoon in hall 4.

The intake target as a mystical aspect of collective regulatory behavior in social insect colonies: Jon Shik (Copenhagen) compares IT to CTs in thermal ecology, and methods are similarly sensitive; so his group pulls food from the jaws of foraging ants to test hypotheses in the field! #iussi26

The language we use matters: It can convey precision about nature, but too-often, when muddled with metaphor, it causes harm. As a community of social insect scientists, we need to do better, and we can by speaking with more diverse communities of academics and the public. -J. Herbers #iussi26

Terry McGlynn (CSU DH) at #iussi26: Ants outside their nests How brightly they are shining It’s not what you expect 👀 @hormiga.bsky.social

Clint Penick (Auburn) sharing the secret traits of urban ant success, specifically in NYC: soil-dwelling, polydomous, generalist dietary feeders, and mass-recruiting (e.g. to dropped hot-dogs) ants make up the urban core! #iussi26 @clintpenick.bsky.social

Thrilled to walk into the #iussi26 conference and be greeted by so many queens, literally and figuratively!

On our way to Freiburg like… #stigmatomma #iussi26 @uissi-social.bsky.social

Biological sex is not binary… because biologically, sex is many things.

Aramati Casper@aramaticasper.bsky.social · last mo.

Why is there "no consensus" about sex in biology? Turns out, we're using seven different concepts. In "Evolution, development and the incoherence of sex" we name & elucidate these concepts. With Karen Warkentin and Jay Falk @jjinsing.bsky.social @sicbjournals.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Clonal raider ants, Ooceraea biroi (photographed with a pride flag in the background, because 🏳️‍🌈❤️‍🩹🏳️‍🌈)