Check out my @cassyni.bsky.social talk on my recent Proc B paper doi.org/10.52843/cas...

Here’s a little story about the new queen bee paper 🐝👑 @felicitymuth.bsky.social biology.ucdavis.edu/news/single-...

This Single Mother Must Learn Quickly — Or Her Colony Won’t Survive

Being a single mother of 20 is no joke, especially if the survival of a whole species depends on it. A queen bumblebee faces this very challenge when she lays her first eggs in the spring: She is utte...

biology.ucdavis.edu

New paper alert! Read about how queen #bumblebees learn scent associations better than workers 🐝👑 This coupled with previous findings from the Muth Lab suggests that queens may generally be better learners than workers @felicitymuth.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Bumblebee queens are better at olfactory learning and more sensitive to scents than workers

Abstract. Intraspecific variation in cognition can reflect ecological demands, yet cognitive performance can be driven by non-cognitive processes. Bumblebe

doi.org

Happy Earth Day! Check out @felicitymuth.bsky.social talk about bees on this ABC segment. You may see some familiar faces as well 😊🐝 abcnews.com/video/132283...

Video New Nat Geo doc highlights alarming decline of the honeybee

The new National Geographic documentary “Secret of the Bees” offers a glimpse into the world and importance of bees.

abcnews.com

Have you ever seen a bumblebee being born?? Pretty cool to watch this worker emerge from her pupal cell today! She will be ready to work in just a few hours after her cuticle hardens and her wings dry out. Love the new bee fluffy look though 🐝 Also check out that big beautiful queen 👑

I love spotting bumblebees in my neighborhood! Here’s a bombus melanopygus worker I saw foraging on lavender a few weeks ago

New paper alert! Our collaboration with @jacanamama.bsky.social & Alex Bentz found Eurasian tree sparrows, a less-successful invasive cousin of house sparrows, had distinct patterns of gene expression associated with novelty avoidance that differed by sex: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

It was thrilling to be involved in this multi-site, multi-bird @themanybirds.bsky.social project out today in @plosbiology.org! We examined why some bird species show more novelty avoidance than others; 2 big predictors were a specialist diet & migratory behavior: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia

Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

dx.plos.org

We previously showed corticosterone is involved in neophobia (novelty avoidance) in house sparrows; my students @marquisehenry.bsky.social & Melanie Kimball's new paper found this effect does not appear to be mediated via low-affinity glucocorticoid receptors: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/NMYI9B...

A new paper from the lab led by Blake Dusang & @marquisehenry.bsky.social builds on past work & finds not all "neophobia" tests measure the same trait. Specifically, responses to novel objects & novel environments were not consistent within individuals: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

The lab was recognized for outstanding research & teaching at this year's @lsuscience.bsky.social awards! Danna Masri won the Undergraduate Research Award from @lsubiosci.bsky.social, former PhD student Melanie Kimball the Distinguished Dissertation Award, & I received a Graduate Teaching Award ❤️