Sam England

YouTube video by Ze Frank True Facts: Electric Nematodes and Flying Spiders

I must admit that it's a bit surreal to hear @zefrank.bsky.social talk about my research, so fun! www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxSr...

Very happy to see our opinion article out in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social today. 🥳 We ask whether sexual signals can influence the evolutionary trajectory of naturally selected adaptations, such as protective colouration, for better or for worse 🧐 1/n
doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

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...

We performed an experiment with two spider species, one web building and one cursorial species. Juveniles experienced vibrations or visual input or both or no stimuli. Their brain areas did not differ significantly. However, siblings reacted in a similar way.

Spiders that experience vibrations, visual stimuli, both or none during development do not differ strongly in the size of their brain areas. This is a surprising finding. Even more surprising is that siblings react alike. See our new publication in the J. comp. Neurology.
doi.org/10.1002/cne....
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Yes for sure! I would love that. And I hope I'll be there in Vancouver!

Incredible news!! So happy for you Jay

Oh that's lovely to hear! Thank you so much

Yes! It's Poppea capricornis! :)

3D model of a single chiton valve (Schizochiton jousseaumei), showing shell eye lenses coloured by their volume, which shows an increasing gradient towards the lateral edge.

Happy to see this lovely study led by @sigwartae.bsky.social and Leonie Georg @oceanspecies.bsky.social out! 🎉Although chitons are a classic example of distributed visual systems, the shell eyes aren't uniform across the body - the lenses increase in volume as new eyes are added at the shell edge!

Thanks so much!

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Caterpillars are great for neuroethology research, and they also stand to benefit from being studied in this way! It was a pleasure to write this with friends Callum McLellan (@bristolbiosci.bsky.social), @rochellemeah.bsky.social, @benitoexplains.bsky.social and @laurensr.bsky.social 👀👂⚡🧪🔥🌎〰️

The sensory ecology of caterpillars - Journal of Comparative Physiology A Caterpillars (larval Lepidoptera) are one of the most ecologically and evolutionarily significant taxa on Earth. As both feeders and food, they shape the dynamics of enumerate ecosystems on land. Key ...

Do you work (/want to work) with caterpillars? Or sensory systems? Or BOTH?! Well good golly do we have the paper for you! We explain the senses that caterpillars have, what they use them for, and how anthropogenic sensory pollution might be messing it all up 🐛 doi.org/10.1007/s003...

You're welcome :) I love them too!!

Planthopper nymph!

Perception of aerodynamical looming stimuli Clémençon et al. show that predator size and velocity are two key parameters for the perception of the aerodynamical signature of approaching predators (aerodynamical looming stimuli). They report tha...

How do animals recognise incoming stimuli as predators? In this paper from the Casas' lab, they tested aerodynamical looming, and they show that size and velocity of the incoming object activated wind-sensitive neurons in 🦗. These responses are similar to visual looming! www.cell.com/current-biol...

Very cool paper

Hahahaha watch this space 👀

Thank you Amartya! 😄

Yep 👀

Still can't quite believe I was lucky enough to be awarded the John and Laurine Proud Postdoctoral fellowship from the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation. Spending 3 weeks on the island with @emweschke.bsky.social, finding and studying coral reef spiders underwater was an absolute dream! 🕷️🌊

The cognitive ecology of wild bumblebees

New #PhD ad alert!
Interested in wild #bee #cognition and #brains in different #bumblebees? Want to live in #Newcastle and the beautiful north-east of England?

Check out this project with me, @lenariab.bsky.social and Sarah Scott. Contact me for further information.

iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

How many plant species are buzz pollinated? After more than six years in the making, our paper on the convergent evolution of buzz pollinated flowers is out in @journal-evo.bsky.social. Thanks @draverbee.bsky.social @roszenil.bsky.social and all co-authors for your hard work! doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Reposting for the Monday morning scrollers! Funded PhD opportunity with me @multipleye-lab.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social - spiders, their eyes, and their babies under long- and short-term light pollution!

Exciting times ahead - I'm beyond delighted to be joining @bristolbiosci.bsky.social in 2026! 🎉🕷️🎉🐌🎉

I'm also looking for a PhD student to join @multipleye-lab.bsky.social in our new home! Come and study the effects of light pollution on the evolution and development of spider eyes with us 🌃🕷️👀 👇

The first of Jessie Foley’s work on the #evolution of #ageing in #Heliconius for your reading pleasure.

Come for the 348 day old butterfly, stay for the evolved slower rate of ageing, species*diet effects, and weightlifting for elderly butterflies 💪🏻👵🏻

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Volumetric Comparison of Overall Brain and Neuropil Size Between Social and Non‐social Spiders: Exploring the Social Brain Hypothesis Brain size may be influenced by the cognitive demands of sociality (social brain hypothesis). We used microCT to compare CNS and brain volumes in social versus solitary huntsman and crab spiders. Soc...

✨ It’s published! ✨

🕷️ Social spiders have bigger brains… but only in the right places! Our new study shows that in social huntsman spiders, regions for memory & vision processing are proportionally larger, supporting group living.

Read more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Wild jackdaws learn to tolerate juveniles to exploit new foraging opportunities | Biology Letters Social tolerance can enhance access to resources and is thought to be crucial in facilitating the evolution of cooperation, social cognition and culture, but it is unknown whether animals can optimize...

New @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social paper out today in @royalsociety.org Biology Letters. We found adult jackdaws can learn to tolerate usually bullied or ignored juveniles when they provided information about a new foraging resource.

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Macrophotographs of wild treehoppers exemplifying a small portion of the morphological diversity seen in the Membracidae, photographed at various locations around Costa Rica (A–J and L) and the United Kingdom (K). (A) Polyglypta costata. (B) Poppea capricornis. (C) Antianthe expansa. (D) Cladonota apicalis. (E) Bocydium mae. (F) Enchophyllum sp. (G) Heteronotus trinodosus. (H) Alchisme grossa. (I) Notocera sp. (J) Ennya chrysura. (K) Centrotus cornutus. (L) Membracis mexicana.

One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.

Interested in doing a 3-month #internship on treehopper vibrational communication at STRI in Panama? 🤩 Check this out:

stri.si.edu/academic-pro...

Contact me for more info! #AnimalBehavior