Cláudia Xavier

A brown pseudoscopion hanging on to the antenna of a wasp. The wasp is yellow with black stripes and transparent wings.

My first pseudoscorpion observation was pure luck. Happen to see this wasp and took a shot. It was only later did I see what was hanging on the antenna.

On iNaturalist [ www.inaturalist.org/observations... ]

That's cool! Have you ever tried scanning without drying, in a liquid medium? Perhaps for comparison purposes?

#microCT scan of the left palpal bulb (male copulatory organ) of a grass spider I found wandering Beckman's hallways last week! 😍(He was on his last legs when he was preserved for the scan). Taken in the Microscopy Suite of @beckmanillinois.bsky.social and rendered in the Visualization Lab.

We love jumping spiders because they are smol, cute, active, friendly and always looking around curiously with their huge eyes. But do you know they’re also masters of mimicry? Check out the bugs they pretend to be (and some of those are really good)!💚💚

Using high-speed transnasal imaging, electroglottography, and acoustic analysis, this new #JRSocInterface paper studies ten distinct phonation types in a professional metal singer: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #biophysics

Panels one and two: Two white mice make their way through a maze. Panel three: Having completed the maze, the two mice are rewarded with some fruit. Two scientists watch them. One says: “Poor little things: all that thought and effort just to earn themselves a little treat.” The second scientist looks at a clock and says: “Coffee time!” Panels four and five: The two scientists make their way through a maze of corridors to a door marked “Canteen” Panel six: The scientists look at the food on offer. One says: “Ooh, Donuts!”

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

Donate to Scientific Conference in Laos, organized by Peter Jaeger Help Empower the Next Generation of Spider Scientists in Asia! ️ We are raising funds to… Peter Jaeger needs your support for Scientific Conference in Laos

Our arachno-colleague, Dr. Peter Jaeger, has the ambitious goal of running an inclusive and low-budget scientific conference: the Asian Conference of Arachnology (ACA) 2025.

All donations will cover travel and conference expenses for students and ECR from low-income regions in Asia.
#arachnology

The curious morphology of the treehoppers can help them detect different electrical charges and even distinguish friend from foe. Excellent work!

This is one of the coolest things I've ever read!

I watched an online talk you gave on this topic some time ago and had been looking forward to seeing the final paper. Excellent work with a fantastic group! I find them bizarrely charismatic 😆. I loved everything about it!
It's so great to see the interdisciplinarity of science.
Congratulations!

Obrigada por compartilhar @atila.bsky.social ! Foi bem legal fazer esse trabalho :)

Thank you, Sebastian!

The paper uniquely compiles photos and videos about the species' behavior.

Access it at: boletimcn.museu-goeldi.br/bcnaturais/a...

The link to the full video is at the end of page 7.

@cesarfavacho.bsky.social and I made a video to present the results of our recently published paper on Tapixaua callida (subtitles in PT and EN). This fascinating spider mimics ants in a way very similar to the Asian species Pranburia mahannopi, described by arachnologist Christa Deeleman-Reinhold.

🕷️🌍🕸️ Spiders aren't creepy crawlies—they're ecosystem heroes! From pest control to biotech inspiration to key figures in our collective culture, a new review reveals the many services spiders provide:

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/brv....

(drawing by @jmalumbresolarte.bsky.social)

I had a lot of fun giving this interview - I wish my research always had dramatic music in the background

Prey can detect predators via electroreception in air | PNAS Predators and prey benefit from detecting sensory cues of each other’s presence. As they move through their environment, terrestrial animals accumu...

Caterpillars can sense predators before contact – by detecting their electric fields! 🐛

Recent @pnas.org study led by @samjakeengland.bsky.social won the Cozzarelli Prize. Congrats, Sam – brilliant work on insect electroreception! 🎉

🔗 www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
📽️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTjX...

Wallace’s day at Museu Goeldi!

lovely picture ❣️

YouTube video by Ant Lab What's the Point of Natural History Collections?

"What's the Point of Natural History Collections?" is out today on the YouTube/AntLab check it out and long live basic research!!!!!!!!!!
youtu.be/dxUbTn7d6Fw

A circular illustration of 19 colorful different species of invertebrates across various phyla (arthropods, cnidarians, echinoderms, sponges, mollusks, annelids, flatworms). Black arching text surrounding them reads “Celebrate Invertebrate Biodiversity”. They are illustrated on a light blue background.

Happy #Invertefest! Celebrate invertebrate biodiversity 🐛💕

Joseph Wright of Derby painting Lady in Milton's Comus - A woman looking with ?concern at an overcast sky through a forest, with a tunnel of moonlight through the clouds. More: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/lady-miltons-comus

Thinking about arachnid paraphyly

⚒️🧪

almost 🤙

#electronmicroscopy #spiders

cute

Arthropod decline, particularly in cities, has devastating consequences for predators. Consequently, globally invasive urban spiders are well adapted to long-term starvation (>42 weeks), as demonstrated in my first paper since my PhD. @cp-iscience.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110722

The adaptation of these spiders to periods of starvation is impressive. Congrats on the paper, very interesting :)

How cool!

Meg looks at some moss “OH MY GOD!” She looks at some mushrooms “YEAH BABY!!!” She towers over a log with mushrooms and moss on it “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!!!”

A comic about the good stuff

Our latest paper on the jump kinematics and choreography in the Oz Splendid Peacock spider. We filmed & analysed locomotory jumps in male & female spiders. The males are incredibly light - measuring just 2mg - and oh they can jump! Videos in the thread. Open Access - read here: tinyurl.com/4bnpz9tz

A chromosome-level genome of the giant vinegaroon Mastigoproctus giganteus exhibits the signature of pre-Silurian whole genome duplication Abstract. Within the arachnids, chromosome-level genome assemblies have greatly accelerated the understanding of gene family evolution and developmental ge

The lab is delighted to release the first genome for the giant American vinegaroon! The slowly-evolving order Uropygi captures the strongest signature yet of the arachnopulmonate whole genome duplication. #biodiversity #genomics

academic.oup.com/jhered/advan...

That's really cool!