James Gilbert

Congrats to Jamie Smith @jamiesmithbio.bsky.social on a great #ento25 talk presenting his PhD work on the dramatic effects of even mild heatwaves during the larval stages (simulating the 2022 UK heatwave) on fertility in mason bees. Wish I could have been there in support!

Congrats to our PhD researcher Matthew Chambers, who by all accounts smashed his first ever conference talk - presenting our preliminary results on mason bee nesting and provisioning behaviour in nests held at different temperatures - which he is now modelling #ento25

Good luck to all presenting at #ento25! Members of our lab talking today - @jamiesmithbio.bsky.social at 1615 on heatwaves and bee fertility - and Matthew Chambers at 1645 on mason bee provisioning. Find them at the poster session too where they are presenting our poster! Gutted to be missing it!

Sulfoxaflor Impairs Bumblebee Memory Across Moderate and Extreme Temperatures Bumblebees rely on their memory to navigate a complicated landscape and floral marketplace. When foraging, bees are often exposed to a multitude of anthropogenic stressors, but how these stressors in...

New paper (first work from Bristol!)

'Sulfoxaflor impairs bumblebee memory across moderate and extreme temperatures'

@bristolbiosci.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The garden has been busy since we've been away!

Urocerus gigas (giant woodwasp) in the garden, about 50mm long. Scary looking but entirely harmless! She uses her ovipositor to drill into the wood of dying trees to lay eggs.

Happy lab 😍 - mason bee experiments proceeding apace; expect some website updates pretty soon 🔥

Beautiful tiger beetle up at Dalby forest last weekend! 🪲

Hummingbird hawk moth in our garden in Leeds a couple of weeks back ❤️

Abstract submission - Royal Entomological Society Abstract Submission Deadline for submissions: Friday 20th June 2025 Ento25 provides an opportunity to present your research to a large audience across the field of insect science. We are offering…

⏰ Today is the deadline to submit your #Ento25 abstracts!

Present your work to the global entomological community. With in-person & online options, there's opportunities for everyone to participate.

📅 Deadline: 17:00 (BST), 20 June 🔽
buff.ly/CS8MyOQ

unistrathclyde.bsky.social

Thoroughly enjoying seeing our garden table becoming a home for a population of leaf-cutter bees 🥰

Split-image with the text “TO BEE or NOT TO BEE.” The left side shows a vibrant wildflower meadow with a bee on a daisy, symbolising biodiversity and a healthy ecosystem. The right side shows a dry, barren landscape with dead trees and no visible wildlife, representing environmental degradation. An EU flag appears in the bottom right corner.

Today, over 20,000 bee species are buzzing for #WorldBeeDay 🐝

Bees & other pollinators keep 80% of crop and wild flowering plants alive.

Yet, 1 in 10 bee, hoverfly, and butterfly species are now at risk of extinction in the EU.

@domino-joyce.fishsci.com.ap.brid.gy @jdjgilbert.bsky.social and myself talking about animal sex in the pub on Monday. Only a few tickets left! 🧪

Only Acacia thrips in Australia and then not terribly successfully, I’m afraid! What’s the issue?

A seagull drinks from a container marked “DOGS ONLY, NO SEAGULLS.”

every day we see more and more evidence of society descending into utter lawlessness and chaos

How North Sea tanker collision could affect one of Britain’s most important coastlines A large tanker has released jet fuel into the sea near crucial seal and seabird breeding spots, say local marine ecologists.

Great article from my marine biology colleagues about the area affected by the tanker collision

https://theconversation.com/how-north-sea-tanker-collision-could-affect-one-of-britains-most-important-coastlines-252068

#MarineBiology #Hull #Fish #NorthSea

How North Sea tanker collision could affect one of Britain’s most important coastlines A large tanker has released jet fuel into the sea near crucial seal and seabird breeding spots, say local marine ecologists.

Excellent article by my marine science colleagues at @uniofhull.bsky.social explaining the importance of the local coastline and the serious environmental risks from the North Sea tanker collision #conservation #nature 🧪

Do winkles exhibit antipredator behaviour in response to crab-scented water?

Assessing colour preferences in hermit crabs!

Comparing aggressiveness in crickets fed different nutrition!

Assessing gap-crossing behaviour in Peruvian stick insects!

Annual Happy Lab shot! The #invertzoohull class of 2025 begin their #studentled practical experiments - pick from crickets, hermit crabs, stick insects, locusts, or winkles. Students design and test their own hypotheses. @uniofhull.bsky.social

PhD Candidate in Theoretical Biology The Institute of Environmental Sciences CML and Faculty of Science is looking for:[PhD Candidate in Theoretical Biology]Vacancy number: 15501 We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated Ph...

"In this project [towards your PhD], you will develop models to study the coevolution of ageing and sociality...& evolution of eusociality and multicellularity." Sounds interesting? Look here! Bonus: you'll work with a supervisor with an infectious laugh. www.universiteitleiden.nl/vacatures/20...

Just accidentally wrote “bananae” on my shopping list #Entomologistproblems

Happy #WorldWildlifeDay. A friendly reminder that livestock cannot replace native biodiversity, despite what you may have heard.

Beaver wild release: a milestone for nature recovery in England By Stuart Otway, Principal Officer in Natural England’s Complex Cases Unit and Delphine Pouget, Principal Officer in Natural England’s Species Recovery & Reintroductions Team  After centuries of absen...

The government has approved reintroduction of beavers to the wild in England. Really interesting to see how this has unfolded, and I'm proud to support these discussions through the England Species Reintroduction Task Force
naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/28/b...

A Paratrechina queen and worker engaging in trophallaxis. Photo by François Brassard

How do complex social behaviors evolve and shape species' success? Here doi.org/10.1038/s420... we reveal how a key social behavior in ants - mouth-to-mouth food sharing #trophallaxis - emerged as ants opportunistically exploited new ecological niches as terrestrial environments changed.

#EarwigFunFact 11 - European earwig moms don’t discriminate — they care for almost anything: foreign eggs, eggs of other earwig species, glass pearls, or even small objects. Unconditional maternal love in action! ❤️✨ #InsectCare #SocialEvolution

More info 👉 https://buff.ly/3Vh7OA6

Pacific beetle-mimic cockroach and her newly born nymphs

Overview of project on Nutrition and immunity in pregnancy: picture of pregnant woman on one side, viviparous insects on the other; 3 boxes linking project components (evolutionary models, insect experiments and human cohorts)

View of cormorant drying its wings by the Bristol harbour: light reflecting off the water

Researchers at an insect outreach event, standing at the stall

Job! 2-year postdoc position in EVElab, Bristol UK on nutrition and infections in pregnancy (FLF-funded)
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLV631/r...

Apply if you are enthusiastic about:
- experiments on insects which get pregnant
- relevance of evolution to public health
- a vibrant city & research environment

It’s not the head, it’s the butt!
Meet a completely unknown organism: a blow fly (Calliphoridae) that evolved social integration in termite nests using a false termite head in the posterior part of the body.
@CurrentBiology www.cell.com/current-biol...