Simona Kralj Fišer

YouTube video by Travis McEnery How Spiders Survive Winter is Cooler Than You Think

Ever wonder what happens to spiders in winter? Here ypu go!

youtu.be/mzzfJLQGV8A

One on left is a black dog and above it the words “Reality”. Below it is “I chased a squirrel” One the right is a black dog and above it says “LinkedIn”. Below it says, Proud to announce that I effectively executed a rapid-response squirrel displacement strategy to mitigate potential yard intrusions. Humbled by the unwavering support of my family and local stakeholders. This experience reinforced the importance of vigilance, ownership, and continuous improvement. Looking forward to scaling this impact in future engagements.

😂

Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

New paper out in @funecology.bsky.social y.social: Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice! We find ovarian fluid only has a positive effect on sperm function at colder temperatures and that sneaker males have faster sperm than dominant nesting males at warmer temperatures. (1/3)

YouTube video by Universität Zürich Discover the Biodiversity degree program at UZH!

#Biodiversität studieren! 🐟 🍃 🦐 🧬 🌍 🔬 🦠

📽️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERdy...

BSc & MSc Studienprogramme "Biodiversität" @UZH 👩‍🎓 vermitteln umfassendes wissenschaftliches Verständnis der Muster, Prozesse & Funktionen der biologischen Vielfalt.

Starker interdisziplinären Fokus 🎯📈 📚

Animal Consciousness (first paragraph of the article). First published Sat Dec 23, 1995; substantive revision Tue Jan 13, 2026. Is there something it’s like to be an octopus, a bee, a snail? For much of the twentieth century, research into animal cognition tended to avoid questions of consciousness, following the lead of human neuroscience, where such questions were also marginalized (see the entries on animal cognition, methods in comparative cognition). However, the growing profile of consciousness science since 2000 has brought the topic of consciousness back into the scientific mainstream (see the entry on the neuroscience of consciousness), and this has led to resurgent interest in studying conscious experience in other animals.

I've been working for ages on a comprehensive revamp of the Stanford Encyclopedia Entry on "Animal Consciousness", with new sections on non-Western perspectives, methodological challenges and evolutionary big pictures, and it's out today: plato.stanford.edu/entries/cons.... Hope you find it useful!

Tiny RNA molecules in sperm can have big impact on health of babies Mounting evidence from research on nematodes to mice indicate that a father's environment, such as what he eats or if he is exposed to stress or toxicants, can lead to metabolic and behavioral disorders in his offspring.

Small RNA molecules in sperm can transmit information about a father's environment, influencing early embryonic development and potentially affecting offspring health without altering DNA.

Review was 3 days overdue. I carved out ~4 hours during the holidays to finish it. Submission status on upload: editorial decision already made; no longer available for review 😲. How is your day?

The long-held belief that only female mosquitoes bite may not be true after all.

Very excited to have had the opportunity to contribute to this study showing that male mosquitoes can also bite and feed on blood.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Apply for a PhD position in the Pan lab @miyapan.bsky.social at MPI Biology 🇩🇪 to study the molecular mechanisms and evolution of sex determination in haplodiploid insects 🐜🐝.

Immature Fen Raft Spider Dolomedes plantarius in hunting pose on 9th December

The semi-aquatic, internationally Vulnerable Fen Raft Spider Dolomedes plantarius overwinters as immature stages, including sub-adults. They're torpid in very cold weather and rarely seen in winter. Today, they have been out and about @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social Redgrave & Lopham Fen #ClimateChange

Majority of local insect biomass decline linked to species loss A new study shows that over 90% of insect biomass declines are driven by shrinking species numbers, posing a risk to ecosystem function.

A new study shows that over 90% of insect biomass declines are driven by shrinking species numbers, posing a risk to ecosystem function. www.idiv.de/majority-of-... #biodiversity

Environmental Bioinformatics Focus on the group's mission To protect and restore the environment that sustains humankind we need to understand it. The Environmental Bioinformatics Group, led by Robert W...

If you are working on developing a consortium to respond to the upcoming call HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-BIODIV-01 Understanding and tackling the decline of insects ... please get in touch www.sib.swiss/environmenta...

YouTube video by EZ lab Osmooka aphana: new spider genus and species discovered in Madagascar

Here is a Youtube video describing our new research. Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rWG...

🕷️🥬The discovery of chemosensory sensilla with different distributions on the body appendages and between the sexes of a cursorial spider, combined with evidence of olfactory mate attraction, provides insights into chemical communication in spiders. @uhl-lab.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

🕷️🕸️ New Reference genome available: Leviellus thorelli, a orb-weaving spider - a key resource for comparative studies of the #genomic basis of orb web and silk #evolution.

🔗https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/5-365

#Spider #genomics #genomes for #biodiversity @cnag-eu.bsky.social

🕷️🌍🕸️ 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)

Some possible forms of sex-specific plasticity in each infection component and how they may lead to non-intuitive predictions for sex-biases in pathogen transmission. Using a horizontally transmitted pathogen as an example, transmission capacity through each sex depends on the sex-specific differences in host susceptibility, pathogen loads, and death rates. Hypothetically, each component could have a unique form of sex-specific plasticity – susceptibility might be plastic only for males (i.e., sex-specific), equally plastic in both sexes in the same direction (i.e., equivalent), and equally plastic in both sexes but in opposing directions (i.e., divergent). Yet considering overall disease spread would suggest a strong male-bias in transmission in environment 1, but no bias at all in environment 2, and that this shift in the extent of the ‘sicker sex’ (in regard to the sex where pathogen transmission is highest) would be underpinned entirely by plasticity in male transmission only.

🆕 in "Ecology": Who spreads more disease - males or females? At least in water fleas, it depends on temperature

📄The sicker sex is plastic: Thermal plasticity determines sex biases in pathogen transmission
doi.org/10.1002/ecy....

Extreme silk toughness in Caerostris spiders is limited to adult females Spider silks are protein fibers, renowned for their remarkable intrinsic mechanical properties. Dragline or major ampullate (MA) silk is particularly noteworthy for its combination of high tensile str...

New publication!

Orb weavers evolved some of the toughest silk, reaching extremes in bark spiders, genus Caerostris. We investigate sex and stage specific patterns in silk properties and find that extremely tough silk is limited to adult females.

www.ezlab.si/post/extreme...

Experimental setup for testing the effect of different winter temperatures on survival, physiology and gene expression in the wasp spider.

Here comes Carolina's first paper on the effects of winter temperatures on survival, physiology and gene expression in wasp spiders. Thanks go to all coauthors for their various contribution that made this work possible!🧪🕷
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#climatechange

‘Superarm’ helps male octopuses deliver sperm to females Specialized appendage responds to female sex hormones, allowing males to find sex organs in the dark

A specialized appendage responds to female sex hormones, allowing male octopuses to find their sex organs in the dark. https://scim.ag/4roFry3

New study from @michellebeyer.bsky.social published in Animal Behaviour: Silk of females performing maternal care elicits reduced courtship responses in male spiders.

No, 4th October. Yours?

I do.

Women are credited less in science than men - Nature The difference between the number of men and women listed as authors on scientific papers and inventors on patents is at least partly attributable to unacknowledged contributions by women scientists.

Anyone interested in learning about why journals make a proactive effort to increase women's participation in the peer review process should take the time look at some actual evidence about why this is needed. Ditto journalists covering such a story. Do some reporting! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How the elephant lost his tail

The character Feathers McGraw from the film "The Wrong Trousers".

Louvre robbery. French police release image of suspect.

Meet our plenary speaker Renata Sousa-Lima!

Professor at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), Renata ‘s research focuses on bioacoustics of aquatic mammals and has pioneered the field of ecoacoustics and soundscape ecology in Brazil.

Well-exercised male mice appear to pass fitness to their male offspring Surprising epigenetic effect relies on snippets of RNA packaged within sperm

Male mice that exercise can pass their newly gained fitness on to male offspring.

If the same holds true in humans, researchers say, fathers could help improve the health of any future children by staying in shape themselves. https://scim.ag/47igpZm

This week members of the @isbe2026 Local Organizing Committee are sharing their own favourite impressions of the host city! Discover Turin through their eyes!