Mia Croft (she/they)

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother Nature - Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species

go.nature.com/467N16m

Had such a great time at #EcoNet2025 and met some really amazing researchers from this awesome international community. Bring on EcoNet 2027 in Brazil! 🇧🇷

Having a fantastic time at #EcoNet2025 with so many impressive and inspiring talks

I can't be certain predators aren't feeding in the trap, but I did run a pilot with wet vs dry traps, plus there's some previous studies showing no difference in abundance and diversity between wet vs dry

Adding some LECA (clay granules) to the trap helps everything hide from the predators - most importantly I want the predators not to eat each other! Also sampling for less than 24 hours 🙂

Carabids, rove beetles and spiders 🕷 isolated from a dry pitfall trap for dietary metabarcoding 🧬

Set some dry pitfall traps with a couple handfuls of LECA to catch live predators for dietary metabarcoding 🧬 the LECA provides shelter from predation (including within-trap) 🪲

Funnels are working well to reduce small mammals mortalities in pitfall traps 🐁 just cut the narrow end shorter and you can even drop a sample pot with solution into the cup for easy collection 🪲

Adding charcoal-plaster bases to feeding arenas, ready for some beetle bioassays soon 🪲

Despite having seen my fair share of these #spiders at this point, I've only found two yellow morph Misumena vatia and they really are gorgeous 🌟💛☀️

Excited to learn some practical techniques in Metabarcoding for Diet Analysis & eDNA in a 2-day workshop with @nerc-eof.bsky.social starting today 🧬

Hi everyone, I am launching a community science scheme "Spider Spies" where we are asking you, to send us pictures and if you're keen and able samples of Misumena vatia, the Flower Crab Spider to investigate their interactions with their host flowers and the invertebrate community around them.

This maple trunk was covered in snipefly, Rhagio scolopaceus, drinking sap at Gibside, Northumbria

Fantastic time at the Light Pollution As A Driver Of Insect Declines symposium at University of Exeter, with a great range of talks, useful workshop on measuring light, collaborating on a paper, meeting lots of amazing researchers and sharing ideas, plus nighttime rockpooling on Falmouth beach 🏖

My lighting rigs are up! Ready for the first round of data collection soon

Mia and Ben with one of the posts

One of the fully set up posts

We had a great time last week putting up experimental lamp posts at one of the university's experimental farms for @miacroftento.bsky.social's upcoming artificial light experiments! We even had a mining bee digging its hole near ours - perhaps setting up their own lamp posts! 💡🐝

Had a go at painting iridescence, which was surprisingly difficult! Cyclommatus elaphus, an Indonesian stag beetle 🎨

Fantastic to see tawny mining bees emerging from the bare earth patch in our garden after the long British winter

Choosing my artificial light study sites with some beautiful established field margins and hedgerows at Cockle Park Farm, Northumberland

UK conservation goals insufficient to save ants and bees, says expert Science committee chair calls for monitored species to include groups such as moths, lice and hymenoptera

Buglife mention light pollution as a crucial neglected issue in insect declines, and urge the Government to take action without delay

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Our Agricultural and Forest Entomology special issue on advances in insect biomonitoring was published today!

🌾🪲🔍🪰🌲

Explore new and upcoming advances in our ability to detect, identify and characterise insects in production systems!

resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14619563...

@joe-roberts.bsky.social your students may be interested in this

Great opportunities for internships with an entomology survey and an ant survey in the alps!

Exciting PhD opportunity with my research group! Please share 🪲🐛

Spiders choose their most nutritious next meal Putting in the legwork for a balanced diet...

Check out the latest special from The Naked Scientists on animals, featuring an interview with me about our recent paper on spider nutrition in @oikosjournal.bsky.social! Listen in here: www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/int... and check out the full episode for some incredible animal insights!

5 #Entomology #StarterPacks are full

go.bsky.app/Fq2CQNw
go.bsky.app/7CaCbMC
go.bsky.app/JVRwhS1
go.bsky.app/2nEuqKX
go.bsky.app/VDorcVS

Six?

Nominate: grad students, early career, colleagues around the world, equity deserving
#entomología
#entomologie
#Invertebrate
#Arthropod
🪲🐞🐜🐛🦟🪳🦋🐝🦗🪰🕸️

The taxonomic biases in biodiversity data are growing over time. The amount of data we are collecting is growing, but the biases get bigger. We need to make a conscious effort to study the understudied!

#SciComms #Science #Taxonomy

🧪 image from Troudet et al 2018

@natureportfolio.bsky.social

4 #Entomology #StarterPacks have filled!

go.bsky.app/Fq2CQNw
go.bsky.app/7CaCbMC
go.bsky.app/JVRwhS1
go.bsky.app/2nEuqKX

Drive for Five!

Nominate widely: grad students, early career, colleagues around the world, equity deserving
#entomología
#entomologie
#Invertebrate
#Arthropod

🪲🐞🐜🐛🦟🪳🦋🐝🦗🪰🕸️

Hi, I'm an entomology PhD student, I'd love to join a list 🐛

Rewilding: integrating technologies and data to monitor upland food-web change

Do you want to shape the next-generation of integrated #biomonitoring using one of the UK's largest landscape-scale experiments and with a focus on #rewilding? Apply for this
NERC IAPETUS DTP PhD with Robin Pakeman, Phil Stephens and I iapetus2.ac.uk/studentships...

Deadline 3 Jan 2025