Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
@avispatica.bsky.social
Assistant Professor @urochester.bsky.social| PI @tropbiolab.bsky.social |social behavior & brain |mechanisms underlying parasitic manipulation |adaptations & changing environments| #teamwasp #wasplove #strepsiptera |🇨🇷 cafecito
https://tropbiolab.org/FMKU/
https://tropbiolab.org/FMKU/
Want to work with an amazing new PI who is also a wonderful person? ⬇️ 🕸️🕷️
🚨Good news, everyone!
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
November 25, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Want to work with an amazing new PI who is also a wonderful person? ⬇️ 🕸️🕷️
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
it's my daughter's birthday and I ordered her a monster cake from Carvel and this is the picture on the website and this is the picture of it in real life. please note: this is not a complaint. if this had been the picture on the website i would have paid more
October 2, 2024 at 9:56 PM
it's my daughter's birthday and I ordered her a monster cake from Carvel and this is the picture on the website and this is the picture of it in real life. please note: this is not a complaint. if this had been the picture on the website i would have paid more
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
I am thrilled to announce that I just opened my lab at New York University in @nyucns.bsky.social and Biology! Our work will explore the richness of animal behavior, dissecting the genetic and circuit mechanisms that shape its evolution.
September 4, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I am thrilled to announce that I just opened my lab at New York University in @nyucns.bsky.social and Biology! Our work will explore the richness of animal behavior, dissecting the genetic and circuit mechanisms that shape its evolution.
Our podcast is out! Check out our research @urochester.bsky.social that is decoding how true biohackers called twisted-winged insects control social wasps! #teamwasp #strepsiptera #zombiewasps 🐝🧟♀️ Please check out this fantastic initiative by @bugsneedheroes.bsky.social. Thank you for having me!
This episode Amanda and Kelly discuss twisted-wing insects (Strepsiptera) with Dr Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy an assistant professor at the University of Rochester and a Levinson/Shapiro faculty scholar. @avispatica.bsky.social
September 24, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Our podcast is out! Check out our research @urochester.bsky.social that is decoding how true biohackers called twisted-winged insects control social wasps! #teamwasp #strepsiptera #zombiewasps 🐝🧟♀️ Please check out this fantastic initiative by @bugsneedheroes.bsky.social. Thank you for having me!
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
Our big review paper on strepsipteran systematics for Insect Systematics and Diversity is out! Hoping it's a helpful resource for anyone who needs it.
Strepsiptera systematics: past, present, and future
Abstract. The twisted-wing parasites (Strepsiptera Kirby) are among the most obscure and enigmatic orders in the Insecta. Strepsipterans are endoparasites
academic.oup.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Our big review paper on strepsipteran systematics for Insect Systematics and Diversity is out! Hoping it's a helpful resource for anyone who needs it.
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
5/ Some wings have evolved strategies to help reduce damage resulting from collisions. For example, we learned a few years ago that wasp wings have a flexible joint that acts like a reversible crumple zone, allowing the wing tip to easily bend out of the way when it hits things...
April 16, 2025 at 5:44 PM
5/ Some wings have evolved strategies to help reduce damage resulting from collisions. For example, we learned a few years ago that wasp wings have a flexible joint that acts like a reversible crumple zone, allowing the wing tip to easily bend out of the way when it hits things...
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
I am beyond excited to announce that ggplot2 4.0.0 has just landed on CRAN.
It's not every day we have a new major #ggplot2 release but it is a fitting 18 year birthday present for the package.
Get an overview of the release in this blog post and be on the lookout for more in-depth posts #rstats
It's not every day we have a new major #ggplot2 release but it is a fitting 18 year birthday present for the package.
Get an overview of the release in this blog post and be on the lookout for more in-depth posts #rstats
ggplot2 4.0.0
A new major version of ggplot2 has been released on CRAN. Find out what is new here.
www.tidyverse.org
September 11, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
Applying to the NSF-GRFP (or another fellowship) on a tight deadline?
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
September 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Applying to the NSF-GRFP (or another fellowship) on a tight deadline?
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
Nesting behaviour drives the evolution of heat tolerance and climate vulnerability in bees! Check out our pre-print on 95 species of Australian native bee across the latitudinal extent of Australia! 🐝 #nativebee #climateadaptation #heattolerance #plasticity #behaviour #bees #climatechange
September 8, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Nesting behaviour drives the evolution of heat tolerance and climate vulnerability in bees! Check out our pre-print on 95 species of Australian native bee across the latitudinal extent of Australia! 🐝 #nativebee #climateadaptation #heattolerance #plasticity #behaviour #bees #climatechange
📣📣Interested in writing a proposal to explore coevolution and/or mechanisms underlying parasitic manipulation? Check out our team’s current projects and emerging host-parasite system. If these align with your interests , please check eligibility per NSF guidelines and email me! #GRFP #zombiewasps
The GRFP lives!! (due end of October)
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
www.nsf.gov
September 8, 2025 at 9:50 PM
📣📣Interested in writing a proposal to explore coevolution and/or mechanisms underlying parasitic manipulation? Check out our team’s current projects and emerging host-parasite system. If these align with your interests , please check eligibility per NSF guidelines and email me! #GRFP #zombiewasps
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
"Why is it called a hanging thief?" www.inaturalist.org/photos/10502...
September 8, 2025 at 4:59 PM
"Why is it called a hanging thief?" www.inaturalist.org/photos/10502...
🌟Looking for a PhD? 🌟 check out this exciting opportunity in integrative biology with an amazing PI! 👇🏽👇🏽
I am recruiting PhD students to join my lab at Wake Forest University Fall 2026. Current projects focus on the neurobiology, behavior, and development of identity processing in paper wasps. Contact me if interested. Deadline to apply is Dec. 15th 2025. Please share!
#PhDposition #PhD #wasplove
#PhDposition #PhD #wasplove
September 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
🌟Looking for a PhD? 🌟 check out this exciting opportunity in integrative biology with an amazing PI! 👇🏽👇🏽
Check out the fantastic podcast series run by @bugsneedheroes.bsky.social! In each episode, Amanda (artist) and Kelly (entomologist) discuss amazing insects, with researchers as guests. Amanda also designs an illustration based on each convo!
🐝🐜🦋🪰🦟🪲🕷️
🐝🐜🦋🪰🦟🪲🕷️
This episode Amanda and Kelly discuss mud daubers. These wasps use mud to build their nests and fill those nests with paralyzed spiders, which is a very sexy behavior. Tangents include dinosaurs, the morals of relative television, Earthworm Jim, Amanda's crochet tips.
Bug discussion begins at 5:20
Bug discussion begins at 5:20
September 1, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Check out the fantastic podcast series run by @bugsneedheroes.bsky.social! In each episode, Amanda (artist) and Kelly (entomologist) discuss amazing insects, with researchers as guests. Amanda also designs an illustration based on each convo!
🐝🐜🦋🪰🦟🪲🕷️
🐝🐜🦋🪰🦟🪲🕷️
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
Our false head work is out! By analysing ~1000 #butterflies, we found many traits at posterior end of hindwings evolved correlatedly, likely forming a trait complex w/adaptive function to dupe predators into thinking these traits together are actual head!!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
July 10, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Our false head work is out! By analysing ~1000 #butterflies, we found many traits at posterior end of hindwings evolved correlatedly, likely forming a trait complex w/adaptive function to dupe predators into thinking these traits together are actual head!!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
#ABL2025 Plenary Spotlight: Dr Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy ⭐
Join us on Nov 13-14 to learn how @avispatica.bsky.social Dr Mora-Kepfer Uy’s team uncovered captivating ways in which parasites reprogram the behaviour and lifespan of insects. 🐝🪱
Learn more about the conference: ablaoc25.sciencesconf.org
Join us on Nov 13-14 to learn how @avispatica.bsky.social Dr Mora-Kepfer Uy’s team uncovered captivating ways in which parasites reprogram the behaviour and lifespan of insects. 🐝🪱
Learn more about the conference: ablaoc25.sciencesconf.org
August 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM
#ABL2025 Plenary Spotlight: Dr Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy ⭐
Join us on Nov 13-14 to learn how @avispatica.bsky.social Dr Mora-Kepfer Uy’s team uncovered captivating ways in which parasites reprogram the behaviour and lifespan of insects. 🐝🪱
Learn more about the conference: ablaoc25.sciencesconf.org
Join us on Nov 13-14 to learn how @avispatica.bsky.social Dr Mora-Kepfer Uy’s team uncovered captivating ways in which parasites reprogram the behaviour and lifespan of insects. 🐝🪱
Learn more about the conference: ablaoc25.sciencesconf.org
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
Wasps on BBC Breakfast 🐝
Our expert joined BBC Breakfast to talk all things wasps - why they're essential, misunderstood, and worth celebrating.
Discover the Grant Museum’s fascinating new exhibition on wasp diversity.
🔗 www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...
#UCL #GrantMuseum #BBCBreakfast #Wasps
Our expert joined BBC Breakfast to talk all things wasps - why they're essential, misunderstood, and worth celebrating.
Discover the Grant Museum’s fascinating new exhibition on wasp diversity.
🔗 www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...
#UCL #GrantMuseum #BBCBreakfast #Wasps
July 29, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Wasps on BBC Breakfast 🐝
Our expert joined BBC Breakfast to talk all things wasps - why they're essential, misunderstood, and worth celebrating.
Discover the Grant Museum’s fascinating new exhibition on wasp diversity.
🔗 www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...
#UCL #GrantMuseum #BBCBreakfast #Wasps
Our expert joined BBC Breakfast to talk all things wasps - why they're essential, misunderstood, and worth celebrating.
Discover the Grant Museum’s fascinating new exhibition on wasp diversity.
🔗 www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...
#UCL #GrantMuseum #BBCBreakfast #Wasps
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity | PNAS
The link between form and function of an organism’s morphology is usually apparent
or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable ...
doi.org
July 24, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
📣 Happy to see the journal publication 📄 of our work on Starships 🚀 in Verticillium fungi: terrific work led by @yukiyosato.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exBSp
rdcu.be/exBSp
Starship giant transposons dominate plastic genomic regions in a fungal plant pathogen and drive virulence evolution
Nature Communications - Giant transposons, known as ‘Starships’, mediate horizontal gene transfer between fungal genomes. Here, Sato et al. show that Starships occupy genome regions...
rdcu.be
July 24, 2025 at 10:40 AM
📣 Happy to see the journal publication 📄 of our work on Starships 🚀 in Verticillium fungi: terrific work led by @yukiyosato.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exBSp
rdcu.be/exBSp
We’re excited to announce @avispatica.bsky.social (Univ. of Rochester) as a plenary speaker at #ABL2025! 🙌
Dr Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy’s talk will explore how parasites reprogram social wasps—revealing deep insights into plasticity, manipulation & coevolution. 🐝
#HostParasite #Parasitism #Coevolution
Dr Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy’s talk will explore how parasites reprogram social wasps—revealing deep insights into plasticity, manipulation & coevolution. 🐝
#HostParasite #Parasitism #Coevolution
July 24, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
Article on #NewSpecies of parasitoid wasp we discovered last year on #RiceUniversity campus! Great work led by @brendanoloughlin.bsky.social in collaboration with Mike Gates, Pedro Brandão, & me.
www.sciencing.com/1905663/texa...
www.sciencing.com/1905663/texa...
Scientists In Texas Found A New Species Hiding Under Their Noses - Sciencing
Scientists at Rice University in Texas discovered a new parasitic wasp species, Chrysonotomyia susbelli, parasitizing the galls of local gall wasps.
www.sciencing.com
July 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Article on #NewSpecies of parasitoid wasp we discovered last year on #RiceUniversity campus! Great work led by @brendanoloughlin.bsky.social in collaboration with Mike Gates, Pedro Brandão, & me.
www.sciencing.com/1905663/texa...
www.sciencing.com/1905663/texa...
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
When darkness falls some wasps don't return to a nest to sleep, they simply latch onto some foliage for the night. Here a thread-waisted wasp (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Ammophila pictipennis) has settled in on a common ragweed (Asteraceae: Ambrosia artemisiifolia). Blissfield Michigan, 18 Sep 2010.
July 20, 2025 at 11:28 PM
When darkness falls some wasps don't return to a nest to sleep, they simply latch onto some foliage for the night. Here a thread-waisted wasp (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Ammophila pictipennis) has settled in on a common ragweed (Asteraceae: Ambrosia artemisiifolia). Blissfield Michigan, 18 Sep 2010.
Reposted by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy
A beautiful female Mymar pulchellum parasitoid wasp of the Mymaridae found in Brede High Woods. This may be a common species but it is always worth a closer look!
#UKWildlife #wasps #Mymaridae #HighWeald
#UKWildlife #wasps #Mymaridae #HighWeald
July 16, 2025 at 12:02 PM
A beautiful female Mymar pulchellum parasitoid wasp of the Mymaridae found in Brede High Woods. This may be a common species but it is always worth a closer look!
#UKWildlife #wasps #Mymaridae #HighWeald
#UKWildlife #wasps #Mymaridae #HighWeald
After >20 years of working with wasps, I like them even more now!
And a ⭐️ team that’s rocking this season and experimental infections with twisted wing parasites! #wasplove #strepsiptera #fieldseason #ProudPI #teamwasp
And a ⭐️ team that’s rocking this season and experimental infections with twisted wing parasites! #wasplove #strepsiptera #fieldseason #ProudPI #teamwasp
July 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
After >20 years of working with wasps, I like them even more now!
And a ⭐️ team that’s rocking this season and experimental infections with twisted wing parasites! #wasplove #strepsiptera #fieldseason #ProudPI #teamwasp
And a ⭐️ team that’s rocking this season and experimental infections with twisted wing parasites! #wasplove #strepsiptera #fieldseason #ProudPI #teamwasp
Working with parasites blows my mind! As in an alien movie, here is an instar 2 larva of Xenos peckii. Amazing dissection from star student Natasha Vacca, as it’s the size of a spec of dust! It infects and manipulates Polistes fuscatus, the social wasps we study. #Strepsiptera #zombies #wasplove
July 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Working with parasites blows my mind! As in an alien movie, here is an instar 2 larva of Xenos peckii. Amazing dissection from star student Natasha Vacca, as it’s the size of a spec of dust! It infects and manipulates Polistes fuscatus, the social wasps we study. #Strepsiptera #zombies #wasplove