Jess Awad
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parasitoidrex.bsky.social
Jess Awad
@parasitoidrex.bsky.social
1.4K followers 570 following 210 posts
Entomologist specializing in parasitoid wasps and dark taxa. Leiden, Netherlands.
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parasitoidrex.bsky.social
Jess Awad @parasitoidrex.bsky.social · Feb 12
Gall midges and their parasitoids are abundant, megadiverse, and very hard to identify! Such "double dark taxa" systems present special challenges for ecology and agriculture. 🧵🧪🐙 @smnstuttgart.bsky.social @marinamoser.bsky.social @krogmann.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/aesa...
Untangling host specialization in a “double dark taxa” system
Abstract. Platygastrine wasps (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) are parasitoids of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). They and their hosts are exceptionally
doi.org
Reposted by Jess Awad
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly.

Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!

🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
arnoldtortoise.bsky.social
A 0.8mm long female Paracentrobia pulchella wasp of the Trichogrammatidae found 15.5.2025 on the saltmarsh at Rye Harbour. This is a very common species around the Nature Reserve, with large populations throughout the summer.

#UKWildlife #wasps #Trichogrammatidae #RyeHarbour
Side view of a tiny yellow wasp. Its head and antennae are to the left of picture. Its head has a large bright red eye. Clear, paddle-shaped fringed wings are held vertically above body.
November 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
naturalis.bsky.social
"Terwijl de koloniale collecties van Naturalis een geschiedenis van ongelijkheid met zich meedragen, zet het hedendaagse museum de bewoners van het Surinaamse bos nadrukkelijk op gelijke voet."
www.volkskrant.nl/tentoonstell...
Van bijgeloof tot serieus onderwerp: Naturalis toont Surinaamse blik op bezielde natuur
Na jaren van kritiek kiest Naturalis voor verandering. In Het bos van Suriname staat voor het eerst een niet-westerse kijk op de natuur centraal en komt de koloniale verzamel­geschiedenis van de colle...
www.volkskrant.nl
November 25, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
twenseleers.bsky.social
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️

Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!

Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
November 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
palantir135.bsky.social
#november_kiek #photography #elkedageeninsect #macro #natuur #nature
Thema rond
Een gal van de Knikkergalwesp
(Andricus kollari)
Landgoed de Utrecht, Hilvarenbeek
A gall of the Marble Gall Wasp (Andricus kollari) Utrecht Estate, Hilvarenbeek
November 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
carlosbarreto.bsky.social
🚨 Do you have a manuscript to submit? Please let us know by Nov 30.
frankashwood.bsky.social Frank Ashwood @frankashwood.bsky.social · Sep 24
Are you researching the conservation, ecology or taxonomy of soil & litter invertebrates?

Submit your paper to this Special Issue of NZ Journal of Zoology, edited by me, @carlosbarreto.bsky.social & @barnesecodiv.bsky.social!

More info: www.royalsociety.org.nz/news/nzjz-so...

#SoilBiodiversity 🧪
A screenshot of a webpage making a call for papers announcement for a special issue of the New Zealand Journal of Zoology, focussed on soil and litter invertebrates. The page has a banner image photograph of a globular springtail facing towards the camera, with its head down, feeding on fungi on a decaying log.
November 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
paniw.bsky.social
🚨 Job alert 🚨 Postdoc position in ecological forecasting 📈 as part of the Horizon Europe OSCARS call. The postdoc will be based in lovely Sevilla (fantastic place to live) and will include working closely with several European forecasting projects. Apply by Dec 11! 🌎🧪 globalchangeeco.com/jobs
November 24, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
lancasterlt.bsky.social
*Guaranteed funding* PhD opportunity in my group. Work with damselflies, UN global biodiversity targets, genetic data, and NatureScot policy groups; the project will advance comparative population genetics and provide evidence feeding directly to policy. www.findaphd.com/phds/project....
QUARTILES DLA CASE: Genetic diversity and adaptation: Developing indicators for national and international policy at University of Aberdeen on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - QUARTILES DLA CASE: Genetic diversity and adaptation: Developing indicators for national and international policy at University of Aberdeen , listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
gabino.bsky.social
Reminder that books make awesome gifts for all holiday events, and they taste sweeter when they’re from indie bookstores. Don’t know what to get? Indie bookstores have gift cards!
November 24, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
msmacrophage.bsky.social
Attention post-docs (or PDFs to be).... here's an opportunity to work in Japan for a short research stay. As I always say to my PhD students "Get a PhD, see the world". www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-fe...
About the Program (Short-term (PE))｜Postdoctral Fellowships for Research in Japan｜Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Official Website of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
www.jsps.go.jp
November 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
crouxevo.bsky.social
Seeking a postdoc position?
​Balancing selection is a fascinating process: malaria resistance, self-incompatibility,etc. Yet, countless examples remain hidden in genomes!
​If this question intrigues you, the project led by Laure Segurel and Violaine Llaurens (Paris + Lyon) is perfect! urlr.me/Huj2De
Portail Emploi CNRS - Offre d'emploi - Post-doctoral fellow (M/F): Assessing the power of current methods to detect balancing selection in population genomic datasets
urlr.me
November 18, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
science.org
"In the end, I have come to realize that being authentic at work is not a weakness, but rather a strength." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/49B7hRv
An illustration of a woman wearing an axolotl costume in front of an audience, with text: Embracing my silly side makes me a better scientist. I wish I’d done it sooner
November 21, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
spidermax3000.bsky.social
#insectthursday
Ichneumon #wasp - Family: Ichneumonidae
(Shot near Cincinnati 6-30-25) 🪳🪲🐝 #photography #macrophotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #nature #animal #ivertebrate #insecf #bug #bugsky #ento
An ichneumon wasp (Family: Ichneumonidae) in profile on a leaf facing the left of frame. They have a dark body and thin orangish legs.
November 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
arnoldtortoise.bsky.social
A beautiful 0.22mm long female Megaphragma noyesi parasitoid wasp of the Trichogrammatidae found 29.7.2025 in the old meadow at Great Dixter.
Very pleased with the detail in this picture, probably the best one of this species thus far.

#UKWildlife #wasps #Trichogrammatidae #HighWeald
Side view of a tiny wasp; its head and antennae are at the top left of picture, its long-fringed narrow wings are to the right
November 19, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
cotesia.bsky.social
We need some help from folks more familiar with describing insect body parts. This is a fragment of a figure for a paper. In the text, we need to describe structure ii.

(The click beetle is in this position in our test rig.)
Fragment of a figure showing on the left a picture of a click beetle - the head and prothorax and clicking mechanism, and some legs, are shown. On the right is part of graphic detailing the clicking mechanisms main components (i=peg, ii=soft cuticle, iii=cavity, iv=mesosternal lip).
November 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
rosariolebronentomology.com
The Acarology Summer Program (71 years strong!) returns to Univ of Arkansas summer 2026:
Soil Acarology: May 25-June 12
Medical & Veterinary Acarology: June 15-20
Limited to ~15 students for personalized instruction.
Registration: training.uark.edu/portal/train...
#Entomology #bugsky #invert 🧪
Acarology Summer Program | Professional and Workforce Development | University of Arkansas
For 70 years, the Acarology Summer Program has trained researchers in mite identification, biology, and collection. Join this intensive, hands-on course to build your expertise in acarology.
training.uark.edu
November 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
morgancarterphd.bsky.social
We are hiring!! Biological Sciences as UNC Charlotte has a broad search for a new assistant professor.
Apps reviewed 12/15.

Please spread the word! 💚⛏️
#PlantSci 🧪🦠🧬
jobs.charlotte.edu/postings/65141
Assistant Professor
Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in the biological sciences or related fields.Candidates are expected to document expertise in their specialty by a record of postdoctoral training, peer reviewed publ...
jobs.charlotte.edu
November 17, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
alielw.bsky.social
Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬

We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies.

Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!
November 17, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
usha.bsky.social
Science/health/environmental journalists: Join us for an amazing year at MIT. 🔭🧪2026 applications are open! Deadline is Jan. 9. Please share widely. ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/11...
KSJ Opens Application Cycle for 2026-27 Fellowships
Applications for KSJ's Academic-Year Fellowship and the Africa and Middle East Fellowship will open November 15 and close January 9.
ksj.mit.edu
November 15, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
linneansociety.bsky.social
We're letting our hair down this Friday by delving into the more social side of our history, sparked by some unexpected items in our archives: two drinks tokens...

Find out more in November's Treasure of the Month: buff.ly/vnrowQt
Drink tokens (LDC/9) (The Linnean Society of London). The text, in cursive handwiriting, reads 'Linnean Club. Port Wine. 1'
November 14, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
dipteracourse.bsky.social
Excited to announce that Fly School IV will be 27 July-9 August 2026, in Costa Rica! Applications will open in January. @dipterists.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @bertonemyia.bsky.social @teamdiptera.bsky.social @entcollnet.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @entsocamerica.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
rosariolebronentomology.com
Interested in work on control of Spotted lanternfly at USDA? Postdoc opportunity here:
www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/...
#hemiptera #Invert #bugsky 🧪 #entomology
A close view of a young spotted lanternfly perched on a pale triangular point mount. The insect has a glossy black body patterned with bright white patches and tiny yellow speckles that sit across its head and thorax. Its round dark compound eye is in clear view. One foreleg rests against the point mount and shows the same bold white markings. The background is a soft blue that creates a smooth field behind the insect. The focus is tight on the head which brings out the texture of the exoskeleton and the fine contours of the mouthparts while the rest of the body fades gently out of focus.
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
ferrisjabr.bsky.social
Recently visited the Glass Flowers at Harvard, a collection of 4,300 extraordinarily realistic glass models of plants crafted by the Blaschkas, a father and son team of sculptors

That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
An overview shot of a portion of the collection: a long window box with wooden frames filled with glass models of plants carefully arranged and labeled on white backgrounds, as though part of a 3D herbarium. From this distance, they are indistinguishable from real plants. Glass model of maple leaves, featuring blended molten glass that mimics the red hues of autumn foliage A glass model of a Columbine (Aquilegia) with parsley-like leaves and pendulous, faintly red and yellow flowers that look like swans huddled together, necks touching and wings flared out. Glass model of a Potentilla with almost ferny foliage and simple, open-faced yellow flowers with fuzzy centers.
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
floridamuseum.bsky.social
Work with us! 👉 Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager
Position will manage the extensive collections, conduct fieldwork, participate in public outreach, & pursue external funding.

🔸 Full info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/inver...

🔸 Apply @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
a group of people in matching t-shirts are standing at a table while a man holds up one of several trays of shallow boxes with different types of shells sorted neatly into them close up of a museum display of many large fossil shells mounted carefully on a black background with small info labels there is a person in outdoors clothing kneeling at the top of a long sandy slope covered in many small dark shells with a cloudy sky overhead
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
swarmofthoughts.bsky.social
Very cool to see our recent research on biogeography of Jurassic insects from Australia to be picked up by Smithsonian Magazine, with the focus on the Robert Beattie´s tireless quest to know more about Oz´s `past. #fossilfriday 🦖⚒️
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...
This Amateur Fossil Hunter Discovered a 151-Million-Year-Old Insect—and It's a New Species
Retired teacher Robert Beattie, now 82, has been digging up remnants of the past ever since he was a child
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:23 AM