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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Jalene LaMontagne @jalene-lamontagne.bsky.social · Aug 14

I'm very proud to receive the 2025 Robert P. McIntosh Award from the @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Vegetation Section at #ESA2025 with an amazing group of colleagues, for our paper on Community #MastSeeding. 🥳

Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Award info: esa.org/vegetation/a...

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · Aug 26

Great questions! This species has many queens, so nests can be inherited by overlapping generations of related queens, and if conditions are right, can be occupied indefinitely! The nests grow fast, but I would estimate at least 10 years to reach this size, and this nest is likely much older

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Adria LeBoeuf @adriatica.bsky.social · Aug 21

Amazing talk by @jennyperry.bsky.social bringing together signalling theory and socially transferred materials. Keep your eyes peeled for the eventual paper with @steveramm.bsky.social @elvarobinson.bsky.social and myself #ESEB2025 @socialtransfernet.bsky.social

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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Dr Jess Stokes @jess-stokes.bsky.social · Aug 9

Do you moth trap in the UK? See below!

@royentsoc.bsky.social

Abigail Lowe @abigaillowe.bsky.social · Aug 7

Do you do moth trapping in the UK? We'd love your help! 💡

At @ukceh.bsky.social we're training & testing AI to detect multiple moths in a single image.

Send us top-down photos of multiple moths on egg trays to support this work.

More info & form: forms.gle/e3HzBPEd7RVV...

#mothsmatter #TeamMoth

A top-down image of 12 various moths on a green egg carton.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · Aug 5

Look at the size of this wood ant nest! (Or perhaps I'm just smaller than you thought). This is a Northern Hairy Wood Ant nest in the Lake District, sampled by @melvinopolka.bsky.social and me for the @monitant.bsky.social project this year.

Large wood ant nest in a spruce forest, surrounded by bracken. Next to the nest is Professor Elva Robinson. The nest is taller than Elva.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · Aug 1

Had an amazing time with @melvinopolka.bsky.social and Igor Siedlecki, discovering so many beautiful ants nests and collecting samples and data for the Europe-wide MonitAnt @monitant.bsky.social project. We are so lucky that wood ants always choose such beautiful places to make their homes!

Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · Jul 21

The last few weeks have been special as I was a guest of @elvarobinson.bsky.social in York for field research. Together with her and Igor Siedlecki, I travelled across the UK, successfully carrying out sampling for the @monitant.bsky.social. I'm excited to see the results of this data.

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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Social Transfer Network @socialtransfernet.bsky.social · Jul 22

👉 How to get involved:
- Follow this page for updates and event invites
- Join our email network: www.socialtransfer.net/join
- Or just drop us a DM, everyone’s welcome!

We’re excited to connect with you. Watch this space for future seminars and updates!
See you soon, fluids (or beverages) in hand!

Join us — Social Transfer Network

www.socialtransfer.net

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · Jul 12

I'm so fortunate to have these amazing PhD students in my group!

Gabrielle Flinn @thecuriousant.bsky.social · Jun 25

Today we celebrated @elvarobinson.bsky.social receiving best PhD supervisor of the year award at the University of York. Very well deserved - we’re lucky to have you!

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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Royal Entomological Society @royentsoc.bsky.social · Jun 20

⏰ 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

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…

buff.ly

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · Jun 20

Making the most of the warm weather to re-map the cooperative wood ant colony networks at the beautiful @nationaltrust.org.uk's Longshaw Estate. This was day 1 last week - two keen student volunteers getting their first experience of wood ants

Selfie of 3 ecologists in the field, posing around a wood ant nest in an open woodland area.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 9

Perhaps you might have seen the twig-nesting ant Leptothorax acervorum instead? It is a close relative of the Shining Guest Ant, and a very similar size, shape and colour, just a bit less shiny!

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 9

Thanks! This species of 'guest ant' (Formicoxenus nitidulus) is only found in Eurasia, but there are several other species found in North America. It would be very surprising if you found our European Shining Guest Ant away from red wood ants though, because it is an obligate commensal.

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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Maggie Couvillon @freelyflyingbees.bsky.social · May 7

The herbicide glyphosate is globally ubiquitous. Here we report in a new paper on the sublethal effects to the behavior and brains of bees, a non-target organism that might encounter the herbicide while foraging in agricultural landscapes. Photo creds LC McHenry & R Schurch
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

A marked honey bee forager collects sucrose solution, either treatment or control, from an artificial feeder.

Former graduate student Dr. Laura McHenry peers at a bee while it forages at the feeder

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 7

Might be harder to spot after you've sat on them... their hosts do tend to get annoyed easily! But do keep a look out, they are very distinctive once you have got your eye in. Most easily spotted in late summer or autumn, and on sunny days.

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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦 @secondnaturemb.bsky.social · May 6

There are still a few spaces left in my Drawing Bees online course starting tomorrow evening. It's a fun way to spend a few spring evenings. www.eventbrite.com/e/drawing-be... 🌿🎨

Drawing Bees - May 7, 14, 21, 2025

Will the classes be recorded?

www.eventbrite.com

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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Ada Lovelace Day @adalovelaceday.bsky.social · May 7

The Ada Lovelace Day fundraiser is closing in on its stretch goal, with just £887 left to raise! If you can chuck a tenner into the kitty, I'd be very grateful.

I did a quick thread of the things this will allow me to do here: bsky.app/profile/ada...

Donate to Save Ada Lovelace Day's archives and newsletter, organised by Suw Charman-Anderson

Last year, I took the difficult decision not to organise another … Suw Charman-Anderson needs your support for Save Ada Lovelace Day's archives and newsletter

www.gofundme.com

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 7

Good to know that I'm sneaking yet more ants into #FieldworkPodcast! The wood ants are already in there: bsky.app/profile/suw....

Suw @suw.bsky.social · Mar 10

Ants might primarily be known for ruining picnics and stealing all the jam, but wood ants are crucial ecosystem and climate engineers, creating fertile soils and burying organic material in a natural carbon capture process.

fieldworkpodcast.substack.com/p/fieldwork-...

#FieldworkPodcast

Fieldwork: Why wood ants?

You might think ants are boring and quotidian, but they are important ecosystem engineers in their own right.

fieldworkpodcast.substack.com

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 7

This Shining Guest Ant population genetics project was a collaboration between @york.ac.uk @jennistockan.bsky.social and @forestresearchuk.bsky.social, funded by @futurewoodlands.bsky.social Green open access version of the paper available here: pure.york.ac.uk/portal/en/pu... 5/5

Insights into the population genetics of an extreme habitat specialist, the wood ant commensal Formicoxenus nitidulus

pure.york.ac.uk

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 7

We couldn't have completed this project without the excellent support from @yorkdatascience.bsky.social from the initial design to the final figures - including these which demonstrate genetic differentiation between Scottish and English popuations of Shining Guest ants 4/5 bsky.app/profile/york...

York Data Science @yorkdatascience.bsky.social · Apr 30

An interesting and important paper just out, that the group contributed significantly to, on the fascinating shining guest ant and its genetic diversity in English (RHS on plots) and Scottish (LHS on plots) populations. Led by @elvarobinson.bsky.social.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

DAPC scatter plot showing clusters of ant genotypes in six populations of shining guest ants in England and Scotland.

Stacked bar chart showing genetic ancestry (from STRUCTURE analysis) of populations of shining guest ants across seven different sites in England and Scotland.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 7

We also looked at how our UK Shining Guest Ants fit with other populations in Europe - but we found there wasn't much data to help understand this pattern. Fortunately the @monitant.bsky.social project will collect European-wide data to solve this problem. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author... 3/5

Haplotype network of the 6 UK haplotypes and 8 European haplotypes from the BOLD database. Most UK haplotypes cluster together, but one is the same as a Swiss haplotype.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 7

In our study of Shining Guest Ants, we found that despite their tiny size, and having wingless males, Guest Ant populations are well-mixed within a site. This means that queens are successfully dispersing to other distant wood ant host nests within a site. 2/5 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

• This first population genetics study of the shining guest ant Formicoxenus nitidulus shows clear genetic differentiation between populations in Scotland and England.
• Despite being an extreme habitat specialist, living only in the nests of wood ants, this ant maintains genetic diversity, likely due to effective local dispersal.
• Individual wood ant nests are valuable conservation units, as they can support multiple, genetically distinct shining guest ant colonies.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 7

Did you know about these tiny shiny ants (red arrow) living with wood ants (blue arrow)? They are Shining Guest Ants (Formicoxenus) and we have recently discovered that a wood ant nest can be home to several genetically distinct colonies of these 'guests'! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author... 1/5

A large wood ant, with a dull black gaster and head, and dull brown thorax, is on a pale stone background, and indicated by a blue arrow. Next to it a much smaller ant with a shiny back gaster and shiny brown head and thorax is indicated by a red arrow. The blue arrow at is the wood ant Formica lugubris and the red arrow at is the shining guest ant Formicoxenus nitidulus.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · May 6

So pleased to see this paper published - the fieldwork was beset by Covid disruptions and restrictions, but we found out some fascinating things about the beautiful but elusive Shining Guest Ants. Project funded by @futurewoodlands.bsky.social

RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · May 2

New research in #RESEcolEnt gives insights into the population genetics of an extreme habitat specialist, the wood ant commensal Formicoxenus nitidulus 🐜

See the article now🔽
doi.org/10.1111/een.13450

@elvarobinson.bsky.social @jennistockan.bsky.social @wiley.com

Graphical abstract of: Insights into the population genetics of an extreme habitat specialist, the wood ant commensal Formicoxenus nitidulus

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Reposted by Elva Robinson

Ada Lovelace Day @adalovelaceday.bsky.social · May 6

Edith Clarke was an electrical engineer & the first female professor of electrical engineering in the USA. She developed a method to calculate the maximum power that a power transmission line could carry and remain stable. Read more & subscribe: adalovelaceday.subst...

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · Apr 22

Work on the resilience of wood ant transport networks led by SandorPiross shows network dynamics that are highly effective in stable environments have limited capacity to cope with targeted disruption 2/2 @uoyopenres.bsky.social @matinadonaldson.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Strong and weak environmental perturbations cause contrasting restructure of ant transportation networks | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Dynamic transportation networks are embedded in all levels of biological organization. Ever-growing anthropogenic disturbances and an increasingly variable climate highlight the importance of understa...

royalsocietypublishing.org

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