Imagine being the first scientist to notice that some of the ants being studied had two butts & that one of them was a beetle that had latched on for a free ride.

See the mandibles of the beetle (yellow arrow)? Latched on to the ant's 'waist', blending seamlessly.

Ants with detachable butts.

Truly had the most amazing time exploring the diversity of gall wasps (Cynipidae) today! Found 11 species on one oak 🤔 I unfortunately also spotted some larvae of the invasive Rhagoletis completa (walnut husk fly) in our walnut tree. These guys have some very cool Wolbachia though!

Amazing!!!

Big congrats to one of the most inspiring people I've ever met, eDNA for the win!

“Just when you think you’ve seen it all, social insects reveal another surprise.” https://scim.ag/47sVFyS

This is incredible!

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/4mOb5T9

So cool!

Had a blast presenting my work on Wolbachia and Spiroplasma-induced sex allocation distortion in haplodiploids at #ESEB2025!

Fascinating talk by @emmavanreempts.bsky.social & Fien Van Reempts at #Nerdland Festival 🥼 Wolbachia to stop mosquito-borne diseases 🦟 With amazing illustrations by Ward Dermaut