Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kaz Ohashi

Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 27d

I'm looking for PhD students to join the lab starting August 2026. We study the evolution of insect chemical signals so if you're interested in evolutionary biology, chemical ecology, molecular biology, behavior, or genetics, this could be a good fit for you! More info here: tinyurl.com/mrxchwfm

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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 16d

#Viewpoint: Exploring the importance of aromatic #plants' extrafloral volatiles for #pollinator attraction

Kantsa et al. 👇

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue #PlantScience

Known and proposed ecological functions of aboveground aromatic emissions (i.e. constitutive volatile emissions from vegetative plant tissues) in mediating biotic interactions with arthropods, other plants, and microorganisms.

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Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · 21d

🐜 Ants on flowers

A meta-analysis shows protective ants reduce flower visits, especially by bees, but usually do not harm plant reproduction. Effects depend on nectary location and visitor type.

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

#SciComm 🧪 #Ecology #Pollination

Ants on flowers: Protective ants impose a low but variable cost to pollination, moderated by location of extrafloral nectaries and type of flower visitor

Individuals who engage in multiple mutualisms often have to pay indirect costs because of the interference of one mutualism on another. We found that protective ants had a low but variable impact on ....

doi.org

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JPE - Journal of Pollination Ecology @jpollecol.bsky.social · 21d

"The fate of pollen in two morphologically contrasting buzz-pollinated Solanum flowers" by Vasquez-Castro et al. freshly published! doi.org/10.26786/192...

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 26d

A new review gives us a deeper understanding of the evolution of plant-pollinator interactions!

A brilliant critical review of the Grant–Stebbins model of how plants evolve by Kathleen Kay and Bruce Anderson just published.

Read more about it here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/09/12/a...

A new review gives us a deeper understanding of the evolution of plant-pollinator interactions

If you’ve read my book Birds & Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship, you’ll know that I spend a few pages discussing the long-standing paradigm of how interactions betw…

jeffollerton.co.uk

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Martin Giurfa @martingiurfa.bsky.social · 28d

See last article on "The cognitive side of communication in social insects", just published in @TrendsCognSci . Free access under this link!
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

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Peter Stronach @macstronach.bsky.social · Sep 8

Spent hours being spellbound by Convolvulus Hawk Moths last night as they nectared on Nicotiana plants in my highland garden!. Up to 3 feeding at a time, their entire abdomens glowing red hot in the thermal from flight muscle use!! #teammoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

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Dan Sloan @sloanevolab.bsky.social · Sep 8

The Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word!

jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...

Assistant Professor Plant-Microbe Interactions

We seek a creative, collaborative, and visionary plant biologist to establish an internationally recognized research program at the forefront of plant-microbe interactions aimed at understanding how t...

jobs.colostate.edu

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · Aug 24

Scott Loarie talks about #iNaturalust at #TED | The surprising power of your nature photos

www.ted.com/talks/scott_...

#Wildlife #CitizenScience #Conservation #Biodiversity

The surprising power of your nature photos

Scott Loarie has a challenge for you: go outside and take a picture of a living thing. He introduces the global community of people building a living atlas of the natural world by sharing their nature...

www.ted.com

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Kathleen Kay @kathleenmkay.bsky.social · Aug 8

Is the Most Effective Pollinator Principle a zombie idea? How do plants adapted to one pollinator shift to another without traversing an adaptive valley? How should we measure fitness in pollinator selection studies? We explore these questions and more in a new review doi.org/10.1093/aob/...

Beyond the Grant–Stebbins model: floral adaptive landscapes and plant speciation

AbstractBackground. Floral diversity, a striking feature of angiosperm evolution, provides the impetus and rationale for linking pollinator-driven selectio

doi.org

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Mike Moore @gypsumbotany.bsky.social · Aug 5

🚨🚨 New tenure track position in #ConservationBiology @oberlincollege.bsky.social in the #Biology department--come join us, and contribute to our brand new Environmental Science major too! #biologyjobs #ecologyjobs

jobs.oberlin.edu/postings/16671

Assistant Professor of Biology

The Biology Department at Oberlin College invites applications for a full-time tenure track faculty position in the College of Arts and Sciences in conservation ecology. Initial appointment to this po...

jobs.oberlin.edu

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · Aug 8

Even more fascinating after reading ‘Birds and flowers’ book by @jeffollerton.bsky.social
#BirdPollination #Generalists #Ecology

Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · Aug 8

🐦🐝 In Banksia menziesii, excluding birds cut fruit set, seed viability, and genetic diversity, while inbreeding rose. Honeybees moved plenty of pollen but increased selfing. Birds proved the most effective pollinators, with genetic gains that may drive bird-pollinated flowers. bit.ly/4fuAz58

Exclusion of bird pollinators impacts mating system and reduces offspring fitness in a pollination-generalist tree

AbstractBackground and Aims. Compared to pollinating insects and non-flying mammals (NFM), nectarivorous birds may display behaviours leading to greater po

bit.ly

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · Aug 8

🐦🐝 In Banksia menziesii, excluding birds cut fruit set, seed viability, and genetic diversity, while inbreeding rose. Honeybees moved plenty of pollen but increased selfing. Birds proved the most effective pollinators, with genetic gains that may drive bird-pollinated flowers. bit.ly/4fuAz58

Exclusion of bird pollinators impacts mating system and reduces offspring fitness in a pollination-generalist tree

AbstractBackground and Aims. Compared to pollinating insects and non-flying mammals (NFM), nectarivorous birds may display behaviours leading to greater po

bit.ly

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American Naturaliﬆ / ASN 🐌 @asn-amnat.bsky.social · Jul 19

Are specializations evolutionary dead ends? Morrison et al. reveal that in bird carotenoid evolution, continuity and stability are two sides of the same coin.

Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

This is a photo of a brown and red bird to the left of a flowering cactus, it is set against a blue sky.

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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · Jul 15

✨ Paper spotlight ✨

(🧵 1/3) Evolution of petal patterning: blooming floral diversity at the microscale
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Fig.3 Micropatterns on the petal surface are created by variation in epidermal cell pigment, shape and cuticle textures.

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Brooke Fitzwater, PhD (she/her) 🐟🪱🏳️‍🌈♾️ @oceanfilly.bsky.social · Jul 16

Are you a PI in a biology field looking for postdocs? Here is a Starter Pack of early career biologists currently seeking postdoctoral positions! (Also if you are searching for a postdoc, let me know if you want to be added!) go.bsky.app/8zZNEGV

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · Jul 11

Dieunomia heteropoda? I got curious and asked the BeeMachine app, then looked for similar Dieunomia images. We don’t have this genus in Japan, but what an amazing look for a halictid! (if I’m correct)

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nikogeldner.bsky.social @nikogeldner.bsky.social · May 29

We have a unique opportunity for a junior researcher, PhD student or postdoc, to use a revolutionary technique for mineral nutrient imaging and tracing in plants. Please re-post! Interested candidates should apply through the portal at the link below:

career5.successfactors.eu/career?compa...

Career Opportunities: Postdoc or PhD student position in Plant Physiology (22260)

career5.successfactors.eu

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · May 25

I believe you’re talking about tsukibito.

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Richard Merrill @dickmerrill.bsky.social · May 6

Interested in a PhD connecting sensory ecology and evolutionary genetics? Applications are now open for a project on the Speciation Genomics of Eye Size Variation in Heliconius Butterflies in our lab at LMU Munich: www.evol.bio.lmu.de/research/mer... Please repost!

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · May 12

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Convergent acquisition of disulfide-forming enzymes in malodorous flowers

Identifying the metabolic and genetic changes that confer evolutionary novelty is essential for understanding the factors facilitating or constraining the occurrence of traits. We show that dimethyl d...

www.science.org

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · May 6

Glad to see the clear-wing hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas) is back in our garden! The way they quickly and accurately find their food plants (Gardenia jasminoides) and lay eggs is simply mind-blowing. #Hawkmoths

A clear-wing hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas) oviposits on a young shoot of Gardenia jasminoides, its larval host plant. The moth’s body is sharply lit against the glossy green foliage, emphasizing its fuzzy yellow thorax and striped abdomen.

In mid-air, a clear-wing hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas) hovers with wings outstretched.

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Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · May 6

A marmalade hoverfly on a multiflora-rose flower. I love photography as it constantly reminds me of the breathtaking beauty of the creatures that inhabit our world. #Hoverflies #NativeFliwers

A close-up photograph of a Rosa multiflora blossom being visited by a hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus. The fly’s translucent wings and vivid orange-and-black striped abdomen contrast beautifully with the delicate white petals and bright yellow stamens of the flower.

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Itai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · Apr 21

In today's episode of the Night Science Podcast we talk with Martin Schwartz from Yale about the importance of stupidity in science: while learning science makes you feel smart, true scientific discovery often involves feeling stupid, because it means venturing into the unknown.

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Dr. Kiyoko Gotanda @photopidge.bsky.social · Apr 19

Super happy! Published teaching module: Understanding Natural Selection: Definitions, Historical Development, Mechanisms, and Usage in Contemporary Times qubeshub.org/publications... @juleyvc.bsky.social @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social @tyandresbray.bsky.social 🧪🧬👩‍🔬 #newPI #RIE2 #TeachingEvolution

Understanding Natural Selection: Definitions, Historical Development, Mechanisms, and Usage in Contemporary Times

This module brings scientific scholarship on natural selection in conversation with the history and philosophy of science, providing undergraduate students with the scientific and critical tools to ex...

qubeshub.org

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