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Morgan M. Oberweiser

@mmoberweiser.bsky.social

420 followers 610 following 34 posts

PhD student studying spider vibrations 🕷️ Uni Greifswald 🕷️ frequently thinking about animal behavior 🕷️ otherwise likely playing flute, reading books, or baking cakes 🕷️ she/her

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Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · Nov 19

Hi Bluesky 🙋‍♀️ I'm Morgan, a PhD student of the University of Greifswald, though you can currently find me as a guest researcher in Hamburg. I study courtship vibrations in Pisaura mirabilis spiders, but I'm pretty excited about all things animal behavior 🕷️🐜🦋🐛🐝🦇

Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · 13d

✍️ noted! 😁

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Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · 13d

And what's an arachnology conference without spiders?? I was so pleased when I found a subadult Pisaura mirabilis (my study species and the only spider I can actually identify 😅) during our excursion to Krka National Park, even though it was a bit early in the season!

A stinging nettle leaf with a small subadult spider

A sunny view of a natural area with greenery and a river, with rocky cliffs in the background

Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · 13d

Never too late to say that I had a fantastic time at the @35theca2025.bsky.social conference in gorgeous Zadar a few weeks ago! I met many incredible arachnid enthusiasts, presented about biotremology in a symposium on sensory biology, and was honored to be recognized with 2nd prize for my talk! 🕷️

A group of smiling people standing with a banner that reads "Congress of Arachnology" in front of a blue sea with low mountains in the background.

A person standing at a podium giving a talk, next to a presentation screen showing a large photo of two spiders in courtship.

A group of smiling people holding books and certificates, on a balcony with the ocean in the background.

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

ZooKeys @zookeys.pensoft.net · 14d

Our journal congratulates @ortizmovliavc.bsky.social l for her award at @35theca2025.bsky.social !

Her work, “Winter warming increases metabolic stress and mortality in an overwintering spider,” got her a free publication in a @pensoft.net journal.

zookeys.pensoft.net/news/993

PhD student Carolina Ortiz Movliav wins Best Oral Presentation at European Congress of Arachnology

Carolina Ortiz Movliav, a PhD student at the University of Greifswald, has won the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 35th European Congress of Arachnology for her work “Winter warming inc...

zookeys.pensoft.net

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Marshal Hedin @mhedin.bsky.social · Aug 23

new paper, led by Lin Yan from the Elias Lab at UCB

Latent preference for red ornamentation drives interspecific mating in nascent jumping spider species (Habronattus americanus group, F. Salticidae)
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Lara S. Burchardt @lsburchardt.bsky.social · Aug 15

Thanks @animal-prattle.bsky.social for reminding me to post about this project🐋🎵
Mia Davitt (+ col), musician from 🇺🇸, attempted to transcribe whale sounds in Western musical style. Turns out to work quite well, so we #preprint ed these interesting results: osf.io/preprints/os...
#OSF #bioacoustics

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Armando Rosario-Lebrón @rosariolebronentomology.com · Jul 29

A likely Leiobunum sp. harvestman. Striking colors against the background here. I wish more people looked past the blur of those long legs to see the beautiful animal behind them.

#bugsky 🪲🪳🌿

A vivid close-up photograph of a harvestman, likely in the genus Leiobunum, perched on a lush green fern. The harvestman has a strikingly orange body with a textured, almost pebbled carapace and glossy black eyes positioned at the front of its small head. Its body is compact and oval-shaped, with several small, articulated legs near its front that seem to aid in sensing or feeding. The most visually dominant feature is its long, dark brown to nearly black legs, which radiate outward in all directions and stretch well beyond the edges of the frame, creating dynamic lines across the background. The fern beneath the animal is a rich green, with detailed, feather-like fronds. The contrast between the orange body and the cool green leaf provides a visually stunning color palette. A few tiny grains of soil or sand are scattered across the fern, adding realism to the natural setting. The image is extremely sharp, especially at the center where the body is in crisp focus, while the legs and edges show a slight blur from depth of field, emphasizing the central figure.

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

American Naturaliﬆ / ASN 🐌 @asn-amnat.bsky.social · Jul 21

Better together: sibling cooperation matters! Burying beetle larvae consistently benefited from growing up with siblings, both with & without parents. Huber et al. show that sibling interactions can play a key role in the evolution of family life. Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Dung beetle and larvae taken by Huber et al.

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Sam England @samjakeengland.bsky.social · Jul 30

My photo made it onto the cover of @pnas.org! 🎉You can read the related article about the amazing morphologies of treehoppers increasing their sensitivity to static electricity here: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Nicole 🪲 @fossilforager.bsky.social · Jul 28

Velvet Ants of North America! 🐜

An illustrated poster showing 9 different species of velvet ants, which are actually female flightless wasps. They are mostly brownish, yellow, orange, and red in color, with various degrees of black markings. They are illustrated on a vibrant orange background.

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Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · Jun 26

Credit to @ortizmovliavc.bsky.social for the lovely Pisaura portrait!

Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · Jun 26

The first chapter of my thesis is out now in Journal of Ethology! Check it out if you're interested in taking a deep dive into the vibrational signal of a very cute spider 🕷️〰️

Variation of vibratory performance during courtship of a cursorial spider: doi.org/10.1007/s101...

Face-first view of a brown spider with long legs. He is carrying a nuptial gift (silk-wrapped prey) in his chelicerae.

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

WayneS @wsnatureandfossils.bsky.social · Jun 25

Successful hunting for these two Thomisus onustus from Dorset. I love the variation in colour of these spiders - everything from white, through various shades of pink, deep burgundy and purple or even bright yellow🩷🤍💛💜
@britishspiders.bsky.social
#om-1 #dorsetwildlife #ukwildlife
#macrophotography

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

werbug( ፝֯֟ •ॢ◡-ॢ) @iridescent-bug.bsky.social · Jun 23

silver garden orb weaver

#spider #spiders #gardenorbweaver #orbweaver #cool #art #digitaldrawing #digitalpainting #digitalart #artmoots #smallartist #ibispaint #green #vibes #sunset

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Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · Jun 24

PhD position open with Dr. Jutta Schneider and @mherberstein.bsky.social in Hamburg, on sub-social behavior in crab spiders 🕷️ It even includes field work in Australia! Application deadline is 15 July, more info at the link:
www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...

A crab spider with bright yellow/green prosoma and legs and a light brown opisthosoma sits on a leaf

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · Jun 10

The exteriors of spider eyes are part of the exoskeleton, so can't move. But in jumping spiders, the internal parts of the large central eyes have muscles that can swivel and twist to help the spider aim its eyes from inside the head. This is a 4-frame.gif showing that internal movement. 🌿🐙🕷️👀

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Tom Ratz @tomratz.bsky.social · Jun 5

I recently gave an interview for the SNSF magazine about the fascinating world of black widow spiders. Here it is! 🕷️🕸️🦗

www.horizons-mag.ch/2025/06/05/h...

How spiders make high-pressure decisions

Horizons - In brief

www.horizons-mag.ch

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Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · Jun 5

Woowwwww so impressive!! 🤩🤩

Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Stefano Mammola @stefanomammola.bsky.social · Jun 4

🕷️🌍🕸️ Spiders aren't creepy crawlies—they're ecosystem heroes! From pest control to biotech inspiration to key figures in our collective culture, a new review reveals the many services spiders provide:

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/brv....

(drawing by @jmalumbresolarte.bsky.social)

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Jelena Belojevic @jellybb.bsky.social · Jun 4

It's a year of #headstarting for #BalticDunlins! First chicks are hatching and many more are on the way. We're trying to recover the almost extinct population breeding in coastal meadows around the #BothnianBay. Pics by Gerrit Wehrenberg
@koivulakari.bsky.social @vmpakanen.bsky.social

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Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · May 28

Peggy is a true pioneer in the field of Biotremology and has certainly had a big influence on me and my work! I really enjoyed reading more about her story 🦗〰️

Current Biology @currentbiology.bsky.social · May 28

Check out our latest issue to read a Q&A with Peggy Hill, who studies vibrational communication and is Professor Emerita of Biological Science at the University of Tulsa. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Peggy Hill

Interview with Peggy Hill, who studies vibrational communication and is Professor Emerita of Biological Science at the University of Tulsa.

www.cell.com

Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

35th European Congress of Arachnology @35theca2025.bsky.social · May 27

Spider of the week is Philaeus chrysops Thorell, 1869

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Tom Ratz @tomratz.bsky.social · May 27

Looking for a PhD project on sexual selection? Join us at UZH!

Application deadline: 9 June 2025.

jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie...

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

Jen Cross @jencross.bsky.social · May 21

Holy smokes! I've got the male too! I'm tearing up. Just heard from the scientist that described the new species and this handsome lad is the male. So awesome!
(Chrysometa chuchaqui)

A skinny spider with swirly light sockets for pedipalps, a tan cephalothorax, cone shaped abdomen with shiny plates. He is sitting on a leaf.

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Reposted by Morgan M. Oberweiser

35th European Congress of Arachnology @35theca2025.bsky.social · May 20

Arachnid of the week: Lola insularis Kratochvíl, 1937

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