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Reposted by Stuart Wigby

Ben Longdon @blongdon.bsky.social · 13d

2 job adverts on a NERC project w myself + @darrenobbard.bsky.social on “What determines the virome: ecology and the environment, evolution, or species history?” early 2026 in
@uniexecec.bsky.social
- Postdoc: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
- RA: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
Pls share!

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · 16d

New out in Molecular Ecology! In which we show that small males try harder when it comes to seminal fluid proteins. w/ @ju-morimoto.bsky.social @iremsepil.bsky.social @becks-seascience.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Jul 29

Update – @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social got back to me with a download link to the obsolete software. Good service! (though I'm not quite sure why they don't just keep the old software on their website to save some admin).

Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Jul 27

Anyone out there have a copy of the old @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social‬ "Firecam" software?

From the mid/late 2000s. I'm trying to resurrect a EZ4D with integrated camera, but the software for it seems to have disappeared from the internet...

www.leica-microsystems.com/products/lig...

EZ4 D Educational Stereo Microscope with Integrated LED llumination and Digital 3 MP Camera

Educational Stereo Microscope with Integrated LED llumination and Digital 3 MP Camera

www.leica-microsystems.com

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Jul 27

I did message Leica but haven't heard back as yet. I saw elsewhere people complaining that they couldn't get the old software... so thought I spread bet!

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Jul 27

Software for Mac that is (not PC)

Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Jul 27

Anyone out there have a copy of the old @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social‬ "Firecam" software?

From the mid/late 2000s. I'm trying to resurrect a EZ4D with integrated camera, but the software for it seems to have disappeared from the internet...

www.leica-microsystems.com/products/lig...

EZ4 D Educational Stereo Microscope with Integrated LED llumination and Digital 3 MP Camera

Educational Stereo Microscope with Integrated LED llumination and Digital 3 MP Camera

www.leica-microsystems.com

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Reposted by Stuart Wigby

Melissah Rowe @melissahrowe.bsky.social · Jun 21

Last week to apply! nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...

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Liam Dougherty @liamdougherty.bsky.social · May 7

New paper led by Lily Amos, with @stuartwigby.bsky.social and myself- very rapid changes in male Drosophila mating behaviour in response to multiple stressors (academic.oup.com/beheco/advan...).

Short-term increases in rival number improves single mating productivity in male Drosophila

Abstract. In variable environments, animals can change their reproductive behaviours and physiology to maximise reproductive returns. Natural environments

academic.oup.com

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Jay Hinton @jayhinton.bsky.social · Apr 26

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

A 5 minute listen: @jojofoth.bsky.social describes exciting work at the Microbiome innovation Centre at the University of Liverpool

Could Scousers have the best gut health? - BBC Sounds

A new science hub in Liverpool could be the reason why.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Peter Mulhair @petermulhair.bsky.social · Apr 22

Delighted to have been awarded a BBSRC Fellowship to look at the genetics of how insects have adapted to living in freshwater habitats 🧬🦋🪰🪲🌊

Extremely grateful to all who have supported me over the years and excited to be at Liverpool with some great colleagues!

www.ukri.org/news/9-milli...

£9 million investment fuels groundbreaking bioscience research

From unlocking the secrets of animal movement to tackling antimicrobial resistance, UK’s brightest bioscience minds are pushing the boundaries of innovation.

www.ukri.org

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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · Apr 4

Morning folks - it’s that time PLEASE vote for the bee-fly. They are majestic marvels.

@dipteristsforum.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social @teamdiptera.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social @amentsoc.bsky.social @entcollnet.bsky.social @entsocamerica.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Meet the twerking pollinator with a bum-bag: the dark-edged bee-fly

Bombylius major, the thieving, deceiving, fluffy flying narwhal-like insect, that is a harbinger of spring

www.theguardian.com

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Ramakrishnan Vasudeva @rvasudeva.bsky.social · Mar 27

PAPER ALERT: Inbreeding can be detrimental causing inbreeding depression resulting in lower fitness. Here, we track its consequences on sperm, testes, body, lifespan in a 🪲 doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
#mattgage @jevbio.bsky.social @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social @uniofexeteresi.bsky.social

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Clare Heaviside @climateclare1.bsky.social · Mar 27

We're recruiting a postdoc urban climate & environmental modelling at UCL Institute of Environmental Design and Engineering. You will be part of an established urban climate and health group working on active projects. Looking for someone with regional climate (pref WRF) modelling. Please share!

UCL – University College London

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Mar 7

Masud has nailed it here. "Each of the administrative burdens that we are confronted with on a daily basis might seem small on their own but cumulatively they amount to a ‘mountain of small things’ that is killing academia"

Masud Husain @masudhusain.bsky.social · Mar 6

Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

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Allan Pacey @allanpacey.bsky.social · Mar 5

My comments in @theguardian.com about a new study which suggests that men with higher quality sperm live longer www.theguardian.com/science/2025... courtesy of @iansample.bsky.social

Men with higher-quality sperm live longer, study finds

Research suggests difference in life expectancy between men with highest and lowest quality is nearly three years

www.theguardian.com

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Evolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social · Feb 28

Rethinking the relationship between the sex ratio and sexual selection
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by @gcmcdon.bsky.social, @daniedmunds.bsky.social, @stuartwigby.bsky.social, and @jennyperry.bsky.social

📷: Dani Edmunds

An image of a fruit fly created by collage.

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Grant C. McDonald @gcmcdon.bsky.social · Feb 26

Huge credit to @daniedmunds.bsky.social and everyone else for this work, and Dani's Drosophila Collage!

Collage of a fruit fly credit @daniedmunds.bsky.social

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Grant C. McDonald @gcmcdon.bsky.social · Feb 26

Does the ratio of males to females predictably influence the ability to monopolise mating partners? Is male sexual selection more intense when femaleIs are rare? 🪰

We investigated by manipulating sex ratios in polyandrous fruit flies in our new #OA manuscript published in @evolletters.bsky.social

Image of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) credit: Sanjay Acharya

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Feb 25

Peto's Paradox—that cancer does not increase with body size of mammals—was wrong.
A new, comprehensive study of 263 species documents higher cancer prevalence with increasing body mass. Some large animals (e.g. elephants) have some built-in genetic adaptations
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @pnas.org

No evidence for Peto’s paradox in terrestrial vertebrates | PNAS

Larger, longer-lived species are expected to have a higher cancer prevalence compared to smaller, shorter-lived species owing to the greater number...

www.pnas.org

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Feb 24

Current reading. I rather like it! 🤓

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Amanda Bretman @amandabretman.bsky.social · Feb 20

Oh, this is us! With Tracey Chapman, Emily Fowler and Lucy Friend at UEA we have been trying to work out fine scale egg laying decisions by Drosophila females. Turns out it’s more complex than we thought (again)…🪰🧪

Journal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · Feb 20

Female oviposition decisions are influenced by the microbial environment:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Fowler et al. @emilyrosech.bsky.social @amandabretman.bsky.social

Female oviposition decisions are influenced by the microbial environment

Abstract. In ovipositing animals, egg placement decisions can be key determinants of offspring survival. One oviposition strategy reported across taxa is l

doi.org

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ASAB @asab.org · Feb 11

It’s never been more important to celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 👩‍🔬

Here’s a collection of posts from last year about some of the remarkable historical #WomenInSTEM in the animal field:

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Feb 11

Aye. But still... more chonky bug pics can't hurt!

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Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · Feb 10

Lifetime reproductive success (LRS) is a key metric in evolutionary biology and ecology. But what counts as a success? And whose successes do we count? @sevans.bsky.social doesn't shy away from the big questions in this new paper just out in @journal-evo.bsky.social: academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Counting chicks before they hatch: extending the observed lifetime to better characterize evolutionary processes in the wild

Abstract. Evolutionary theorists have emphasized for over half a century that population sampling must be conducted at the intergenerational boundary if th

academic.oup.com

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Stuart Wigby @stuartwigby.bsky.social · Feb 10

Me too –– they're the best!

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