True! I had not thought through the logic!

But I can pretty much guarantee that most people who work on DNA do not look at it very often! It's a bit *too* small (thin) to be recognised on sight ....

But, on the whole, no-one is talking about them! And certainly not at #Dros26 !

Although it might be better to use an actual picture of #Drosophila when mentioning #Dros26. The fly in that picture is in the family Lauxaniidae .... How many other 1000+ person biology conferences can't recognize their own organism?

The official website for the 11th International Congress of Dipterology (ICDXI) has launched! icd11.biol.pmf.hr

We'd love to see you in Croatia in 2027. 🇭🇷🪰🦟

Cover of the March 2026 issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution. The image is inspired by Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and depicts clonal evolution within our bodies and pathogens that affect our health via different sized circles within the man and images of microbes around the edges. There is a phylogenetic tree representing evolutionary approaches to medicine.

Our March issue is a Focus on "Evolution in medicine", out now! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Including research & opinion on:

➡️Somatic evolution and health
➡️Predicting intrahost evolution
➡️Collateral sensitivity during antibiotic therapy

Cover illustration by Alex Cagan @atjcagan.bsky.social

Predictors of Protein Evolution in the drosophilid Immune System Abstract. The evolutionary dynamics of immune genes are shaped by diverse selective pressures, yet the relative roles of gene-level traits, functional spec

@pankajd.bsky.social & @darrenobbard.bsky.social show that immune genes overall evolve faster at the protein level, but are less prone to copy-number changes than other genes in Drosophila.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag034

#genome #evolution #drosophila

Time-calibrated phylogeny of the family Drosophilidae showing major species groups, surrounded by representative adult flies that highlight the remarkable morphological diversity of this model insect group. The composite image was created using Microsoft PowerPoint. Fly photographs were taken by Darren J. Obbard and are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License with permission.

The #fly community aims to achieve a comprehensive genomic study of the Drosophilidae family. @pankajd.bsky.social @bernardkim.bsky.social @petrovadmitri.bsky.social @darrenobbard.bsky.social present a comparative gene annotation for 301 #Drosophilidae species @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c3pyrI

How does the piRNA pathway solve the self vs. non-self problem? 🧬

Since piRNAs come from single-stranded RNA, how does the cell choose the right ones? For years, "piRNA clusters" were seen as THE privileged source. But are they really special and earmarked for biogenesis? (1/19)

The grownups are cute! (although more true for (e.g.) deer-nose than for rhino!)

Transcriptomic analysis of non-model Drosophilidae reveals novel AMP candidates
#Drosophila

Single-nucleus resolution of sex-biased expression and dosage compensation in Drosophila melanogaster Abstract. In many species, sex-biased expression is widespread and thought to contribute to sexual dimorphism. While bulk RNA-sequencing has been instrumen

I enjoyed this! royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Why have you chosen to illustrate this with a random fly that is quite obviously not a drosophilid?

Cow Tools!

We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them

It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS

Here I describe our study

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social

If you need a little distraction from the world @prakashnarayanan.bsky.social first paper is out investigating the evolution of piRNA clusters in Drosophila simulans! Also with @kerogens101.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

SMBE Undergraduate Travel and Mentoring Award

The Undergraduate Travel and Mentoring Award provides support, advice and networking opportunities for undergraduate students (including Masters students under a 3+2 system) as they navigate their first international conference.

📨 Award applications
smbe2026.org/abstracts

#SMBE2026

Unfortunately I am in a meeting!

I am looking for a postdoc to develop high-performance algorithms in computational genomics. Email or DM me if interested. For more information, see hlilab.github.io/vacancies. RTs appreciated!

Although that is not a flattering picture of @evogytis.bsky.social

Our new 416pp #FliesofBritainandIreland covering over 1300 species & with over 1500 photos is now being printed - due mid Feb 2026. You can still pre-order until 31 Jan bit.ly/4dqQI8Z
@flygirlnhm.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social
@dipteristsforum.bsky.social @georgemcgavin.bsky.social

There is a very simple solution ....

Save the date for phylogenetics!

RNA virus Journal Club returns ( @rdrpsummit.bsky.social ) with @evogytis.bsky.social intro to his "Baltic" - python module to visualise phylogenetic trees.

January 15th (Thu) - EEST Vilnius Time 3:00 PM

Join slack for updates: join.slack.com/t/rdrp-io/sh...

Disheartening to learn that after 18 years, founder Ken-ichi Ueda has left iNaturalist, citing irreconcilable differences in the direction of the company.

kueda.net/blog/2026/01...

He has a Patreon while he figures out his next move: www.patreon.com/cw/kueda

Four days left to apply for two postdocs in social evolution with me and @dustinrubenstein.com

Based at the University of Bristol (UK), conducting fieldwork with wasps in Cameroon, Kenya, and South Africa.

My 1st ever record of an undescribed species of #Tephrochlamys. ID confirmed. Unlike other members of the genus, this species has a pair of presutural dorsocentral bristles. #Diptera #Heleomyzidae #CemeteryWildlifeWatch recording activity on #iRecord.

Persistent viral infection in the Drosophila fat body is associated with immune activation at the single-cell level Background: Viruses are ubiquitous and can spread in two main ways: vertically, which involves transmission through or associated with gametes, and horizontally, which occurs through direct contact, a...

This looks interesting! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

"Nucleotide diversity is a poor predictor of short-term adaptive potential" - I've been waiting for so long to read this paper!

Could be cf. neotestacea? (or a close relative!)

Lauxaniidae

yes, hydei! (confidence depending on where you caught them)