huge thanks to co-supervisor Greta Bocedi, examiners Hollie Marshall and Marius Wenzel, and School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen for great support over the years

First member of the FABLab to fledge the nest! huge congrats Dr Litlekalsoy 🎉 exciting findings on behavioural ecology and brain transcriptomics of the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis will soon be shared 🐞🧠🧬

Really exciting to see this paper out! Using AI to improve the detection of busy bumblebees visiting cherry flowers 🐝🌸🍒 great collaboration between U of Aberdeen and James Hutton Institute 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

(B) PER conditioning assays. (1) Initial feed and water desensitisation. Harnessed bees given 3–5 μl 30% (w/w) sucrose; antennae touched with water. (2) Acclimatisation. 1 h in darkness (lab cabinet), 22–25°C, 35–40% relative humidity. (3) Conditioning. Five citral presentations (5 μl 95% v/v on filter paper in 20 ml syringe) each reinforced with 30% sucrose. (4) Filter. Discard bees showing PER to first odour presentation or no PER to sucrose. (5) Memory tests. Three trials same day+three trials next day. Group assignment: Good Learners=PER in all six tests; Poor Learners=no PER in any test. (6) Storage. Freezing at −80°C for later molecular work.

Simon Loughran, @fmanfredini.bsky.social & co explore how natural deformed wing virus infections and cognitive ability shape brain gene expression in honey bee foragers. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#Transcriptomics #HoneyBees

📣📣 2-year postdoc position available in my group at the University of Milan (Italy). We are looking for a biologist/entomologist with molecular skills as part of the Horizon ProPollSoil project… | Fab... 📣📣 2-year postdoc position available in my group at the University of Milan (Italy). We are looking for a biologist/entomologist with molecular skills as part of the Horizon ProPollSoil project https:...

www.linkedin.com/posts/fabio-...

Great representation of the FABLab in Edinburgh #BES2025 with two excellent posters, both involving charismatic bees and Scottish machair. On display tonight in the Lennox Suite - go find @tegangaetano.bsky.social if you’re interested.

So priviledged to be part of this excellent group of scientists with multidisciplinary skills, from soil science to pollinators ecology! Exciting findings are waiting ahead 🤩 Defens Unimi School of… |... So priviledged to be part of this excellent group of scientists with multidisciplinary skills, from soil science to pollinators ecology! Exciting findings are waiting ahead 🤩 Defens Unimi School of Bi...

www.linkedin.com/posts/fabio-...

We are delighted that our Winter Meeting 2025 in Leuven 🇧🇪 is approaching!

Abstract submissions now open: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings

Date: December 18-19
Abstract deadline: October 15
Host: Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution at KU Leuven
Plenary: Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social

Incredibly thrilled to be able to present some of the FABLab research at the Italian meeting of the IUSSI in Bologna! Honeybee 🦠🦠🦠 and nutrtional ecology of 🐝🐝🐝 Thank you to the organisers for the invite, and thanks to members of the FABLab for the great data 😄🙏

I am truly excited to be part of this amazing paper just published in Biological Reviews! | Fabio Manfredini I am truly excited to be part of this amazing paper just published in Biological Reviews! We reviewed the knowledge on pollination ecology in the Andes and suggest new avenues for research. Great effo...

www.linkedin.com/posts/fabio-...

Finally we found them! Great yellow bumblebee in Barra 🐝🏝️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 the gorgeous weather surely helped! Wonderful to share the excitement with @tegangaetano.bsky.social and @jyourstone.bsky.social

Barra 🏝️ Day #1 with @tegangaetano.bsky.social Waiting for the weather to improve 😬 Can’t wait to catch up tomorrow with @jyourstone.bsky.social for the project Hebribees!

Ready to set for a nice week of field work in the Hebrides! | Fabio Manfredini Ready to set for a nice week of field work in the Hebrides! Spotted some cool pollinators already with my travel companion Tegan Gaetano Next stop 🏝️Barra. See you soon Johanna Yourstone

www.linkedin.com/posts/fabio-...

Huge congratulations Dr Linguadoca! And congrats to the supervisors too 🥳

How do bumble bees play? - Science Journal for Kids and Teens Researchers wanted to find out whether bumble bees take part in object play. Scientific article for students.

www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how...

Unravelling termite evolution with 47 high-resolution genome assemblies Termites are a lineage of social cockroaches abundant in tropical ecosystems where they are key decomposers of organic matter from wood to soil. Despite their ecological significance, only a handful o...

A trove of new termite genomes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #biodiversity #genomics

So much looking forward to this new project on the impact of beekeeping on wild bees in the Hebrides. Exciting project led by the amazing @jyourstone.bsky.social greatly summarised in the poster below #BumblebeeWorkingGroup2025

Exciting day with all UK bee lovers at the Bumblebee Working Group - 1st time ever for me! Enjoyed a brilliant presentation by @tegangaetano.bsky.social on bees liking salty treats - up to a certain point! 🐝🧂🌸

Evolutionary implications of a deep-time perspective on insect pollination – a new review just published When we think of pollination, we often picture bees buzzing around flowers or butterflies flitting from bloom to bloom. This relationship between plants and pollinators is one of the most well-know…

In a review led by Spanish researchers David Peris and Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, we explored why a deep time perspective on insect pollination is relevant to our current understanding of plant-pollinator relationships. Read more here:
jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/03/12/e...
#pollinators #biodiversity

Interested in Neuroethology? Then, join us at the 1-day Meeting of the French Club of Neuroethology, in the beautiful city of Montpellier, on May 13th. NO FEES REQUIRED. Just register and submit your abstract in: www.zebrain.bio.ens.psl.eu/neuroetholog... .
And enjoy our guest speakers!

Spent the year doing what we love the most and won’t stop in 2025! We’ll be busy prepping to host #ISBE2026 in Turin and getting started with an exciting #FIS funded project on thermal reproduction of field crickets. Watch out - phd and postdoc positions opening soon!

Figure from a paper - legend: Figure 2. Measuring changes in insect biodiversity can be achieved by focusing on drivers that directly or indirectly impact insect biodiversity metrics and trends (left). Where data on insect populations specifically are unavailable, data from other species and ecological processes can provide inferential support for changes in insect biodiversity (right).

Our new paper led by @manusaunders.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... takes stock of the evidence-base for global insect declines 🦋🐝🪳🪰🦗 and how uncertainty is being leveraged by science denialists to undermine efforts to reverse biodiversity loss 🌍🧪.