Out in MEC!
New study led by @dariashipilina.bsky.social links resource limitation as a driver of migration in the painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui). The authors show how resource cues reshape gene expression across development.
Read more: buff.ly/dogof9L
📷: Daria Shipilina
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Unveiling - Home

Our friends at the University of Florence have been looking into the aesthetic appeal of European butterflies and does this bias the species we choose to protect. You can help their research by completing a simple online survey. Many thanks in advance www.unveiling.eu?fbclid=IwZXh...

“Revolutionary Tracking Study Follows Monarch Butterflies From Canada to Mexico” A map of eastern North America, showing the tracked paths of many different monarch butterflies as they fly down towards Mexico.

Discover the incredible full story of Project Monarch, a collaborative project by @celltracktech.bsky.social, Cape May Point Arts & Science Center, and 20+ partners including Xerces!
🦋 xerces.org/press/revolu...

📡 Hear from the CTT team in coverage by @nytimes.com ➡️ www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...

Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show Documents tabled in parliament show NSW agency took four years to publish report and told miners it would be put online ‘quietly’ but EPA says it was released to community earlier

The NSW environment watchdog sat on a report for four years linking elevated levels of lead in children’s blood to current mining, and promised mining companies they would not do any “finger-pointing”, new documents tabled in state parliament show www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The #MountainPygmyPossum was first known only through the fossil record: some skull & jaw bones were found in 1895. Scientists believed the species must be extinct until 1966 when a living mountain pygmy possum was found. That’s a pretty secretive life!

Ctr for Biodiv Genomics (Guelph) is hiring 10 entomologists (mostly post-docs) to help improve identifications on barcoded material: 2-yr appts, salary range CAD $62,500-$70,000. graduatestudies.uoguelph.ca/postdoctoral...
See posting for specific taxonomic gps preferred.

Bogong moths use stars and the Milky Way to make epic migration In Australia, millions of newly hatched Bogong moths embark on an impressive journey twice a year. Each spring, they hatch from eggs in their breeding grounds in Australia’s southeast and fly up to…

In Australia, millions of newly hatched Bogong moths embark on an impressive journey twice a year.

A new study has found that the moths, with no parents to guide them, rely on bright stars and the Milky Way visible in the night sky to aid their migrations.

A professional job announcement flyer from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln advertising the position of Assistant Professor in Insect Systematics. The flyer is divided into sections detailing the job description, required qualifications, and responsibilities, including research, teaching, service, and collaboration. The layout uses red and grey colors, includes a university logo, and prominently features a vibrant photo of an orange and black butterfly resting on a plant. A QR code is present for easy access to application details.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln is hiring an Assistant Professor specializing in insect systematics. Opportunities like this are rare and valuable! (Not many jobs like this out there!) Spread the word to anyone who might be interested or benefit.
#entomology #science #sciencejobs #bugsky 🧪

Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night Nature - Every spring, Bogong moths use the starry night sky as a compass to navigate up to 1,000 km towards their alpine migratory goal.

Check out this very exciting research! Bogong moths use a stellar compass to navigate

rdcu.be/esl5o

🚨 New Paper 🚨
Coauthors and I just published our work in PLOS One on Canadian graduate funding. We found that Canadian graduate funding falls _well_ below cost of living.
On average, $10kCAD below cost of living.

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

1/6) New paper out in Molecular Ecology! We uncover the intriguing biogeographic history behind the Holarctic disjunct distributions in Vanessa butterflies. @phylomigrationlab.bsky.social
#biogeography #insectmigration #butterflymigration #butterflies #evolution
shorturl.at/UFrrU

East or West? Different populations of Red-necked Phalaropes use distinct migration routes A study using geolocators uncovered a migratory divide in this wader species.

Your daily Avian Hybrids story!

East or West? Different populations of Red-necked Phalaropes use distinct migration routes
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2019/05/15/e...

#ornithology

The winner takes it all: a single genotype of Kalanchoe ×houghtonii is a global invader

🌱🌎 Join us to learn about the newly published paper ‘The winner takes it all: a single genotype of Kalanchoe ×houghtonii is a global invader’ in @annbot.bsky.social by @joanperepd.bsky.social and co-authors. 🧵(1/7)

👉 doi.org/pjvs

@sphaeromeria.bsky.social @ibb-botanic.bsky.social
#AoBpapers

Chasing butterflies around the globe changed this photographer's worldview | CBC Radio Lucas Foglia spent nearly four years traversing 17 countries, capturing images of painted lady butterflies, and the people and places that intersect with their epic migrations.

www.cbc.ca/radio/asitha...

This Butterfly’s Epic Migration Is Written into Its Chemistry Painted ladies travel the globe every year on massive journeys—including across the Sahara

Check out this lovely article featuring some of our research! 👩‍🔬🦋🗺️

www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

please add me =)

Wonderful opportunity to get some expert training! 👩‍🔬

NEW PAPER: looking into the erosion of southern mountain caribou migrations. Over 35 years, migration distances shrank 15-25%, and elevational migrations are collapsing. Habitat loss, not weather, likely the main culprit. A major conservation challenge ahead.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Check out our most recent publication in PNAS Nexus! 🦋👩‍🔬

An ensemble machine learning bioavailable strontium isoscape for Eastern Canada Bioavailable strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) distribution across the landscape mainly follow the underlying lithology, making 87Sr/86Sr baseline maps (isoscapes) powerful tools for provenance stu...

Who loves isoscapes?? We do! 🎉🗺️
www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/...

a group of minions are standing in a room with their mouths open and one of them is saying hooray ! ALT: a group of minions are standing in a room with their mouths open and one of them is saying hooray !

On a more personal note, this paper is the final chapter of my thesis to be published. I’m super happy to have all four chapters out within a year of defending! #PhDone

Thank you again to my wonderful coauthors without whom this project would have been impossible: Daria Shipilina, Venkat Talla, Farid Bahleman, Khadim Kébé, Johanna Berger, Niclas Backström, Gerard Talavera, and Clément Bataille

a butterfly is sitting on a flower in a field . ALT: a butterfly is sitting on a flower in a field .

So why do some painted ladies migrate across the Sahara while others don’t? Only future studies will be able to tell us for sure, but for now, we hypothesize that migration distance in painted ladies is a plastic response to environmental conditions, such as photoperiod

Geometric morphometric analysis, accomplished by Johanna Berger and I, ultimately showing that the differences in migration distance could not be explained by wing size, wing shape, sex, or wing wear score

We performed whole-genome resequencing on our painted ladies. My co-lead author, Daria Shipilina, led the genomic analysis, with input from Venkat Talla, Niclas Backström, Gerard Talavera, and me. We found no genetic differentiation or population structure associated with migration distance

Trans-Saharan migratory patterns in Vanessa cardui and evidence for a southward leapfrog migration Chemistry; Nature conservation; Ecology; Entomology

6. Read more about the trans-Saharan migratory patterns of the painted lady in our related study published in iScience last month www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

By applying hydrogen and strontium isotope geolocation, Clement Bataille and I confirmed distinct differences in migration distance – butterflies flew either long distances to sub-Saharan Africa – one over 4,000 km! - or short distances to the Mediterranean

First, Farid Bahleman and Khadim Kébé collected painted ladies south of the Sahara in the autumn. At the same time, Gerard Talavera and I collected painted ladies from the circum-Mediterranean region

During the autumnal migration, some painted ladies migrate to the Mediterranean region, while others migrate across the Sahara to sub-Saharan Africa. Our question was, why do some painted ladies dare to cross the Sahara while others do not? Is the difference in behaviour genetically determined?

Every year, painted lady butterflies migrate between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa over a migratory cycle composed of 8 – 10 generations of butterflies. However, isotopes, pollen, monitoring data, and ecological niche modelling were all pointing to an interesting observation…