Digital drawing of a pteromalid wasp. The entire wasp uses teal as the base colour with highlights in pure white across the eye, the abdomen, and parts of the thorax, and shadows in pink. The wings are transparent. The word "pteromalidae" is written in handwriting above the thorax of the wasp.
Drew this pteromalid wasp during #Hymathon2024. Always wanted to draw something using teal and light pink - very iridescent, bubblegum, dental hygienist vibes 🩷🩵✨️
Presentation slide showing details of the event: - 24 hours across 4 sessions -176 participants from 36 countries - 45 presentations, 4 key notes, presenters from 14 countries - 43 entries in the art competion - 7 Hymenoptera Showdowns - 3 socials
And that's a wrap on #Hymathon2024! 🐝🐜
First time attending, learned a ton and had a wonderful time - hope to see y'all next year! ❤️
(Thanks to all the amazing organizers @hymenopterists.org.web.brid.gy for running such a wonderful event!)
A nearly head-on view of a point-mounted robber fly, in the genus Holcocephala. It's got big bulging eyes and the sunken vertex, diagnostic for the family, is clearly seen. The wings are dusky, the body is yellow with brown maculation, and the legs are reddish. The background is grey.
Just wrapping up nearly 24 hours of #Hymathon2024 and was blown away by the amazing talks, especially by students!
It's a little bittersweet, as I gave my last report as ISH Treasurer after 14 years in the role.
I'm a bit physically and emotionally fatigued, & looking toward this weekend like:
Congratulations to the student competition winners, and thanks to all of the fantastic speakers! #Hymathon2024
Former @smnstuttgart.bsky.social intern and current doctoral student Ronja Reinisch (University of Hohenheim) uses genomics to understand the evolution of herbivorous lifestyles in Hymenoptera. A great final talk for #Hymathon2024!
Matvey Nikelshparg shares amazing video of the courtship displays of Eupelmus muellneri. I always look forward to his presentations - he's basically the David Attenborough of micro wasps! #Hymathon2024
So many wasps, so little time! Ecaterina (Kate) Pirvu is using AI to accelerate identification of scelionid wasps in biodiversity monitoring samples. @smnstuttgart.bsky.social @kitkarlsruhe.bsky.social #Hymathon2024
Tobias Salden (ZMFK Bonn) studies ceraphonid wasps in biodiversity hotspots worldwide, including the Caucasus mountains! An integrative approach is needed to understand this difficult and abundant "dark taxon". #Hymathon2024
As someone who very vividly remembers getting stung by a mound of fire ants as a kid... ooof! Not good. 😬
One of the world's worst invasive alien species has made it's way to Cyprus and starting to spread... luckily we have researchers working on monitoring & public awareness! 💪
#Hymathon2024
The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, has invaded Cyprus! Jakovos Demetriou (University of Athens) is figuring out how this happened and what we can do about it. #Hymathon2024
Screenshot of a slide from the presentation, showing fossil evidence of the Hymenotera from the Middle to Late Triassic Xyelidae (247.2-208.5 Ma)
Starting off session 4 of #Hymathon2024 with a keynote by Tamara Spasojevic (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) - looking at the evolution dynamics of Darwin wasps and using different approaches to establish more consistent age estimates & phylogenies!
Screenshot of a video conference. Title slide reads "Evolving perspectives in Hymenoptera systematics" accompanied by a graphic representing ants, bees, wasps, and DNA.
Final session of #Hymathon2024 begins with a keynote by Tamara Spasojevic, the new editor-in-chief of the Journal of Hymenoptera Research! @hymenopterists.org.web.brid.gy
@nhmwien.bsky.social
Final session of #Hymathon2024 starting up soon! 🐝🐜
Already voted for the art competition but still deciding between all the wonderful options for the Hymenotera Showdown - so many good points (& fantastic one liners)! 😂
Screenshot of a video conference. Title slide reads "The trouble with parasitoids? Pattern and process in the global evolution of oak gall phenotypes", with a photo of a wasp and an elaborate plant gall.
What can galls teach us about the evolution of diversity? Session 3 wraps up with a keynote lecture by Graham Stone, including plenty of amazingly elaborate gall photos! #Hymathon2024 @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social
Screenshot of a video conference, showing a diagram of how taxonomy is central to understanding ant agriculture, ecology, and behavior.
Halfway through! Jill Oberski @jilloberski.bsky.social kicks off session 3 with exciting new research on phylogenomics and the evolution of social parasitism in the pyramid ants! @sgn.one #Hymathon2024
Honey bee stingers keep pumping venom even after detaching from the body! Fiorella Ramirez Esquivel @fiorella.bsky.social finds out how using high-speed film, SEM, and microCT scanning. #Hymathon2024
Gotta dash, life/work stuff! 🙃
Will pop back in later for more #Hymathon2024 goodness! In the mean time, check out hashtag or Jess Awad @parasitoidrex.bsky.social to follow along!
Also enjoy some wonderful Hymanotera photos/art here!
www.hymenopterists.org/hymathon-art...
Love seeing historical documents & NatSci illustrations being used in current ento. research! 🥰
Neat findings about old records of species which are now extinct in Regensburg (fmr. Ratisbon), Germany!
(Also "Bank robber or Hymenopterist?" needs to be a card game or something! 😂) #Hymathon2024
TIL about Mesocentrus sasquatch, so named because of "it has very large feet, hence 'big foot'!" Apparently it's also really cute!
Anyone got a photo? Google images isn't helping out much. #Hymathon2024
Laura Miller (Drexel University) explores the strange world of egg cell formation in social wasps and bees, with amazing images of the reproductive system throughout its cycle! #Hymathon2024
Robert Zimmermann (University of Regensburg) studies changes in bee diversity in Germany. Fantastic to see these beautiful old illustrations being used for modern research! #Hymathon2024
Ziv Lieberman (UC Davis) presents cutting-edge research in the phylogenetics of the smelly ants. That's not an insult, they are really called odorous ants! #Hymathon2024
The theme of biodiversity discovery continues with Mollie Slater-Baker (University of Adelaide), studying rogadine wasps, parasitoids of caterpillars, in Australia. #Hymathon2024
Did you know that only 0.2% of species on Earth have been described? Kishin Inoue (Kyushu University) discovers the hidden biodiversity of pirenid wasps, parasitoids of gall midges, in Japan. #Hymathon2024
Screenshot of a video conference, describing an integrative approach to bee evolution research, and illustrated by a photo of a man in a time machine.
Session 2 of #Hymathon2024 begins with a keynote by Eduardo Almeida, who studies the evolution of bees in the distant past using lots of cool methods!
Nothing like starting off today morning with some bees & wasps! 🐝
(Context: #Hymathon2024 is happening now! 24 hour virtual marathon of all thing Hymenoptera, let's goooo!)
First science talk since opening this BlueSky account — so here is my inaugural wasp-related post! Online #Hymathon2024 organised by the fabulous International Society of Hymenopterists team 🐝
The first lightning talk of #Hymathon2024 is by Kyushu University master's student Ryoji Kawai, who is doing impressive taxonomic work on the difficult and beautiful Diapriidae!
Iona Cunningham-Eurich @ionace.bsky.social is untangling complex questions in parasitoid-host associations, with a case study from the braconid genus Aleiodes. Reliable rearing data and new analytical tools are crucial for understanding host specialization, coevolution, and biocontrol! #Hymathon2024
A fascinating look into parasitoid evolutionary history with Cristina Vasilita's presentation on ancient wasps in amber! @smnstuttgart.bsky.social #Hymathon2024
