Hovering battles at the ant nest: the remarkable behavior of a rare ant parasitoid wasp By Satsuki Kajiwara Satsuki is a PhD student in the Entomology Laboratory at Kyushu University, Japan, where she studies ant-associated parasitoid wasps. In this blog post, she shares her discovery…

Hovering battles at the ant nest: the remarkable behavior of a rare ant parasitoid wasp ⚔️

In this blog, Satsuki shares her discovery of fights between female wasps competing for access to ant larvae.

insectessociaux.com/2025/12/27/h...

#InsectesSociaux #Entomology #ParasitoidWasps #AnimalBehavior

Insect architects: How termites, ants, and bees build without blueprints by Paige Caine Paige Caine is a PhD student in Dr. Michael Goodisman’s lab at Georgia Tech. She study fire ants and yellowjackets wasps. In this blog, she explains how social insects, such as…

Want to learn about social #insect nests? Can't (or don't want to) read our giant review? Lead author Paige Caine wrote a blog post for #InsectesSociaux summing up the broad strokes of our synthesis and conclusions looking at #termite #wasp #bee and #ant nests!
insectessociaux.com/2025/09/27/i...

insectessociaux Commentaries, thoughts and opinions about social insects

What makes a queen successful? 👑

In this blog, @jaimesnino.bsky.social explores how queen age and fertility might shape the future of the colony in Cardiocondyla obscurior ants.

insectessociaux.com/2025/05/20/w...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #AntQueens #Aging #Fertility #Colony

New research article! 📰

@jaimesnino.bsky.social & Oettler discovered that ant queens show no heritability in fertility/lifespan, but reveal surprising anti-aging mechanisms ⏳
🔗https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-025-01032-2

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Genetics #EvolutionaryBiology #Heritability

New short communication! 📄

Kanwar et al. revealed contrasting social structures in Dorymyrmex ants: D. smithi shows supercolonial traits, while D. bureni exhibits strong nest-specific aggression. ⚔

🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Behavior #SocialParasitism #Entomology

What does a stingless bee eat? By Elyrice Alim Elyrice, a researcher specialising in stingless bees in Malaysia, shares her observations on their diet, their favourite plants and the secrets of their unique honey. Read her lates…

What does a stingless bee eat? 🌺

In this blog, Elyrice, a researcher specialising in stingless bees, shares the secrets of the unique stingless bee's honey.

insectessociaux.com/2025/04/14/w...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Meliponiculture #TropicalHoney #Pollinators #BiodiversityResearch

New review article! 📚

Yek & Alim reviewed stingless bee foraging studies in the Indo-Malayan region, revealing that bees primarily forage on Fabaceae and commercial species dominate. 🌸
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Meliponiculture #ForagingEcology #Conservation #Pollen

New research article! 📰

Gatty et al. studied stingless bees across urban, semiurban, and agroforestry areas. They found that urban colonies foraged less, laid fewer eggs, and ultimately died 🐝
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #StinglessBees #UrbanEcology #Pollinators

New research article! 📰

Molero-Baltanás et al. compiled the first global checklist of nidicolous silverfish, revealing over 200 species linked to ants and termites 📋
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Silverfish #Entomology #Myrmecophily #Termitophily #InsectDiversity

Ant engineers: how team transport inspires tomorrow’s robotics By Carmen Gil-Hoed In this blog, Carmen, a biology student at the Autonomous University of Madrid, describes how ants team up to carry food that’s too big for one ant alone. She reveals how t…

Ant engineers: how team transport inspires tomorrow’s robotics📦

In this blog, Carmen Gil Hoed describes how ants team up to carry food that’s too big for one ant alone.

insectessociaux.com/2025/03/20/a...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Ants #Teamwork #ScienceCommunication #CrazyYellowAnts

New research article! 📰

Gil-Hoed et al. discovered that A. gracilipes ants adjust cooperative transport, with larger groups enhancing efficiency📦
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #CooperativeTransport #AntBehavior #InvasiveSpecies #Foraging #Group #Footprints #Ymaze

New research article! 📰

Tola et al. found that bees exhibiting hygienic behavior have higher abundances of some bacterial species, suggesting a link between gut microbiota and social immunity. 🦠
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #GutMicrobiome #SocialImmunity #HoneyBee

New short communication! 📄

Robinson et al. (@bug-biologist.bsky.social) found that this beetle reduce movement in response to disturbance stridulation, suggesting it functions as a social warning signal 🔊

🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Communication #SocialBehavior

New short communication! 📄

Rutschmann et al. used digital weight scales to monitor colony swarming, allowing to measured the natural timing and frequency of swarming.

🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Melifera #Honeybees #Weightscale #Demography #Beesbehavior #Swarming

How does a caterpillar use its tentacles to get the attention of ants? By Amalia Ceballos-González In this blog, Amalia from the University of São Paulo tells the story of how she and her colleagues studied a strange functional behaviour in a myrmecophilous riodinid c…

How does a caterpillar use its tentacles to get the attention of ants? 🐛

In this blog, Amalia Ceballos-González explains a strange functional behaviour in a myrmecophilous riodinid caterpillar.

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Caterpillar #Ants #Interactions

insectessociaux.com/2025/03/03/h...

New research article! 📰

Ceballos-González et al. revealed that S. calyce caterpillars use tentacle nectary organs to sustain ant attendance, highlighting how these structures mediate mutualistic interactions 🐛
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #Socialinsects #Myrmecophily #Caterpillar

New research article! 📰

Mikát et al. discovered that C. teunisseni bees exhibit facultative sociality, with social nests peaking late in the season. 🐝
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #BeeBehavior #Ceratina #FacultativeSociality #Eusociality #Nest #Xylocopinae #Apidae

New research article! 📰

Jardim et al. studied personality in H. striatula ants, finding low repeatability in behaviors and no evidence of behavioral syndromes. 🐜
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #AnimalPersonality #Ants #BehavioralScience #Eusociality #Behaviouralsyndrome

New research article! 📰

Seidenath et al. exposed bumblebees to diesel exhaust particles, finding delayed takeoff times but no impact on homing or foraging. 🏭
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Pollinators #AirPollution #InsectDecline #Ecotoxicology #Particulatematter

New research article! 📰

Pérez-Lachaud & Lachaud reveal P. gouldi ants in Mexico/Costa Rica attacked by parasitoids (wasp & fly), shedding light on ant-parasitoid dynamics and hidden biodiversity. 🔬
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #AntParasites #NeotropicalEcology #Ants

New research article! 📰

Morooka et al. found larger body sizes in colder regions but no clear support for the hypothesis that king displacement causes sex ratio bias. ❄
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Termite #SexRatio #BodySize #ClimateAdaptation #InsectEcology #Alate

New research article! 📰

@bambiraptorf.bsky.social, @dieterhochuli.bsky.social (@sydneyuni.bsky.social) et al. showed that bumblebees' foraging choices are influenced more by social cues than by the presence of empty flowers. 🌸
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Foraging

New research article! 📰

Regon et al. found that C. dactyliperda females leaving their natal nest develop more eggs and show distinct gene expression 🪲
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Dispersal #GeneExpression #PhysiologicalAdaptation #BehavioralEcology #Barkbeetle #Social

New research article! 📰

Kwapich @pogonokwap.bsky.social et al. revealed that H. dorsalis larvae parasitize P. badius colonies by intercepting insect prey meant for ant larvae🪲
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Kleptoparasitism #InsectBehavior #Myrmecology #BeetleLarvae #ants

Interview with a social insect scientist: Tom Ratz Tom Ratz is a researcher at the University of Zurich, studying social interactions in arthropods like Drosophila and beetles. One of his most surprising discoveries came during his PhD while observ…

New interview with a social insect scientist! 🎙

Tom Ratz has a passion for collecting beetles, which led him to make some surprising discoveries... 🪲
insectessociaux.com/2024/12/20/i...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #SocialInteractions #ArthropodBehavior #DrosophilaResearch #BuryingBeetles

New research article! 📰

Lindstedt et al. showed that their larvae use collective chemical defense against predators, offering a model to study how cooperation evolves 🐛
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Cooperation #Evolution #EnvironmentalScience #PineSawfly

New reasearch article! 📰

Rahman & @sarahbengston.bsky.social found that under stress, "fast" colonies had more robust workers in T. rugatulus, challenging traditional Pace-of-Life Syndrome predictions. 🐜
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #BehavioralEcology #AntResearch

New short communication! 📄

Oxman et al. observed these isopods following Messor ant trails, likely for resource access or obstacle-free paths, with minimal ant aggression. 🐾
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #Isopods #AntTrails #Myrmecophiles #AnimalBehavior #UrbanEcology

Very happy to see this paper published in #InsectesSociaux!

This study is a continuation of a story we published two years ago 😉 with @marioncordonnier.bsky.social

1/2

New short communication!📄

Satizabal‑Niemeyer, @abelbernadou.bsky.social et al. showed that urban structures are poor substitutes for natural habitats and unlikely to maintain gene flow 🌆
doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#InsectesSociaux #SocialInsects #AntResearch #UrbanEcology #Nest #Fragmentation