Fire bees and treehoppers work Together: A newly discovered partnership By Bruno M. Gomes Bruno is a PhD student in Entomology at the University of São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto, with a keen interest in the behavioral ecology and natural history of social insects, partic…

Fire bees and treehoppers: a newly discovered partnership 🌿

In this blog, Bruno Gomes describes the first recorded mutualistic interaction between a fire bee and a treehopper.

insectessociaux.wordpress.com/2026/04/11/f...

#SocialInsects #Entomology #Mutualism #Biodiversity #InsectEcology

New research article! 📰

Parmentier et al. show that a supposedly worker-specific fungus can also spread across Myrmica sexuals, larvae, and nest associates 🧫
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #FungalParasite #Myrmica #Myrmecophiles #HostRange

New research article! 📰

Miller, Cook (phdbee.bsky.social) et al. shows dopamine boosts tolerance between bee mothers and daughters 🐝
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #BiogenicAmines #CarpenterBees #SocialHierarchy #InsectNeurobiology

New short communication! 📰

Florindo et al. (ecomol.bsky.social) shows multiple mating boosts queen productivity in savanna trap-jaw ants 🐜
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Polyandry #ReproductiveSharing #ColonyStructure #QueenFitness

Research article! 📰

Wesener revisits a long-forgotten termite-associated millipede family and describes a new species from Malaysia 🪱
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Termites #Millipedes #Biodiversity #Taxonomy

New research article! 📰

Kosaka reveals the ecology of a nematode that sterilizes queen of 5 hornet species 🪱
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Nematode #HornetParasites #BiologicalControl #InsectEcology

New research article! 📰

Nonacs tracks how Argentine ants spread from a single nest into a multi‑nest network 🧩
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #InvasionBiology #CollectiveForaging #SpatialNetworks #BehaviouralEcology

New short communication! 📄

Gomes et al. document the first observation of O. banana fire bee workers tending treehopper A. reticulatum aggregations on Schinus molle🍯
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #NeotropicalEcology #HoneydewHarvesting #Meliponini

New research article! 📰

Bona et al. synthesised 26 years of work on ants and diaspores, showing how diaspore size and lipid content shape these interactions across a threatened biome 🌱
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #BiodiversityHotspots #Tropics #RestorationPlanning #CommunityEcology

Insectes Sociaux becomes PCI-friendly: what does this mean? The scientific journal Insectes Sociaux has become “PCI-friendly” in partnership with Peer Community In ( — an opportunity to speed up and increase the transparency of peer review, without automati…

New interview! 🎙️

@jmeunierearwig.bsky.social explains the recent partnership between Insectes Sociaux and Peer Community In, which promotes transparency and supports open science. ✍️

insectessociaux.com/2026/03/10/i...

#SocialInsects #OpenScience #PeerReview #Preprints #InsectScience

New research article! 📰

@filipegudin.bsky.social et al. show that flies in wasp nests are better interpreted as carrion‑feeding scavengers on dead brood than as true parasitoids of living larvae 🪰
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #TrophicWebs #NestEcology #Interactions #ForensicEntomology

New research article! 📰

Tschinkel reveals that the tiny ant P. adrianoi lines its multi‑chambered nests with sclerotia from pine ectomycorrhizal fungi, whose sprouting mycelium binds the surrounding sand 🍄
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #SoilEngineering #DesertAdaptations #Behaviour

🐜🔍 Our researchers — Dr. Magdalena Witek, Dr. Gema Trigos‑Peral and Dr. Filip Turza — spent a wonderful morning at Monet International School, where students explored live ant colonies up close. ✨ Curiosity was buzzing everywhere! #Education #ScienceCommunication #Ants #SocialInsects

When are hitchhikers useful and when are they a hinderance? - Insectes Sociaux Insectes Sociaux -

Highlight Article 💫

When are hitchhikers useful and when are they a hinderance? 🍃

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#SocialInsects #LeafCuttingAnts #Entomology #AnimalBehaviour #FungusFarming

The surprising vulnerability of a termite’s secret roomate By Igor Eloi Igor is a PhD student based at the UFRN campus on the brazilian coast. He is fascinated by how social insects, like termites, behave and interact with other species. In this blog, he s…

The surprising vulnerability of a termite’s secret roomate 🪲

In this blog, Igor explores the lives of termite-associated beetles and reveals how forest edges can affect insect societies.

🔗 insectessociaux.com/2026/01/28/t...

#SocialInsects #Biodiversity #InsectEcology #Symbiosis #Entomology

Aleocharinae termitophiles are affected by habitat fragmentation in deciduous dry forests - Insectes Sociaux Landscape modifications, such as habitat fragmentation, significantly impact wildlife, particularly through edge effects (EE) that alter environmental conditions. Social insects like termites are susc...

New research article! 📰

Siqueira-Rocha et al. show, among other things, that termite-loving beetles living in Constrictotermes cyphergaster termite nests are less abundant near forest edges. 🌳
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Crypticdiversity #TropicalForest #Symbiose #LandscapeEcology

Genetic diversity of Estonian honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) revealed by mitochondrial DNA analysis - Insectes Sociaux The honey bee Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 has a worldwide distribution with more than 30 subspecies recognized by morphological and genetic methods. Estonia is within the distribution area of the Eu...

New short communication! 📄

Raime & Pereira sequenced the mitochondrial COI–COII region of 156 honey bees and show that Estonia’s honey bee population is now dominated by commercial subspecies 🐝
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #ApisMellifera #GeneticDiversity #BeeConservation

We organized a workshop on the link between social complexity and invasiveness in arthropods. Lots of interesting discussion. In 2026, we'll review what we've understood and what we've discovered! 🐝🐜🐛
#SocialInsects #Invasiveness #Eusociality #SocialComplexity #Stellenbosch #LifeCycle

Client Challenge

New short communication article! 📄

Teixeira et al. mined Illumina genomes to show that A. octospinosus and its parasite share nine satellite DNA families with lineage-specific amplification–degeneration patterns 📊
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Acromyrmex #Genomics #SocialParasitism

Postdoctoral Research Associate (Fixed Term) Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the Social Fluids Laboratory (https://leboeuflab.com) led by Dr Adria LeBoeuf in the Department of Zoology

The Department of Zoology at Cambridge is a great spot to work, in the center of a bikeable town, full of interesting folks.

Apply now! Deadline is a mere month away Feb 9th. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...

#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging
(4/n)

Postdoctoral Research Associate (Fixed Term) Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the Social Fluids Laboratory (https://leboeuflab.com) led by Dr Adria LeBoeuf in the Department of Zoology

🐜 4-year #postdoc position in the @socialfluids.bsky.social lab @camzoology.bsky.social investigating metabolic cooperation between bodies in a BBSRC-funded project.

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...

#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)

First record of Stylotermitidae (Insecta: Blattodea) from Pakistan: distribution, habitat preference, and molecular characterization - Insectes Sociaux Stylotermitidae, a cryptic family of wood-dwelling termites (Blattodea), contributes significantly to deadwood decomposition in tropical and subtropical forests. Despite their ecological importance, t...

New short communication! 📄

Rahman et al. combining field surveys, morphology, and barcoding to document the first record of the termite family Stylotermitidae in Pakistan 🌳
​🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Termites #Stylotermitidae #DNAbarcoding #ForestBiodiversity #Biogeography

New research article! 📰

Kitade et al. experimentally mixed offspring from R. speratus colonies and showed that simple colony fusion accelerates early colony growth in termites 🌱
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Termites #Fusion #GeneticDiversity #Colony #Reticulitermes #Eusociality

New research article! 📰

Kajiwara and Yamauchi observed O. cremieri wasps hovering near Lasius capitatus ant nests, documenting female pushing competition over ant larvae 🐜
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #EvolutionaryInteractions #Competition #Hybrizontinae #LasiusCapitatus #Parasitoid​

@irbi-tours.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social @cnrsecologie.bsky.social @cnrs.fr @royentsoc.bsky.social @collemyria.bsky.social @insect-science.bsky.social @insectessociaux.bsky.social

#entomology#ants #ecology #evolution #SocialInsects #evobio #globalchange #ECE2026Tours #UniversitéTours

These Ants Kill Their Own Queen Who knew that ants were masters of melodrama? The colonial organisms have long enchanted entomologists and animal behaviorists with their impressive physiological capabilities, unique social structures,...

These Ants Kill Their Own Queen #Science #Biology #Zoology #AntBehavior #SocialInsects #QueenAnts

insectessociaux Commentaries, thoughts and opinions about social insects

New interview with a social insect scientist! 🎙

Stefano Stefano has discovered a hidden layer of complexity in a familiar world... 🐜

insectessociaux.com/2025/11/14/i...

#SocialInsects #Interview #AnimalBehavior #SocialInsects #BehavioralEcology #Plasticity #AntResearch #InsectScience

The sweet link between bee guts and hygiene - Insectes Sociaux Insectes Sociaux -

Highlight Article 💫

The sweet link between bee guts and hygiene 🧫

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#SocialInsects #HoneyBees #Microbiome #BeeHealth #HygienicBehavior #PollinatorResearch

Digging on fast-forward: How heat shapes ant architecture In this blog post, the authors of the Insectes Sociaux article title “High environmental temperatures put nest excavation by ants on fast forward: they dig the same nests, faster” (Rath…

Digging on fast-forward: How heat shapes ant architecture 🏗

In this blog post, the authors talk about their research on the effects of environmental temperature on ant digging activity.

insectessociaux.com/2025/11/03/d...

#SocialInsects #Ants #Temperature #Climate #Warming #Nestbuilding #Ecology

New review article! 📚

Huisken & Rehan review how social network theory and gene networks can be integrated, proposing to link molecular mechanisms with social interactions🧬
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Sociogenomics #BehavioralGenetics #Superorganism #EvolutionaryBiology #Cooperation