📣 New Preprint, out now on @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social... Resource abundance can buffer trophic mismatch in a caterpillar-passerine food-chain 🌳→🐛→🐦 w/ @kenandlindasmith.bsky.social, @piedflynet.bsky.social et al. Read it here: doi.org/10.32942/X2K... ...or scroll for some highlights 🧵👇 1/4

Thanks to everyone who came along at #BES2025 to chat about my work on phenological synchrony with @kenandlindasmith.bsky.social and @piedflynet.bsky.social Even for specialist species, mismatch may only matter in years where resources are scarce 🐦🐛 If I missed you at the conference, get in touch!

If you're at the @britishecologicalsociety.org #BES2025 in Edinburgh and interested in #phenology, come and find me for a chat about how resource abundance modulates the impacts of the trophic #mismatch. My poster is A17.21 in the Cromdale Hall, and I'll be there from 6pm this evening! 🌳 -> 🐛 -> 🐦

Very pleased to announce that my recent paper in Oecologia "Trophic generalism in the winter moth: a model species for phenological mismatch" won the journal's 2024 Ehleringer Prize for student research! 🏆 You can read more about the paper and the award below 👇 link.springer.com/journal/442/...

If you missed the @linneansociety.bsky.social's annual lecture in #Edinburgh last month, you can watch it now on YouTube! 👇 Hear Mark Blaxter (@sangerinstitute.bsky.social) give an inspiring overview of the Tree of Life Project! 🌳🦋🐒 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cca7...

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Edinburgh last night for our partnership lecture with @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social! Prof Mark Blaxter gave a brilliant talk on how genome sequencing is helping us understand and protect biodiversity. Recording will be posted soon. @sangerinstitute.bsky.social

I was quite impressed and humbled yesterday to give a talk at the @linneansociety.bsky.social, in front of this very portrait and plate!

1/2. In or around #Edinburgh?... 🏰 There's still time to sign up for our annual @linneansociety.bsky.social lecture, hosted by @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social. **Thurs 27th, 6-8pm** Sign up now, for free, in person or online! 👇 tinyurl.com/edin-linnsoc... ... or scroll for more info 🧵👇

Had a great time today presenting a poster about my PhD work 🐛 at the @linneansociety.bsky.social symposium on biological resilience. Some excellent talks in wonderful surroundings - so much food for thought with Darwin looking on - and all topped off with a fishy keynote @trishschulte.bsky.social 🐠

As extinction accelerates, scientists race to decode the DNA of life - unlocking secrets that could help save our planet’s biodiversity. Join Mark Blaxter, leader of the Sanger Institute’s Tree of Life programme, as he explains the genome sequencing of biodiversity. 📆 Nov 27 6pm buff.ly/nq2Gf04

Mammal colouration is typically drab, and iridescence virtually unheard of, except in the most unlikely place: blind, subterranean golden moles. Here, researchers quantitatively confirm iridescence in 14 mammal species: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #JRSocInterface #evolution

“Andrews adds that researchers adapting the task to other species would need to think carefully about what constitutes strong evidence: Dogs, for instance, might consider scent to be a stronger source of evidence than visual cues.” #scicomm www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🐵 🦊

In my **new paper**, out now in Folia Primatologica, I shed light on the nocturnal feeding habits of the Southern Lesser Bushbaby (Galago moholi), documenting observations and experiments made during fieldwork in South Africa. tinyurl.com/bushbaby-diet ...Scroll for more #bushbaby pics 👀👇 🧵 1/8

many thanks to @soerinegerlich.bsky.social for leading this study into phenological limits in Arctic communities. For me this collaboration was a real eye-opener into the potential for species to reach limits to their ability to respond plastically. Who knows what the consequences will be.

Hot on the heels of receiving the @linneansociety.bsky.social's Marsden Medal, very pleased to announce that my PhD thesis also came in as runner up for the @royentsoc.bsky.social's Alfred Russel Wallace Award! 🌿🐛 Thanks to @eastbio.bsky.social and my supervisor @allyphillimore.bsky.social 1/2 👇

Look who turned up in the moth trap this morning... We've been expecting a Jersey Tiger for a while, being located just north of its current range. What stunning moths they are! #mothsmatter #teammoth

3. Hear the fantastic talk from this year's John C. Marsden Medal Winner, @jamiecweir.bsky.social gave us on timing and spring-feeding caterpillars. #insectweek www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7mh...

It was a real delight to go down to Burlington House the other week, to tour the @linneansociety.bsky.social collections and receive this year's John C. Marsden medal, for the best biology PhD thesis in the UK. It was, and remains, a tremendous honour. Interested in my thesis? 👇

Employing one of my lesser-used mugs today! Lord Palmerston not looking impressed by my work... History enthusiasts: any thoughts on who might be the most important British prime minister of the nineteenth century?

Some highlights from the last few warm nights here in the central belt of Scotland... A pair of puss moths, ermines, and several poplar hawks. Poplars sit with hindwings resting *in front* of the forewings, breaking up the classic moth outline and giving them a more ragged, leaf-life appearance 🦋🌿

Although species vary in their #phenological response to #climate change, some food-chains and webs are surprisingly resilient... On the anniversary of my @globalchangebio.bsky.social paper with @allyphillimore.bsky.social, I wanted to revisit some of the key ideas 👇 tinyurl.com/BufferCater 🧵1/6

Birch twigs adorned with colourful feathers are a traditional Swedish Easter decoration, brightening up the dinner table. Illustration by J. Terrier from 'Faune de la Senegambie' by Alphonse Trémeau de Rochebrune, 1883-1884. www.magnoliabox.com/...

It's an incredible honour to be awarded the John C. Marsden medal from the @linneansociety.bsky.social for my PhD research on phenology, moths... and some very hungry caterpillars 🌳🐛 Thanks to all my friends and mentors at @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social, but especially @allyphillimore.bsky.social!

This is Macrocillix maia & he's a moth who mimics bird poo. But he's taken it to the next level, he's also mimicking flies feeding on the bird poo, right down to the shimmer of their wings! I have wanted to see one for so long, but never thought I would! In Trus Madi entomology camp in Borneo. 1/2

Very pleased to be back at the @savebutterflies.bsky.social Scotland spring meeting in Perth, this time talking about my PhD work on #phenology, #ecology, and #trophic #mismatch. As always, the winter #moth will be headlining... (but will be put in its place) 🦋

Look I have zero excuses for this, but the idea popped into my head and now it's in your head, sorry

Excited to report that our collaborative paper laying out the key priorities for entomological research is now among the 10 most-cited publications in #RESInsectConsDiv for 2023. #TopCitedArticle Do have a read 👇 (and keep citing 😉) resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... 1/2 🧵

Was a great pleasure to go through to Glasgow last week and talk to the Paisley Natural History Society about animal camouflage, including some of my own work on moths 🦋🐛 A lovely, friendly society that I would recommend to anyone local interested in nature! paisleynaturalhistorysociety.org.uk

Did you know that on Christmas Day, it is perfectly acceptable to raise a glass and remember the dinosaurs In the "Cosmic Calendar", a way to visualise the entire history of the universe by compressing it into a calendar year, the first dinosaur would appear on December 25th (at approx midday) 1/3

The hazards of being an entomologist You're easily distracted by smaller things 🐜 ...and I had no idea we were being watched 🐘

Absolutely sterling research with fascinating findings 🕷️🦋

The surgeon and explorer John Rae. His openness to learning and utilising the survival techniques of native peoples gave his expeditions unusual resilience. He was able to uncover the fate of the disastrous Franklin Expedition to the NW Passage. Bust in the Old Medical School, #Edinburgh.

Thanks again to everyone who came along last Thursday to hear @sandyheth.bsky.social's excellent talk for the @linneansociety.bsky.social in #Edinburgh, at the Old Medical School. Great to see such a big and enthusiastic turnout! Stay tuned for more Linnean events hosted here in Edinburgh... 📻

Out hunting for winter moths this evening at the evocatively named Brig O'Turk, near Callander. Nearly 14°C with drizzle, dark at 4.15pm. Plenty of males, but didn't spot a single female over a 2hr search.

Checkout this new phenology analysis on Common redstart now out, first publication from Ilaria’s PhD!

🚨 NEW PAPER ALERT! 🚨 What if there’s more to a classic model system than we thought?... 🌳 -> 🐛 -> 🐤 My latest paper, out now in #Oecologia, re-examines the case of the winter moth—an emblematic ecological study species. 👇🧵 1/22 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #phenology #ecology #entomology

However... what is interesting is that the total number of plant species on the planet is reaching saturation ... "we predict that the number of catalogued plant species in distribution databases will saturate at 365,519 ± 2,233 (mean ± SD of the coefficient from the fitted logistic model)" 🌾🌎

🚨There's still time to sign up for tomorrow evening's exciting @linneansociety.bsky.social lecture, based in #Edinburgh 👇 On the #evolution of botanical spirals 🌱, with @sandyheth.bsky.social, from the University of Edinburgh. Free open to all! www.eventbrite.com/e/the-origin...

Herculean efforts by @jamiecweir.bsky.social in rearing 3,600 Winter Moth caterpillars to measure their growth and survival on nine different tree species 🐛🌳🐛🌳🐛🌳 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #teammoth

Jamie Weir has a fascinating paper from his PhD on winter moths just out in Oecologia. In a large feeding experiment he finds that oak is a relatively poor host; a result that makes the large numbers of winter moth we typically find on oak all the harder to explain: link.springer.com/article/10.1...