Our next research seminar explores behavioral and neurochemical evidence of nociceptive integration in a snapping shrimp (Alpheus angulosus), supporting the hypothesis that a shrimp species may experience pain. Join us June 23 with Jesi Gibbs (M.S. in Marine Biology, College of Charleston).

New in @jexpbiol.bsky.social: bumblebees quickly learn to avoid flower colors paired with electric shock or salty water. But the memories don't fade equally—bees hold onto the shock association longer. This suggests they may treat a potentially harmful cue differently from a merely unpleasant one.

Are you a researcher or industry expert with a deep interest in shrimp aquaculture? The Arthropoda Foundation is hiring a Program Officer to scope and commission research that improves conditions for farmed shrimps! Remote, $75,000/year. Learn more and apply: www.arthropoda.org/work-with-us

Calling all insect researchers! 🪲 Our 2026 RFP is open. We're funding empirical work on farmed insect welfare—humane slaughter, stocking density, welfare indicators, husbandry SOPs, and more. Grants up to $10K ($50K for exceptional cases). EOIs due Aug 15 → arthropoda.org/call-for-proposals

"Pain and Suffering in Farmed Animals" provides an accessible introduction welfare issues across a wide range of farmed species—including invertebrates like cephalopods, crustaceans, and insects. It also points to next steps for research and better management. Read it here: bit.ly/40ZJ2qh

The IWRS is hiring! Help us build the infrastructure for invertebrate welfare research—from husbandry databases to educational resources. 🐛📖 Remote Research Scientist position, $55-60K. We will begin reviewing applications on March 15. Learn more and apply here:

Only one week left to submit an EOI to our current call for proposals! We’re excited to fund your projects on #shrimp and #arthropod welfare! 🪲🐜🪳🦐🦗🦂🐝

📅 Deadline reminder: Jan 15, 2026 Calling shrimp & aquaculture researchers! We're seeking proposals to address welfare challenges for Pacific white shrimps & giant tiger prawns in commercial aquaculture. 🦐 Just a few weeks left to apply! Up to $10K–$50K available Apply: bit.ly/3KVCwMR

Insects aren’t ‘little robots’—so scientists are rethinking their welfare: Science chats with an entomologist and an expert in animal ethics who are monitoring how researchers report on the ethical treatment of insects. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Know an amateur entomologist or invertebrate recorder? 🦋 We're offering up to $2,000 to help test and refine biological recording methods using 3Rs approaches. Need 2+ years experience. Deadline: Dec 1. Learn more:

Calling all shrimp and aquaculture researchers! 🦐 We're funding research on Pacific white shrimp & giant tiger prawn welfare in commercial settings—work that could impact billions of animals. Up to $10K ($50K for exceptional projects). EOIs due Jan 15, 2026. Apply: bit.ly/3KVCwMR

Join us Sept 24, 5 PM BST for our seminar with Prof. Kristoffer Whitney (Rochester Institute of Technology): "Blood Money: The history of horseshoe crabs in science and medicine" He will explore historical, political, and ethical issues related to marine invertebrate welfare: bit.ly/3K2acYC

Fantastic talk by @birchlse.bsky.social on ethical review for insect research as part of @royentsoc.bsky.social #Ento25 insect ethics workshop @insectwrs.bsky.social

Thanks to those who joined our webinar featuring Dr. Matilda Gibbons (University of Pennsylvania): "How Can We Measure Sentience in an Insect?" In case you missed it, the video is available on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/HajWZuMto0A

Check out @royentsoc.bsky.social's Welfare & Ethics forum, one of their 20+ Special Interest Groups! 🐛

Fascinating paper by @wolfhuette.bsky.social and colleagues from a few months back. www.cell.com/current-biol...

only 7 days left to submit an EOI to our first call for proposals 😱 If you work on #arthropods 🪲🐜🪳🦐🦗🦂🐝 of any kind and want to study their welfare scientifically, we have 💰for you!

Only 20 days left until Expression of Interest submissions closes! We can't wait to see your proposals!

New on Entomology Today: Many butterfly species often congregate in puddles, rotting organic matter, or other moist surfaces. A new review on "puddling" in butterflies details current knowledge on this nutrient-gathering behavior but also shows how much remains unknown about why they gather.

Happening today!

Wild bees* are great! If you're interested in studying their welfare scientifically, check out our CFP! www.arthropodafoundation.org/call-for-pro... *honeybee welfare projects would also be eligible for funding, although not a priority this funding round.

Here's another example of a topic that might be interesting to study from a welfare angle: how can we manage insect populations in a friendlier way?

As funding and workforce disruption harms U.S. science, the ESA Member Support Fund will pay affected entomologists' membership dues, allowing beneficiaries to maintain access to ESA member benefits and stay connected to the insect science community. buff.ly/mSnq5tP

I'll be posting a few examples of research questions it would be cool to see proposed for our current RFP (www.arthropodafoundation.org/call-for-pro...) to help folks get a sense of our funding interests and priorities.

🤩

Do you know a scientist working with insects with an interest in welfare? Please send them our way! We'd appreciate any effort to boost our reach so we can get lots of cool applications :)

A recent paper argued that bees trade off reward to avoid pain. Jenny Read and I re-analyzed their data and argue that the paper's analysis is flawed. We've written up a constructive critique of the work with some modelling and recommendations. 🧪 Read on: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The NYU Wild Animal Welfare Program is thrilled to be hosting an online talk with Meghan Barrett called "Wild Insect Welfare: Mitigating Harms to the Very, Very Many." The talk will be Wed April 30 at 12:30pm. RSVP below. Please share!

Join the entomological community at @unistrathclyde.bsky.social for #Ento25, with opportunities to present your research in #InsectScience 🦋 Huge discount for RES members so join today, save more when you register before the earlybird deadline: 4 July 🔽 buff.ly/gTnJkvN @uofglasgow.bsky.social

Our first RFP is open! www.arthropodafoundation.org/call-for-pro... Expressions of interest are due by June 15th. Applications in any area of insect welfare are welcome, but see our website for more information on our priorities. Questions welcome -- feel free to email or comment here.

An emotional day - I can announce I'll be the first director of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience at the LSE, supported by a £4m grant from the Jeremy Coller Foundation. Our mission: to develop better policies, laws and ways of caring for animals. (1/2) www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-...

The interview follows a recent perspective in @science.org by @kristinandrews.bsky.social @birchlse.bsky.social & @jeffsebo.bsky.social who discuss what behaviors can be used as evidence of consciousness & what it means if an animal shows only some indicators. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Interested in insect ethics? @royentsoc.bsky.social has a survey out for any UK researchers that use insects in their work: www.royensoc.co.uk/news/res-wel.... #insect #welfare #ethics #entomology #UKscience #research @insectwrs.bsky.social

Watch this space! Our first open funding opportunity will be opening for expressions of interest soon.

Want to keep up to date with our work? Sign up to our mailing list! mailchi.mp/31ec606b26a8...

Our board president (Bob Fischer) recently published an article in @asteriskmag.bsky.social on the topic of invertebrate sentience. Check it out: asteriskmag.com/issues/09/th...

Hello world! 👋 The Arthropoda Foundation funds scientific research on invertebrate welfare. We're happy to be on bluesky!