iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Jitte @jittebug.nl · 29/09/2026

Deze vliegendoder is wel blij met haar maaltje! (2025) 64x slomo/1920fps with P40Pro+probe lens, upscaled #InsectsInSlomo

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Lochlan W @lochlanw.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

🚨🦋 Thrilled to share my first PhD paper published in PNAS this week, in collaboration with Sören Kannegieser and @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social @insect-vision.bsky.social: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... We found hawkmoths use a convergent visual control strategy for appendage guidance. 👁️🫳 🧵 below.

pnas.org

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

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Anna Stöckl @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Preparations are in full swing, and the excitement is building for our Lepidopteran Satellite Meeting @neuroethology.org #ICN2026 with @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social and Simon Sponberg 🦋🐛

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Mohammed Khallaf @khallaf.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Our new paper is out in @nature.com! We uncovered how a naked mole-rat queen 👑 controls an entire colony: a natural contraceptive scent that suppresses reproduction in other females! A remarkable mammalian parallel to bees and ants! 🐝🐜 @garyrlewin.bsky.social youtu.be/enfv3zJrWKM?...

youtu.be

Naked mole-rats are ruled by a queen: this chemical puts her in power

YouTube video by nature video

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Save the Date! SIP19 will bring the international insect-plant interaction 🌱 🐛 community to @w-u-r.bsky.social, 22 to 26 August 2027: event.wur.nl/sip19/home Keynote Speaker: @nkwhiteman.bsky.social, Christelle Robert, @adsteinbrenner.bsky.social, @sunsicker.bsky.social, @enricfrago.bsky.social

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I am very happy that Lotte van Lingen - Williams started her PhD this week in the Lab of Entomology at Wageningen Plant Research. Lotte is the frist to join our VIDI project on the function and regulation of butterfly taste receptors 🐛 🦋!

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Delighted that our review on taste in butterflies and caterpillars still made it into the special collection of "Neuroethology in Lepidoptera" 🐛 🦋: lnkd.in/epXNNK_z This article, led by Dimitri Peftuloglu, gives a great overview of how these wonderful insects detect plant metabolites 🌱.

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Last week we were looking back at our late summer teaching and the great Ecophysiology course at Wageningen University & Research. It was a great experience observing butterfly behaviour outside with the students and even measuring the neuronal response of the butterfly antenna to plant odours 🦋 🌱

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Still 4 more days to apply 🌱🐛🦋!!!

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eLife @elife.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

By comparing differently tuned glomeruli, this work shows that the brain uses different circuit layouts for specialised vs general smells, offering new insight into how odour meaning is encoded. buff.ly/XDmo4Ue

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Vincent Debat @vincentdebat.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

Nice paper showing a major effect of wing morphology on diptera flight by Camille Le Roy, Florian Muijres and collegues! doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

How did host plant specialization evolve in insect herbivores 🌱🐛🦋? If this is a question that bugs you, we have the perfect PhD-position to offer: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Very excited about our upcoming course "Chemical Communication in the Anthropocene" with wonderful speakers such as Markus Knaden, Meredith C Schuman, James Blande, Jeremie Topin, Niels Verhulst, and Jocelyne Vreede! There are still a few places available 👃 🦋 🌱 🪻.

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Time flies! It is already three weeks ago that Lorenzo Corsico started his PhD on finding novel deterrent plant compounds to protect crops from hungry caterpillars 🌱 🐛! Welcome again Lorenzo, and thanks to all collaborators at InsectSense, Wageningen Plant Research, Bayer Crop Science and Bejo.

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Very happy that Camila Fornaguera joined the lab of Entomology this week! Camila will be looking into the effect of the nectar microbiome on pollinator behavior as part of the @micropresearch.bsky.social team 🐝 🦋 🦠 🌼. Welcome Camila!

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

It is a sign of hope that the populations of common moths' species have been stable in some areas (cities and agricultural land) in the Netherlands 🐛🦋. However, we should be careful not to except these still low numbers as the new normal #mothsmatter!

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

We are looking for a technician to support our sensory ecology lab 🐛🦋🌺! Would you like to help discovering how insects perceive their environment, and do you have a background in insect physiology / neuroscience or chemical ecology? Then please apply here: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/t...

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Anna Stöckl @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Beautiful work by @ronjabigge.bsky.social and Rebecca Grittner is out 🥳 How do the statistics of natural visual scenes and the relevance of these stimuli for the moths' flight safety shape the integration of parallel pathways for flight guidance? ✈️🦋

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Caterpillars use their sense of olfaction to find food and avoid natural enemies🐛🌱: The version of record of our @elife.bsky.social article has been set: doi.org/10.7554/eLif.... The work has been driven by Qi Wang with great support by many coauthors @dickemarcel.bsky.social, @w-u-r.bsky.social

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Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour @cbehav.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Check out the newest episode of our podcast "In the Swarm"! Have you ever wondered how tiny insects navigate the world? In this episode, @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social explains how the tiny but mighty insect brain controls behaviour of stunning complexity. www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/collective-b...

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Sometimes working in entomology is like being in a Sci-Fi movie full of fantastic creatures 👽 👾, like this amazing #hawkmoth caterpillar 🐛!

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

It is world brain day 🧠! Maybe a good opportunity to remind us that we are not the only species with a brain, but that even small animals like insects have sophisticated nervous systems 🪲 🐝 🦋. Here the bain of a caterpillar with its vast network of dopaminergic neurons 🐛:

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

We just had the last lecture in our Insect-Plant interaction course at @w-u-r.bsky.social on the topic of #pollination 🦋🐝🌺🌻. Our #hawkmoth with its 8cm proboscis was the star of the show, but the discussions also very much emphasized our need to save #biodiversity and reduce #pesticides!

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Today the registration for the Postgraduate course Chemical Communication in the Anthropocene has opened! The course will take place from 17-21 November in the Netherlands and offers a great opportunity to dive deeper into the roles of chemicals in biotic interactions: www.pe-rc.nl/Chemical_Com...

pe-rc.nl

Chemical Communication | PE&RC

Postgraduate Course Chemical Communication in the Anthropocene: Concepts and Methods 17 - 21 November 2025 1.5 ECTS Parkhotel de Bosrand, Ede, the Netherlands Scope Anthropogenic changes not only affe...

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Great to see the revised version of our eLife article online, which highlights the importance of olfaction in the life of a caterpillar 🐛 🌱! doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

doi.org

Loss of olfaction reduces caterpillar performance and increases susceptibility to a natural enemy

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

We have an opening for a 4-year PhD position on the influence of the nectar microbiome on pollinator-plant interactions in the Lab of Entomology at @w-u-r.bsky.social and I would be delighted if you could share this with potentially interested candidates: www.wur.nl/nl/vacature/...

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Karen Kloth @karenkloth.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

We are looking for talented #PhD candidates who would like to study insect-plant-microbiome interactions @w-u-r.bsky.social. If you would like to unravel the role of #microbes in #pollination or #plantdefenses against #rootflies and #aphids, please check bit.ly/4jxyHtw bit.ly/4juizJb bit.ly/434JEwI

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Silke Sachse @silkesachse.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Dear colleagues fascinated by olfaction and taste! 👃🏾👅 We are happy to announce that the registration has started for the upcoming ESITO 2025 meeting taking place September 19-24, 2025 in Sardinia, Italy. Please register and submit your abstract here: events.gwdg.de/e/esito2025 Deadline: July 1st!

Beach at Hotel Cormoran in Sardinia, Italy.

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Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology @mpi-ce.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Deadline approaching! If you are interested in doing a PhD in chemical ecology check out the projects and apply here: www.ice.mpg.de/296548/curre... jobs.ice.mpg.de/en/jobpostin...

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Ian W. Keesey @ian-w-keesey.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

✍️🧠🪰 New paper finally out! Neuroecology of alcohol risk and reward. Different neural pathways with opposite valence for the same odor are combined to balance attraction and aversion based on physiological state. Natural history of alcohol and the fly. www.science.org/doi/full/10....

science.org

Neuroecology of alcohol risk and reward: Methanol boosts pheromones and courtship success in Drosophila melanogaster

Flies increase pheromones and mating success with alcohol, but methanol is toxic; thus, the brain must balance risk versus reward.

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Alexander Haverkamp @alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Pollinators deliver one of the most important ecosystem services for free! Yet, one out of five North American pollinators is at risk. Maybe they should start charging us, so we understand how much we owe them 🐝 🦋 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.org

PNAS

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