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Massimo Martini

@entomassi.bsky.social
180 followers 235 following 76 posts

Entomologist | PhD @ Uni Freiburg 🐝 Insect ecology & multitrophic interactions 🌿 Food web dynamics in growing forests 📸 Macrophotography

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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Many bee and wasp species build their nests inside natural #deadwood cavities. But standing and lying deadwood have very different properties, influencing nesting success. 🪵🐝 Moisture limits the diversity of nesting bees, wasps, and parasitoids in lying and standing deadwood doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
Path analysis diagram showing direct and indirect pathways linking ant exclusion and ground contact of deadwood traps to the diversity of cavity-nesting bees, wasps, and their parasitoids.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Happy to have won third place for best poster at #ECTE2026! We studied solitary bees and wasps nesting in standing and lying #deadwood 🪵🐝, all mediated by substrate humidity. Looking forward to getting this study publicly available! @multitroph.bsky.social @dfg.de
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Also at #ECTE2026, you can find my poster showcasing our results from a deadwood manipulation #experiment on secondary saproxylic insects, within a manipulated tree richness gradient 🌳🪵🐝🐜. Room 033. @soctropecol.bsky.social @multitroph.bsky.social
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Excited to present my research at #ECTE2026. If you're interested in how biodiversity-ecosystem functioning #BEF relationships can change over the course of a decade, come to HS5 at 14:30 on Thursday! 🌿🐝🕙 @soctropecol.bsky.social @unipassauresearch.bsky.social @uni-freiburg.de @dfg.de
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Joint conference between @treedi.bsky.social and @multitroph.bsky.social has begun in Leipzig! Good way to start my last year of PhD 🕷🐛🐝🌿
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
It's not only bees. Syrphid flies are also very important pollinators and are so gosh darn cute 😍 Episyrphus balteatus,☝️ for scale
Syrphid fly pointing face first towards camera, big red eyes, perched on my fingerSyrphid fly perched on my finger, lateral view shows abdomen with its orange and black stripes resembling a bee
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
The german+austian+swiss conference of #ecology (gfö) just wrapped up, and I was stoked to present results from a long-term biodiversity study - a huge combined effort involving a decade of insect population monitoring. I also managed to check out some entomological collections in Würzburg! 🐝
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
And that's #labwork also wrapped up! For the next year my PhD will exclusively exclusively involve writing manuscripts... I have mixed feelings about that 😅 This here is just a small part of the insects that we sampled. Some very cool bees and wasps, including potentially new species.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Here is a picture from above, showing the skull on the thorax and the gorgeous wing pattern
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Ever seen a moth do some #pushups? 💪💪💪💪💪💪 This big guy came flying to our light trap! We handled him carefully and let him go shortly later. Here he's showing some defensive mechanism to scare us off. Species: Greater death's head hawkmoth
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
Back in Jiangxi for one last PhD field trip. Couldn't help but immediately set up a light trap to see what's flying. Fingers crossed for some big beetles 🪲
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
A black-striped orchard spider (Leucage celebesiana) waiting on a leaf for insect to fly into its web. Notice the single strand of silk holding the leaf in tension! Like so she'll be able to detect any minute vibration. 📍Dexing, Jiangxi China #macromonday 🕸
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Hopping into #macromonday with this Monkey grasshopper nymph! Wishing all a good week filled with scientific reading and perhaps writing 📚🖋 Eumastacidae sp.
Tiny grasshopper nymph, brown with some lighter coloured bands. Very tiny antennae a long face. Resting on a leaf, surrounded by blurred-out green
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Happy world #bee day!! Today we thank them for their hard work in supporting a key ecosystem function #pollination, and appreciate their beauty 🐝. Here, a Ceratina sp. on a flower in Jiangxi, China. #macro
A tiny bee of the genus Ceratina. Black, mostly hairless, with yellow legs and yellow thin horizontal stripes on the abdomen. Perched on a yellow flower with white petals (similar to a daisy).
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Spring time... to get busy! And these two Tetanocerini wasted no time. Named marsh flies, these insects live next to water bodies, and apparently the larvae are gastropod (slugs & snails) hunters/parasites?! More trophic interactions to study? @multitroph.bsky.social #macromonday
Picture of two flies, approximately 5 mm long, copulating on a leafThe male is standing on top of the female, their abdomens are connected in copulation
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Taxonomists can be brutal... but just like many of the species they describe, they too are endangered: a decline that has been ongoing for decades www.nature.com/articles/43762 op.europa.eu/en/publicati...
An embalmed thorned devil lizard, about 15 cm long, covered in thons as the name suggests, standing next to its scientific name Moloch horridus.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Gave a seminar about long-term bee and wasp temporal dynamics at @nmbern.bsky.social today. Good thing about collaborating with a curator? You get to marvel at the hidden entomology collection 😍😍😍
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Perfectly camouflaged, this two-tailed spider (Hersiliidae sp.) waits patiently for any insect to fall into its trap: a thin coating of silk applied directly on the tree bark. Once it feels a vibration, with lighting fast movements it speeds along the tree to catch its prey. #macromonday #spider
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Rooted in history 🌴. Martino Maggioni from Florence standing proud with Trachycarpus caespitosa - the living #type specimen described in the 1800s by his ancestor Odoardo Beccari, legendary botanist & explorer. Still thriving at the family’s 14th c. home.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Shout-out to this curious jumping #spider I encountered while sampling reeds for cavity-nesting Hymenoptera in #jiangxi China 🐝🕷 Clearly bees and wasps were not the only arthropods attracted by the trap-nests! #macromonday
Tiny jumping spider peering over from behind an old pvc tube with reeds inside for cavity-nesting HymenopteraSmall jumping spider crawling on the underside of an old pvc tube, staring directly into the camera
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Rate my setup 🐝 Spring-time #lab work done and dusted. Time to return home! Round 2 this summer 🐝💪 @multitroph.bsky.social
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Here is the likely host species targeted by the #parasitoid: Anterhynchium flavomarginatum, seen here licking a leaf. Maybe picking up minerals deposited from recent rainfall 🌧🌿
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Here's a closer look at the parasitoid digging into the host's flesh, and the tiny mites attached underneath
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Some drama unfolding in cavity-nesting wasp nests: these Anterhynchium larvae are being attacked by parasitoid wasp larvae! One host also carries tiny symbiotic mites - likely scavengers that clean the nest. Antagonism and mutualism side by side! #macromonday
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Paper wasp #queens will be juuuust starting to found their colonies by now, building their nest out of... you guessed it: paper (chewed up wood fibers mixed with saliva)! Polistes tenebricosus, Jiangxi #macromonday
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
We're finding lots of small (and some bigger) critters as we go along our springtime #fieldwork in Jiangxi China. Some wonderful Trametes fungi growing off deadwood we left in the forest last year! While #predators like Heteropoda (huntsman) and Telamonia (jumping) feast on termites. #macromonday
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Who me? Just hanging around! 🕷🕸 Can't let this #macromonday pass me by without sharing a #spider pic 😉 Parasteatoda sp. last summer in Jiangxi, China.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
We will be assessing biotic and abiotic drivers of wood decomposition, as well as synergy and competition between ants, wood decomposers, and cavity-nesting Hymenoptera.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
One study we are currently conducting in the subtropics with @multitroph.bsky.social involves decomposition rates and #insect communities associated with laying and standing deadwood, including ants, termites, beetles, and #Hymenoptera, along a forest tree richness gradient. 🪵🪲🐜🐝🕷
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Currently back in Jiangxi China, where we study cavity-nesting #Hymenoptera, their parasites and food. Here a Pareumenes quadrispinosus carrying a paralysed caterpillar to its nest, a fresh meal for its voracious brood. 🐛🐝 #macromonday @multitroph.bsky.social
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Here is a closer look at the graphs! I was quite happy with how they turned out.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Just returned from Amsterdam, where I presented my poster at #ECTE2025! 🌿🏝️ It showcases part of my PhD research: 10 years of monitoring cavity-nesting #Hymenoptera in SE China and their multitrophic interactions. Great to share and discuss science! @multitroph.bsky.social
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Jumping spiders are equipped with a pair of huge telescopic eyes that give them some of the best vision among arthropods. They also have impeccable handwriting ✏️ #macromonday This picture was selected as finalist in the "people and nature" category for the #ECTE2025 photo contest.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Happy to have two of my macro pictures of my research selected as finalists in the #ECTE2025 conference photo competition 🐝🐛 Fingers crossed!🤞
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
The european conference of tropical ecology #ECTE2025 is a go! Very excited to connect with lots of amazing scientists and share our latest work at @multitroph.bsky.social. 📍Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
The european conference of tropical #ecology has officially begun! Looking forward to present a poster showcasing my latest research on long-term #multitrophic dynamics! As well as some of my best macro pictures! 🐝🌳 Here are the @multitroph.bsky.social representatives!
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
You know what time it is... #macromonday 🐛🪲🦋🐝🕷 Spilarctia nydia showing off its fluffy personality.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Paper alert! I'm happy to share that my first research paper has been published! 🐝🌸 Road verges can support #pollinators but their potential for preserving representatively diverse and even communities is limited, due in part to high densities of non-native plants. doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Wishing a good #macromonday to the bluesky society 🪲 Sympetrum sp. from Jiangxi China. These guys are commonly called meadowhawks.. how cool is that?!
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Looking #fly for Valentine's day 🪰❣️ Phytomia zonata male getting some #sugar to fuel its search for a mate in the subtropical #forests of 📍Jiangxi, China.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
As part of our work at www.multitroph.com and @uni-freiburg.de, we offer hollow reeds as nesting space to cavity-nesting #Hymenoptera 🐝 to study the effects of #forest tree 🌳 diversity loss on feeding links between hosts and their natural enemies.
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Massimo Martini @entomassi.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
We have new internship and bachelor/master's positions open in the MultiTroph (www.multitroph.com) research team @uni-freiburg.de ! Join us in #subtropical south-east China 🇨🇳 to study cavity-nesting bee and wasp multi-trophic interaction networks in subtropical forests 🐝🌳
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