iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Gold Spot moth in the trap this morning 🦋 🦋💡🦋

Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Arvid Ågren @arvidagren.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Post-graduate studies, graduate studies, or post-graduation studies? E.B. Ford focusing on what matters in the preface to Ecological Genetics (1964, p. xiv)

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

📣 New preprint with @allyphillimore.bsky.social, out now! As climate change shifts seasonal timing across food-webs, we present an experiment testing the impact of phenological mismatch in *48* plant-caterpillar 🌳→🐛 trophic interactions. Read it here: doi.org/10.64898/202... ...or scroll 🧵👇 1/7

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Pithy explanation of how (and why) natural selection works at the genetic level... From @rdawkins.bsky.social in 'The Selfish Gene'.

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Aliens, AI, and WD Hamilton with a paperclip in his hair... Some highlights from a great Thursday evening with @rdawkins.bsky.social and Matt Ridley at Edinburgh's Usher Hall! Half a century from its publication, The Selfish Gene has aged remarkably well for a scientific book...

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

'The Selfish Gene is the culmination of a long scientific revolution that began with Darwin’s own book, On the Origin of Species, more than a century earlier' 📚 My reflections on the 50th anniversary of a scientific classic, in @thefreethinkermag.bsky.social ✍️🧬 freethinker.co.uk/2026/06/crys...

freethinker.co.uk

Crystallising Darwinism: 50 Years of ‘The Selfish Gene’ - The Freethinker

Half a century on, Richard Dawkins’s classic work 'The Selfish Gene' remains an essential explanation of the evolution of life.

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 28/05/2026

📢 REMINDER: IBIS SPECIAL ISSUE Collections-Based Ornithological Research in a Changing World If you use avian natural history collections in your research, then this Special Issue is for you! onlinelibrary.wiley.... ⏰ Submission deadline: 30 June 2026 #ornithology

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

📣 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

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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!

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

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! 🌳 -> 🐛 -> 🐦

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

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/...

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

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...

youtube.com

Busy ‘bout the Tree of Life: genome sequencing of biodiversity

YouTube video by Linnean Society

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

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

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Luis-Miguel Chevin @lmchev.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

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

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

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 🧵👇

eventbrite.co.uk

Busy ‘bout the Tree of Life: genome sequencing of biodiversity

As extinction accelerates, scientists race to decode the DNA of life - unlocking secrets that could help save our planet’s biodiversity.

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

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 🐠

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

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

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 15/11/2025

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

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Sensory Ecology Lab @sensoryecology.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

“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... 🧪 🐵 🦊

science.org

New evidence? No problem. Chimps can weigh conflicting clues, just like humans

Study is first to suggest our closest relatives think about their own thoughts

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

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

G. moholi posing.
Image Credit: Jamie Weir. All rights reserved.

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Ally Phillimore @allyphillimore.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

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.

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

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 👇

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Sarah Lambert @sarahlambert7.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

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

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

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...

youtube.com

Is Timing Everything and How Can Spring-feeding Caterpillars Get it Right? | Jamie Weir

YouTube video by Linnean Society

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

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? 👇

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

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?

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

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 🦋🌿

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

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

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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

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/...

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

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!

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Dr Will Leo Hawkes @willleohawkes.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

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

A photo of a white moth on a green leaf in Borneo who mimics bird poo. Including the flies feeding on the bird poo!

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

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) 🦋

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 20/03/2025

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

A six panel comic. In panel 1, a yellow warbler says "Hey, so I'm going to go out on a limb here". For the next four panels, it hops down along a branch. In the last panel, at the end of the branch, it sings a little song. I'm sorry.

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

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 🧵

resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Grand challenges in entomology: Priorities for action in the coming decades

We present a set of grand challenges for entomology in the 21st Century, identified by members of the UK's Royal Entomological Society (RES), using a participatory prioritisation approach. The 61 pr...

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

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

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

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

colour photo. our Secondary Island illuminated by coloured lights at night. hues of orange and blue play across our Iganodons and Hylaeosaurus. this was taken during an event in the Park called Lightopia, which took place at the end of 2021/start of 2022, and consisted of many illuminated installations along a walking route, ending near the Dinos with fantastic creatures. The Friends had an info area throughout the event, and on one night had a VIP visitor in the form of Colin "Jurassic World" Trevorrow!

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

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

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Absolutely sterling research with fascinating findings 🕷️🦋

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

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.

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

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... 📻

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

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.

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Reposted by Jamie C. Weir

PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

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

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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

🚨 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

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Brian J. Enquist @bjenquist.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

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)" 🌾🌎

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Richard Fox @richardfoxbc.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

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

Rearing container for a few of the 3,600 Winter Moths in the experiment (📷 @jamiecweir.bsky.social)

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Ally Phillimore @allyphillimore.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

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...

link.springer.com

Trophic generalism in the winter moth: a model species for phenological mismatch - Oecologia

Climate change has the potential to disrupt phenological synchrony among interacting species that vary in their phenological sensitivity to temperature. The phenological synchrony observed between win...

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