iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Thomas Parmentier @tparmentier.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

a hidden colony of the shiny guest ant Formicoxenus nitidulus in a deserted red wood ant mound

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Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Looking back on some great days at #IUSSI26 in Freiburg! As my first international IUSSI congress, it was incredibly inspiring to meet and exchange ideas with so many brilliant scientists. Hope to see you all again in South Africa! @uissi-social.bsky.social

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Elia Guariento @eliaguariento.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

On the way home after a wonderful @uissi-social.bsky.social Thanks to all and hopefully see you in 4 years in South Africa @monitant.bsky.social @melvinopolka.bsky.social @euracalpenv.bsky.social

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MonitAnt @monitant.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The IUSSI’s international conference is currently taking place in Freiburg, and the MonitAnt team is having a great time presenting a wealth of interesting data from two years of research! 🐜 @uissi-social.bsky.social #IUSSI26

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Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

During our trip to the Bavarian Forest, we found some really nice nests of Coptoformica exsecta, where I was finally able to try out my new diffuser. It was difficult to get even a single worker in focus, as they were moving so quickly.

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MonitAnt @monitant.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Two weeks ago, we had our MonitAnt workshop with all project partners in the beautiful Bavarian Forest National Park. We even managed a short field trip, where everyone enjoyed being surrounded by wood ants and their myrmecophiles (see picture). 😉

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Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Productive days in České Budějovice with @jiri-tuma.bsky.social and @eliaguariento.bsky.social, focusing on all aspects of camera traps for the MonitAnt project. We even squeezed in a wonderful trip to Šumava National Park. @monitant.bsky.social

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Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

It feels like Christmas has come early. After the @monitant.bsky.social team has been working busily in forests across the continent, samples from all over Europe are now arriving. Time to unwrap some data about red wood ants. 🐜🎁

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MonitAnt @monitant.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Exciting MonitAnt meeting at the Natural History Museum, Brussels. Great discussions on fieldwork and ant ID, plus a rare glimpse of the museum after hours! 🐜🦖

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Thomas Parmentier @tparmentier.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Sampling huge red wood ant mounds in the Belgian Ardennes @monitant.bsky.social

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Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

The first days at the @gfoesoc.bsky.social have already been amazing with a great show on Monday evening. I also had the opportunity to present our first results from the @monitant.bsky.social project on myrmecophilous diversity in wood ant nests. I'm already looking forward to the next few days.

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Look at the size of this wood ant nest! (Or perhaps I'm just smaller than you thought). This is a Northern Hairy Wood Ant nest in the Lake District, sampled by @melvinopolka.bsky.social and me for the @monitant.bsky.social project this year.

Large wood ant nest in a spruce forest, surrounded by bracken. Next to the nest is Professor Elva Robinson. The nest is taller than Elva.

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Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

The last few weeks have been special as I was a guest of @elvarobinson.bsky.social in York for field research. Together with her and Igor Siedlecki, I travelled across the UK, successfully carrying out sampling for the @monitant.bsky.social. I'm excited to see the results of this data.

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Gema Trigos-Peral @trigos-peral.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Great team and great working day! @monitant.bsky.social

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Gema Trigos-Peral @trigos-peral.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

@monitant.bsky.social brings me back to the forest to enjoy these fascinating creatures—the Red Wood Ants! These ants act as natural pest control, serve as host species for many myrmecophiles, and are keystone organisms of forests. Yet, their existence is endangered. Aren’t they worth protecting?! 🐜

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Elia Guariento @eliaguariento.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

An specially scenic wood ant nest location. Discovered while sampling their myrmecophile community 🕷️🪲 along elevation 🏔️ @monitant.bsky.social @euracalpenv.bsky.social

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Melvin Opolka @melvinopolka.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Last week we were out in Hunsrück National Park for some @monitant.bsky.social fieldwork. The area is truly fascinating, with extensive zones affected by bark beetles interspersed with old wood ant nests. Already looking forward to seeing the results, especially from the myrmecophile sampling! 🪲

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Gema Trigos-Peral @trigos-peral.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

It's time to talk about social insects! 🐜🐝 This summer, the Central European section of IUSSI is holding its conferences in Szeged. Registration is already open! More info 👉🏼 ce-iussi-meeting-szeged2025.iussi.de

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Elia Guariento @eliaguariento.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

We installed camera traps to investigate the use of red wood ant nest mounds by 🐦‍⬛🦡🦌🐿️ Many thanks to Alberto Masoni!! @monitant.bsky.social @euracalpenv.bsky.social

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Elva Robinson @elvarobinson.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Did you know about these tiny shiny ants (red arrow) living with wood ants (blue arrow)? They are Shining Guest Ants (Formicoxenus) and we have recently discovered that a wood ant nest can be home to several genetically distinct colonies of these 'guests'! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author... 1/5

A large wood ant, with a dull black gaster and head, and dull brown thorax, is on a pale stone background, and indicated by a blue arrow. Next to it a much smaller ant with a shiny back gaster and shiny brown head and thorax is indicated by a red arrow. The blue arrow at is the wood ant Formica lugubris and the red arrow at is the shining guest ant Formicoxenus nitidulus.

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MonitAnt @monitant.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Over the past four days, the MonitAnt team has been meeting in Germany for a really productive workshop, even with new faces. A lot was discussed and prepared and now we are ready for another successful field season in 2025! Can you guess what we wanted to show in the last picture? 🐜

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Elia Guariento @eliaguariento.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Spring is coming to the Alps 🐜 @monitant.bsky.social

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Elia Guariento @eliaguariento.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Today Alberto visited our lab! Lots of wood 🐜 research planed 💪 @monitant.bsky.social

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MonitAnt @monitant.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

As a first post, we can now announce that we have started our already successful Citizen Science project on INaturalist. 👉http://bit.ly/4i7Uh7w Once joined, every observation can be assigned to this project (even retrospectively). So please share this and map out some ant mounds. 🐜🌳

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