iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Die FDP hat wieder eine Gelegenheit verpasst, Verwahrlosung zu stoppen. Diesmal hätte ein feuchter Lappen gereicht. Verwahrlosung gestoppt. Sicherheit geschaffen. Eine Energiewende hätte die Verwahrlosung durch fossilen Dreck sogar nachhaltig gestoppt.

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Five years back in Berlin #6: DNA barcodes reveal species, but vouchers let us study them. This means that we have to be able to find and retrieve the right specimens among thousands. Our open workflow keeps vouchers safe, searchable & organized. Preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Five years back in Berlin #5: The neglected elephants of animal diversity: millions of unknown species create a taxonomic bottleneck. Triage option: 1: Target neglected taxa dominating biomonitoring samples 2: Make sure common species are described first tinyurl.com/435dsz9t tinyurl.com/3tb3da7b

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Five years back in Berlin #4c: Too many species, too little time Step 3: 3D imaging. KIT colleagues built 2 tools for us: the Levitator makes dead insects fly; DS-360° images wet specimens from all sides. Levitator www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi... DS-360° ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/doc...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Five years back in Berlin and 10 years of nanopore barcoding for everyone, everywhere. From ~10% read errors to live barcoding on a laptop. Now with additional use of DNA barcodes to turn images into AI training data for small insects. Too many species and too little time. doi.org/10.1111/cla....

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Thanks to my coal-burning, beef-eating friends! We mantids reached Berlin only in the 1990. Warm summers and disused railway lines really helped. Denmark, Sweden, and Lithuania were easy; looking at Norway now. Some species debate climate change. We just follow it. tinyurl.com/ynpjz48d

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Five years back in Berlin #4a: Finding the small and mighty Most species are <5 mm. But small ≠ unimportant: ants outweigh all wild birds + mammals and spiders eat as much prey as humans meat/fish: ~400–800 Mt per /lyear. Meet EntoSieve for size sorting onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Five years back in Berlin #4: Too many species, too little time. ~90% of species remain unknown. So we need methods that scale: robotics, nanopore barcodes & AI. The four DiversityScanners in the video image, measure, classify and sort insects, freeing taxonomists to focus on discovery.

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Five years back in Berlin, and >650 species new to science. From crop-disease vectors to soil predators, CIBD researchers are bringing biology’s “dark matter” into the light—naming species so we can study, monitor and protect them. Explore: lnkd.in/e_uiKJwb

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Global insect diversity may comprise 14–20 million species, with roughly 90% still unnamed. Even in Germany 2/3rd of species detected with metabarcoding cannot be matched to names. CIBD connects DNA, specimens, images to names so that detected biodiversity becomes interpretable knowledge.

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Five years ago this month, after 19 years in Singapore, I moved back to Berlin. The photo shows me with my advisor, Professor Walter Sudhaus, at what is now my workplace: the Museum für Naturkunde, which stood behind the Wall when I studied in West Berlin. Life has a taste for unlikely plots.

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Species descriptions should not be confined to "summary" PDFs only providing access to a fraction of the data underlying the conclusions. We here argue for "digitally native species" built around structured, specimen-linked, machine-actionable evidence from day one. rdcu.be/fcbwh

rdcu.be

Digitally native species are a necessary shift in taxonomic practice

Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Biodiversity science laments how little is known about the planet’s biodiversity, yet routinely discards much of the taxonomic evidence generated during species...

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Reposted by Rudolf Meier

RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

New #OpenAccess work in #RESSystematicEnt reports on automated specimen triage, finding #DeepLearning enables orientation, sex ID & anatomical segmentation from robotic #imaging doi.org/10.1111/syen.70039 #Taxonomy @gkergoat.bsky.social @rudolf-meier.bsky.social @flyliceresearch.bsky.social

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Integrative Systematics @integsyst.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Happy New Fungus Gnats! 🥂🦟🦟 Prof. Dalton Amorim and co-authors name 98 new species of Mycetophilidae from Singapore in a monograph just published in @integsyst.bsky.social The paper can be downloaded for free from the following link: tinyurl.com/342cs43t Enjoy! @rudolf-meier.bsky.social

Neoempheria merlio Amorim & Oliveira sp. n. from Singapore

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Integrative Systematics @integsyst.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

An integrative taxonomic treatment of the Mycetophilidae of Singapore, describing 98 new species of fungus gnat Now also with a brand new cover, featuring Integricypta fergusondavie gen. et sp. nov. Free download: doi.org/10.18476/202... @rudolf-meier.bsky.social @derschwingfliegen.bsky.social

The cover of Vol. 8 (3), featuring an outline of the island of Singapore and the striking, newly-described fungus gnat Integricypta fergusondavie gen. et sp. nov.

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Reposted by Rudolf Meier

Bjoern Rulik @zfmk.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Delegation of @leibnizlib.bsky.social #Bonn visiting @mfnberlin.bsky.social the lab of @rudolf-meier.bsky.social sneaking in rapid #biodiversity methods... 😎

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Halloween News: Meet a new vampire fly (Hippoboscidae) 🧛‍♂🪰 1 of 10 species found on citizen-reported bird carcasses in Singapore: Even dead birds can have productive afterlives! See host records, annotated images, pictorial keys & DNA diagnostics here: doi.org/10.1155/jzs/...

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Reposted by Rudolf Meier

Ales Bucek @alesbucek.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Fresh preprint on how to optimize quality of voucher DNA remaining in insect specimen after barcoding; from @rudolf-meier.bsky.social and our lab. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Rod Page @rdmpage.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

I'm having fun exploring ways to visualise the history of BINs in @boldsystems.bsky.social using #graphviz Below is the history of BOLD:AAH8697 which is a BIN highlighted by @rudolf-meier.bsky.social in doi.org/10.1111/cla..... Columns are time-slices and the coloured boxes are bins.

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

The top 10 flying insect clades rule the skies—but defy the rules. Weak or inverted latitudinal diversity gradients leave biogeographers puzzled. Entomologists? Mildly amused. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

🚫 Farewell to species descriptions with consensus barcodes. ✨ Hello to Diagnostic Molecular Combinations (DMCs) for your taxonomic research ✅ State-specific ✅ Contrastive ✅ Publication-ready Now even easier with the latest UITOTO, our updated user-friendly software; Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

UITOTO for taxonomy. Get your molecular diagnoses right without coding or breaking a sweat! Use state-specific, contrastive DMCs instead of fuzzy consensus barcodes! 🪰🦋🪱🦎🦀🐌🦉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

🚨 EntoSieve is now published in Molecular Ecology Resources: Fast and accurate size-sorting of bulk insect samples! Perfect for boosting DNA megabarcoding & metabarcoding projects. 🧬🔬 DIY low-cost device, gentle on specimens and yet efficient 🦋🐞 here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Species- versus specimen-level congruence between DNA barcodes and morphology. Species-level dominates papers but specimen-level matters more for sample evaluation. Read more in "Illuminating Entomological Dark Matter with DNA Barcodes..." in Ann Rev Ent: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Dark Taxonomy: From unknown to ready for biomonitoring in 5 steps. By describing 120 species, most species of fungus gnats routinely caught in Malaise traps in Singapore now have names. Bees, butterflies and birds, make room for your new friends. Read here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Malaise Trap Polka Dots vs. Biodiversity Smudge: Similar latitudinal data deficiency gradients for DNA barcodes and all data. Read more in "Illuminating Entomological Dark Matter with DNA Barcodes in an Era of Insect Decline, Deep Learning, and Genomics" Ann. Rev. Entomol.: doi.org/10.1146/annu...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

"Illuminating Entomological Dark Matter with DNA Barcodes in an Era of Insect Decline, Deep Learning, and Genomics" Who uses insect DNA barcodes for which taxa? The usual suspects dominate... Now in Annual Review of Entomology: doi.org/10.1146/annu...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Episode 3 (imaging): Don't just sort. Also image, from multiple perspectives! Insect levitation with ultrasound: capturing 360° views to automate measurements and create 3D models. More here: www.techrxiv.org/users/813834...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Episode 3 (imaging): Don't just sort. Also image! No money for a robot? Try the Entomoscope! 🦟🔬 DIY microscope for imaging tiny insects in ethanol: 3D-print case, order parts, assemble, image! 📸Perfect for entomologists www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEoZ... ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/104...

youtube.com

DIY Photomicroscope

YouTube video by Integrative Biodiversity Discovery

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Episode 3 (imaging): Don't just sort. Also image! Meet “DiversityScanner”, the robot that images, measures, identifies, and moves specimens into microplates; a good companion of “MinION barcodes by everyone, for everyone (see episode 2). tinyurl.com/mwx5k5s7 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

tinyurl.com

DiversityScanner: Robotic discovery of small invertebrates with machine learning methods

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

More on Episode 2 (sorting triage): 🧬Express barcoding: How to barcode 250 specimens in 6 hrs with equipment that fits on a lab bench. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fwd... onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

youtube.com

How We Barcoded 250 Flies in 6 Hours

YouTube video by Integrative Biodiversity Discovery

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Episode 2 (sorting triage): From bulk samples to putative species without going bankrupt: cheap MinION barcodes obtained with user-friendly software ONTbarcoder. Now also in real-time: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/1 www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFl8...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

ONTbarcoder 2.0: rapid species discovery and identification with real‐time barcoding facilitated by Oxford Nanopore R10.4

Most arthropod species are undescribed and hidden in specimen-rich samples that are difficult to sort to species using morphological characters. For such samples, sorting to putative species with DNA...

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Episode 1 (taxon triage): Identify the biggest knowledge gaps (in insects): Same 20 insect families contribute >50% of species and specimens in Malaise samples; regardless of continent, climate, or habitat. Most are neglected dark taxa. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUMa... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

youtube.com

Top 20 most dominant flying insect families

YouTube video by Integrative Biodiversity Discovery

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Rudolf Meier @rudolf-meier.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Switching from X to Bluesky: Good opportunity to review my 3 years in Berlin at the Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery: We fight taxon neglect in biodiversity research through scientific discovery, a giant exercise in triaging given how little we know. scholar.google.com/citations?hl...

scholar.google.com

Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery

‪Museum für Naturkunde‬ - ‪‪Cited by 5,039‬‬

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