Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Ah, nevermind. Still interesting/useful to know they are turning up in Kent in places other than caravan parks and motorhome sites so possibly more of them out there than we think... 110
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 06/10/2026If you'd be willing to pop it in the post and send it to us at Niab, East Malling, my colleague Francis Wamonje would be delighted (he's leading a research programme into the spread, biological control options, routes of entry, behaviour, etc.) 120
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 05/10/2026OK, the numbers this year have just been ridiculous but I kind of am excited if that means we get to start seeing some of the fun colour-morphs now. I'm noticing that some of the late-season nymphs look distinctly darker than the summer ones. Is that a known thing associated with vernalisation? 120
Reposted by Sarah ArnoldAlejandro Ordonez @anordonez1.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"🌿 We're hiring at @econovoau.bsky.social! Postdoc position forecasting how land-use change, climate shifts & rewilding will reshape European plant diversity. Biodiversa+ REDESIGN project, Aarhus Uni. 2 years. Closes 1 Nov 2026. 🔗 www.au.dk/om/stillinge... #ecology #postdocau.dkPostdoctoral researcher in biodiversity forecasting, vegetation dynamics and rewilding - Ledig stilling på Aarhus UniversitetLedig stilling ved Institut for Biologi - Økoinformatik og biodiversitet, Aarhus Universitet 01322
Reposted by Sarah ArnoldRobin Hayward 🌳 🏳️⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 25/09/2026We're publishing new guidance to support trans people who do fieldwork (any work outside the office)! Now we need your help to get them seen so please share! inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/trans/ 16656484
Reposted by Sarah ArnoldRobin Hayward 🌳 🏳️⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 25/09/2026If you want a six minute summary of how to support trans+ fieldworkers, then why not check out this video we made (voiced by the incredible @izzyvalkyrie.bsky.social)? 29136
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 20/09/2026They're brilliant, so much personality. What's his favourite treat? Scambus is number 29 since I got my first hamster as a teenager! #Hyperfixation 100
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 20/09/2026He is a real cutie. And one of the most chill hamsters I've ever had - likes pretty much everything (except raspberries) and reliably gets up at about 9pm most evenings. 110
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 20/09/2026I love your hamster posts! This is Scambus, by the way. 140
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The assumption at the moment is that the small hairs on Ceratopogonidae bodies are good for getting clusters of cocoa pollen grains stuck to them, so 1 visit can deposit 50 grains rather than 3, for example. But so much of this is assumed, or demonstrated from a handful of observations. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 17/09/2026They've had quite a year! Our garden went from first sighting ever earlier this summer to one of the proper aggregations of loads of em by September. I understand their favourite food is seeds of mallow-relatives? 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 17/09/2026These tend to be nice, interesting days with a range of speakers on topics around natural history, biological recording, conservation and ecology, relevant to Kent and beyond. Same venue as last year, which worked well. Some free student places available! 020
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Kent Wildlife Conference: 25th October 2026 Uni. of Kent/Darwin Conference Suite £22 (£15 students) incl. refreshments/lunch Theme: biological recording & its importance. @graemelyons.bsky.social speaking on pan-species listing! #KentNature #NaturalHistory www.kentfieldclub.org.uk/programme/up...kentfieldclub.org.ukThe Kent Wildlife Conference - Kent Field Club| KFC 172
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Yes! I know, right? They like leafminer larvae, so they actively seek out mined leaves in trees and presumably drag the larvae out and munch them. (Evidence so far is they will use both some leafmining caterpillars and fly larvae but we are looking into this more.) 140
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 16/09/2026These are some of the pollinators of cocoa from Ghanaian farms! They develop in the slime of rotting cocoa pods & other vegetation! They fly for ~1 week, visit flowers. But they're quite rare visitors to cocoa flowers; other small flies seem to visit more but may be less good at it. #Chocolate 130
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 16/09/2026This dude, looks like a snot bogey on a leaf? That's a larva of a little black-&-yellow fly. The larva wanders snottily around on leaves that have whitefly infestation and & eats whitefly. Was thought to be quite rare in the UK, but how many people go looking for whitefly-eating snot larvae, really? 110
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 16/09/2026OK, here's one: this is Scambus pomorum. It develops inside a weevil, inside apple blossoms. The adult is about 0.5cm long & after emerging has to survive on its own for 10 months, through European summer then winter. So this flimsy thing turns predatory, catching other insects & nomming them! 271
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 16/09/2026So many this year. Absurd numbers. We're still seeing new emergences of first instars all over the shop, and then every subsequent life-stage, all over...various plants. Wondering at what point they start to become economically bothersome in UK food production. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Oh yes, *please* ask me about the insects and crops I work on and let me talk about them, I really love talking about them and also let me explain this absolutely bizarre but wonderful bit of the insect's life cycle because it blew my mind and I can't not share! 171
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 11/09/2026"We don't have enough fundamental ecologists and evolutionary biologists on the teaching team to call it BSc Ecology, but we've drafted in a couple of agricultural IPM types and an environmental scientist to teach a module"? 120
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 10/09/2026And I think parts of mainland Europe were less dry/hot. Netherlands seemed much more verdant when I was there last week, and more hoverflies accordingly! 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Possibly migrating back from places less parched and exposed? Especially have seen an uptick in E. balteatus and Myathropa recently. 100
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 10/09/2026We saw a big crash around us for most of summer. I was actually looking for wild ones for one project, and sometimes 2 or 3 technicians would be out for 2+ hours and see maybe 4 or 5 tops. The numbers have definitely picked up since the temperature dropped and the rain returned though. 100
Reposted by Sarah ArnoldMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026McDonald said. “I’ve long seen grant awarding competitions as essentially a value-destroying activity…There is a trade-off between efficient public spending, research quality and time at the bench.” 131
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026It's worrying how relatable I find Anneke despite them being, you know, a vampire and a priest and me being neither of those things. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026As a wider question: lots of groups are working on more environmentally-sound commercial-scale solutions. There are new codling moth trap designs with better pheromones and things, and new biopesticides being developed. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Pretty common for new fruit varieties to be owned & trademarked, patented or protected in some way, as the person/organisation that bred them needs to get some return on the investment they put into developing them; with apples that's decades of work. Especially clonal crops like apple, strawberry. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Shhh, 'Pink Lady' is a brand rather than a single variety. There are several varieties (Cripps Pink and derivatives) that can be sold as Pink Lady if they meet quality standards. So you may be able to grow a variety behind the name, just can't put the branding on it without approval. 130
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026It can be a struggle as most varieties need a minimum number of days below a certain temperature to form flower buds properly. And no flowers = no fruit! 120
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Exciting discussion of all things Apple-related. Popular topics at the moment seem to be fruit breeding, cider-making, variety preferences, social aspects. Looking forward to more chatter on entomology and integrated pest management obviously! Thoroughly support more #FruitSky 020
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Is cups of tea a thing that has an upper limit of "allowed"? 120
Reposted by Sarah ArnoldSophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 08/09/2026A plant pathologist at Hutton in Dundee, Scotland #scijobs hutton.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/...hutton.current-vacancies.comResearch Scientist – Plant Pathology - DundeeMain Purpose of Job We are seeking a highly motivated researcher with a PhD and expertise in plant pathology to join our group working on epidemiology, disease control and IPM. The focus of the role... 036
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 03/09/2026That's quite a blank cheque to write to them. My brain has just gone into overdrive with numerous other "What if?" scenarios. So many ways that isn't going to work well. For anyone. 020
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 03/09/2026And I *definitely* didn't make that noise in front of one of the posters about it, no absolutely not. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Technology coming through in several countries to detect crop pests and zap them individually with lasers. Sci-fi agriculture/horticulture is here. Rather fun. 130
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 03/09/2026The absolute JOY and EXCITEMENT I feel at Gerben Messelink discussing the potential of my favourite micro-ladybird Scymnus interruptus in greenhouse biocontrol. I might get to hang with this wonderful creature professionally and research it. So awesome. #IOBC-WRPS #BiologicalControl 161
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 02/09/2026May have longed for a microwave on occasion! Need to just pack the travel kettle as standard. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 02/09/2026I'll add one: work out what your reaction to excess caffeine is and consider whether a sugar hit will help more with focus in the next session. Oversweet fruit tea is helping me more than black coffee this week! 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 02/09/2026That works well if you know other people there! I like relaxing with known collabs 000
Reposted by Sarah ArnoldSarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026To other #autistic and otherwise low-social-battery folks in research: what are your top tips for getting the most out of academic conferences without overdoing it? Please drop advice/strategies below! #NeurodivergentInScience #NeurodivergentInSTEM 452
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026That's a really interesting strategy! I'm not sure I could seat-of-the-pants it myself like that but sounds like it could work well in the right situations. 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Definitely easier being at conferences with people you already know! 110
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026+1 for nature breaks (weather-permitting)! Conferences should have these as standard. Found Siphoninus phillyrae and probably larva of Acletoxenus formosus just outside conference venue during afternoon coffee time! 010
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026How do you work out if you have something to discuss with someone before initiating a conversation with them, if they are not in the abstracts book? I do have a list of people I'd like to see but usually only after seeing their talk. Worry I'll miss someone interesting as they speak on last day... 110
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026So even if ideas and tactics are not the specific tips that work for me, if I can gather a stack of them maybe they'll help someone else? Conferences can be fun and really that shouldn't be as socially *costly* as some of them are. 100
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026...but in the last 4-6 years I have noticed my ability to sustain networking is *much* reduced. But intellectually knowing I need to pace myself at conferences is hard to reconcile w/guilt of ducking out a bit early or skipping the odd session to recover, even when I notice the difference it makes. 100
Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026I've been doing academic conferences for 20-odd years, so am totally aware that listening to talks/looking at posters is only about 33% of the purpose of being there, and the rest is largely about networking, meeting people, chatting to people... 120