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Dominic Stalder

@triommatidium.bsky.social

PhD student in the Vorburger-Lab @ Eawag / ETHZ evolutionary ecology | host-microbe interactions | defensive symbiosis | aphids | Williamhamiltonella defendens 🦠

Posts Replies Media

Dominic Stalder @triommatidium.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Two pupae of the same species, the Old World swallowtail (Papilio machaon). Environmental cues during the last larval instar determine their colour, presumably helping them blend into their surroundings.

Side view of a brown / grey pupa of the Old World swallowtail (Papilio machaon).

Side view of a green / yellow pupa of the Old World swallowtail (Papilio machaon).

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Dominic Stalder @triommatidium.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Here, two empty pupal chambers left by male Xenos vesparum can be seen. The males have hatched and dispersed in search of females that remain inside their host wasps.

Close-up of the abdomen of a paper wasp (Polistes sp.) showing two empty pupal chambers between the abdominal segments, where male Xenos vesparum had developed.

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Dominic Stalder @triommatidium.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

A closer look at the abdomen of another wasp, harbouring two Xenos vesparum.

Close-up of the abdomen of a paper wasp (Polistes sp.) with two twisted-wing parasites (Xenos vesparum) protruding between the abdominal segments.

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Dominic Stalder @triommatidium.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Paper wasp (Polistes sp.) infected by a twisted-wing parasite (Xenos vesparum). The parasite is visible, partially protruding between the abdominal segments.

Side view of a paper wasp (Polistes sp.) with a twisted-wing parasite (Xenos vesparum) partially protruding between the abdominal segments.

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Dominic Stalder @triommatidium.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Some nymphs of Pemphigus spyrothecae defend their colony by attacking intruders entering the pseudo-galls on poplar in which they live. One of the few European aphids with something resembling a caste system. Here, a male Lysiphlebus fabarum is being wrestled by one of these "soldiers". [4× speed]

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Dominic Stalder @triommatidium.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Larva of a mite (probably Allothrombium sp.) "hugging" its host, Aphis fabae cirsiiacanthoidis, while feeding on its hemolymph.

Ventral view of an aphid (Aphis fabae cirsiiacanthoidis) with a larval mite (probably Allothrombium sp.) attached to its underside.

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Dominic Stalder @triommatidium.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Larva of a parasitoid wasp (Lysiphlebus fabarum) about to spin its cocoon inside the hollowed-out remains of its aphid host (Aphis fabae), eventually forming the characteristic "mummy". [16× speed]

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