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Reading Entomology

@unirdgento.bsky.social
1.6K followers 71 following 33 posts

News from the entomology lab at University of Reading Biological Sciences, including the MSc by Research Entomology #Entomology

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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Great talk by Reading alumnus (now at @swanseauni.bsky.social) Matthew Sparks on fly vision in urban environments at @royentsoc.bsky.social #Ento26
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
On our way! #Ento26
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Great to see first publication out from last year's MSc by Research Entomology group.
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
New work in #RESInsectConsDiv #CitizenScience data reveals that earlier & shorter flight periods correlate with climate warming in the dark-edged #BeeFly doi.org/10.1111/icad.70114 #Phenology @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social @unirdgento.bsky.social @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
For Reading area folk, the film 'The Little Things That Run The World' is showing at Reading Biscuit Factory next Tuesday, followed by a panel discussion featuring our very own @chrisfoster.bsky.social. Come for the bug pix, stay for the bug chat! www.readingbiscuitfactory.co.uk/movie/ttr-pr...
readingbiscuitfactory.co.uk
TTR presents The Little Things That Run the World + Short Film + Panel Discussion
In collaboration with Transition Town Reading, as part of Reading Climate Festival, RBF presents a special documentary screening of The Little Things That Run the World. The Little Things that Ru...
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Great message just in time for @royentsoc.bsky.social #insectweek! We're delighted to have Phil studying with us and @nhm-london.bsky.social on the MSc by Research in Entomology this year 🪲🪰
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
By uncanny coincidence our 2D colleague Sir David Flattenborough also had a birthday this week, seen here celebrating with our insect collections team. Happy 100th birthday to the real Sir David and thanks for championing insects in series like Life in the Undergrowth!
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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Ok so I’ve seen a lot of pinned insects in my time but I’ve NEVER seen wing rests for mosquitoes The @unirdgento.bsky.social have been charged to give me data about these specimens in the @uniofreading.bsky.social collection because they are FABULOUS @royentsoc.bsky.social @entcollnet.bsky.social
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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
You’d think as an entomologist that I’d hate pitcher plants considering their diet. But there are some mosquitoes that have learnt to live in them - feeding on/breaking down large prey thus providing plant food We had a lovely tour of @uniofreading.bsky.social greenhouse @unirdgento.bsky.social
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
✅ Picture of Rudolph on their wing ✅ DISCOsubmarginal cell ✅ Lay eggs in living bodies of their hosts Ichneumon wasps are ready for the festive party season!
Image shows an annotated wing of an ichneumon wasp scribbled over with the outline of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer's head
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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Just me and a lot of flies waiting for the train this morning. Off to teach on the @unirdgento.bsky.social course Thank goodness for coffee… #lecturing @royentsoc.bsky.social
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Chris Foster @chrisfoster.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Excited to have a ground beetle project @carabidaeuk.bsky.social open for applications in @crocus-dla.bsky.social. Nice mix of analysing long-term data, fieldwork and time at @forestresearchuk.bsky.social, assessing trends in woodland carabids. Please share! blogs.reading.ac.uk/crocus-dla/c...
blogs.reading.ac.uk
CR2026_58 – Crocus DLA
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
MSc field trip this week in the Loddon valley: unseasonal Ashy Mining Bee, Aneurus sp. flat bugs (Aradidae), aggregation of 16-spot Ladybird, rootling in tussocks and soil.
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Last year our field trip to the legendary Wytham Woods was marked by heavy rain. This year it was raining...ladybirds! 🐞☔ Reasonable numbers of 7-spot and 10-spot ladybirds heading for overwintering sites, though both swamped by an extraordinary abundance of Harlequins. @ukladybirds.bsky.social
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
We think this must be the Very Short-winged Conehead, Conocephalus brachyptera, since we can't find any wings at all....thanks Glasgow and all at @royentsoc.bsky.social for a fab few days at #ento25!
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
All smiles on the Reading stand at #Ento25 today. Come see us at lunchtime on the ground floor if you're here! @royentsoc.bsky.social
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Pin it to win it is back at #ento25! Come find us in the ground floor exhibition and test your entomological skills. Prizes for speed, quality and best overall. @royentsoc.bsky.social
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Royal Entomological Society @royentsoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
It's starting soon… 🐜 We hope you are as excited as we are to welcome everyone to #Ento25 - just one day left! While you're waiting, why not find out more about the history of our annual flagship conference? 🔽 buff.ly/HFDlAWa Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! 🐝 @unistrathclyde.bsky.social
buff.ly
Ento - our annual flagship event - Royal Entomological Society
The home of insect science
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
We and our insects are on our way to @royentsoc.bsky.social 25! Team Reading Entomology checking the precious cargo at Euston station. One slight casualty of mad taxi dash across London but nothing a bit of glue can't fix...
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Insects from our 2nd year field course at Slapton Ley last week. Always a rewarding place to spend some time entomologising! IDs in alt text.
Clouded YellowGlow-worm, Lampyris noctilucaGreat Green Bush CricketLarva of Silpha laevigata, a carrion beetle
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
A wonderful week for undergraduate Entomology teaching at Reading whether in the labs or out on campus
Laboratory benches with rows of microscopes, each with an illuminated box of insect specimesPinned specimen of a burying beetle - an orange and black beetle with yellow hairs Students using white sweep nets in a meadow of grass and buttercups with trees beyond
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Dr Jess Stokes @jess-stokes.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
@royentsoc.bsky.social are looking for new committee members to join the Events Committee 🦋 Interested in helping with events like #Ento2025 or #Verrall then consider applying! www.royensoc.co.uk/opportunitie... @hau-entomology.bsky.social @insectwrs.bsky.social @unirdgento.bsky.social
royensoc.co.uk
Events Committee Vacancies 2025 - Royal Entomological Society
The RES is looking to recruit members to join our newly structured Events Committee, working in line with our new Events Strategy. We particularly welcome applicants whose expertise relates to areas o...
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Royal Entomological Society @royentsoc.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
It starts now 🦋 We need your help to support the endangered #LargeBlue butterfly. Starting today, this week only, your contributions will be DOUBLED - Help us raise £10,000 match funded via #BigGive Read more & donate between 22–29 April 🔽 buff.ly/BpXY1hY @gloswildlife.bsky.social #EarthDay
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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 17/04/2025
FULLY-FUNDED residential insect ID and field surveying summer school, organised by @oxfordconted.bsky.social, @morethanadodo.bsky.social and @biology.ox.ac.uk, for PhD students or early career researchers. 📅14-18 July 2025 Apply by 9 May: www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/inse... 🧪 🌍 #academicsky 🐝
conted.ox.ac.uk
Insect Taxonomy and Field Sampling Skills
5-day free course for doctoral students and early career researchers in ecology/entomology, seeking an essential overview of taxonomic theory, insect identification skills, basic field sampling and sp...
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Dr Jess Stokes @jess-stokes.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
⏰LAST CALL! ⏰ The @royentsoc.bsky.social Insect Welfare Survey closes TODAY! If you work with insects in the UK take a moment to fill it out 🐝🦗🐞 www.royensoc.co.uk/news/res-wel... @hau-entomology.bsky.social @unirdgento.bsky.social @lshtm.bsky.social @lstmnews.bsky.social @cvrinfo.bsky.social
royensoc.co.uk
RES Great Welfare Survey 2025 - Royal Entomological Society
Insect Research Practices and Ethics in the UK Share Your Experience on Ethics Applications Are you a researcher working with insects? We need your insights! The Royal Entomological Society is conduct...
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Martin Harvey @kitenet.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Buckinghamshire Invertebrate Group has its 1st ever conference on Sun 27 April, Great Missenden. A great range of talks including Dr Chris Wilson's lecture in memory of Eric Hollowday, rotifer enthusiast extraordinaire & long-time member of BIG. Details & bookings: sites.google.com/site/bucksin...
Flyer for conference:
Bucks Invertebrate Group Conference
Sunday 27 April 2025 from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Great Missenden Memorial Centre, HP16 9AE
A day to celebrate insects and other invertebrates in the county. Including The Eric Hollowday Lecture, to be given by Dr Chris Wilson, on The extraordinary biology of bdelloid rotifers.
Plus talks on dragonflies, moths, spiders, 
bumblebees, flies and much more.

Full details and programme can be found on the Bucks Invertebrate Group website.

Free to attend but please contact us to book your place:
bucksinvertgroup@gmail.com
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
I like big bugs and I cannot lie
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Matt Greenwell @mattgreenwell.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Teaching Lepidoptera ID with @unirdgento.bsky.social today. A chance for me to brush up on my moth skills but mostly a good opportunity to have a look through the amazing pinned collection we have here 🦋
A collection of pinned butterflies from the UK in a glass topped display boxA pulled out drawer display box filled with large, black, white and yellow butterfliesA glass topped display box filled with pinned Hawkmoth specimens
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Chris Foster @chrisfoster.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Alfred Waterhouse - architect for @nhm-london.bsky.social - also designed Foxhill House in Reading as his home. Now part of the University of Reading campus it was a comfortable destination for our @unirdgento.bsky.social data analysis 'away' day this week!
Foxhill House on the University of Reading campus, a large three storey red brick Victorian houseA red plaque fixed to brickwork reading "Alfred Waterhouse, 1830 - 1905, Architect...designed this house and lived here 1868 - 1881"Stained glass window containing representations of a colourful bird and a bat against the night sky with two starsOpen hall of Foxhill House with students relaxing on leather sofas in front of a large fireplace with ornate wood surround.
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Amanda Callaghan @acallazoo.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Palaeontology trilobite practical tomorrow and I’m hoping the students appreciate these wonderful trilobite eyes. #trilobite #palaeontologyatUoR #Colemuseumofzoology @unirdgento.bsky.social @uniofreading.bsky.social
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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Today I lecturing at @unirdgento.bsky.social on flies…but the wonderful @waspwoman.bsky.social is here talking about Wasps and their value We share a common issues of disliked hero’s!
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Gavin Broad @gavinbroad.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
@ionace.bsky.social and I identified and databased 6,600 UK ichneumonoids light-trapped by an amazing crew of moth trappers in 2024. Wonderful dataset. Recent highlights: first Rogas luteus for over 100 years and Enicospilus myricae, haven’t seen since I described it in 2016.
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Matt Greenwell @mattgreenwell.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
A few favourites from home and away for this year's #BlueMonday #BlueBugs campaign 1 Azure Damselfly, UK 2 Wasp (ID tbc) - part of our current insect rearing project in Panama. 📷 credit Marleny Rivera 3 Common Blue, UK 4 Jewel beetle, Panama
A blue damselfly sitting on a finger Close up image of a pinned metallic blue wasp with a large red eye and long ovipositor Common blue butterfly sitting on a plantain seed headA metallic blue jewel beetle with a red stripe across it's back
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
To make a change from all that gaudy metallic blue (joking, keep those coming...) here's a lovely Black-tailed Skimmer. Abdomen the colour of a summer sky seen through hazy upper level cloud #BlueBugs #BlueMonday 🟦🌤️
A Black-tailed Skimmer (dragonfly with green eyes, blue abdomen with a black tip) sitting in sunshine on a reddish rock
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Welcome, what better possible start than an insect collection tour!
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Daniel Maynard @dansmaynard.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
AI-INTERVENE is now accepting applications for 26 PhD projects in AI and Biodiversity findaphd.com/phds/program.... Hosted by UCL and the University of Reading, in partnership with NHM, ZSL, Kew Gardens, and UKCEH. More details at ai-intervene.net #biodiversity #AI #conservation
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
✅ Picture of Rudolph on their wing ✅ DISCOsubmarginal cell ✅ Lay eggs in living bodies of their hosts Ichneumon wasps are ready for the festive party season!
Image shows an annotated wing of an ichneumon wasp scribbled over with the outline of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer's head
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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
The Cole museum, Univeristy of Reading, has the best models! Of course Eurypterids are amazing 🤓
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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Off to taech on the @unirdgento.bsky.social course today (although train has been cancelled..) Got a bag full of flies and books, and stocked up on my stories!
Therevidae - species of fly (has a beard)Inbiomyiidae are a family of flies first described in 2006Bombyliidae - Villa cingulata Books written by Erica McAlister including Metamorphosis, the Secret Life of Flies and the Inside out of Flies
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Dr Beulah Garner @beetlequeen.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Had a great time with @unirdgento.bsky.social discussing the value of museum collections and showing off some very special specimens from the ~4,000,000 specimens we are custodians for. #SmallOrders
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
A treat to be at NHM London with our MSc group today. First, Coleoptera.
A long row of metal cabinets containing beetle specimensMax Barclay of NHM showing some of the Coleoptera collections A tray of large beetlesThe world's largest (Titan) and smallest (feather-winged) beetles
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Reading Entomology @unirdgento.bsky.social · 10/09/2024
Enjoying a spot of beatle collecting on our first evening in Liverpool....excited for #Ento24 today @royentsoc.bsky.social!
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