Buck Trible
@bucktrible.bsky.social
The evolution of ants from a mechanistic perspective 🐜🧬. I mostly retweet bugs.
John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellow | Principal Investigator | He/him
triblelab.fas.harvard.edu
John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellow | Principal Investigator | He/him
triblelab.fas.harvard.edu
Pinned
Buck Trible
@bucktrible.bsky.social
· Jul 23
Static allometries of caste-associated traits vary with genotype but not environment in the clonal raider ant | PNAS
Polyphenic traits in animals often exhibit nonlinear scaling with body size. Static
allometries (i.e., scaling relationships) themselves can exhibi...
tinyurl.com
tinyurl.com/4twykhnx, tinyurl.com/2f72a6we
Piekarski: “"If some environmental factor affects caste, it will affect size too,” “…As far as we can tell, no matter which environmental variable you manipulate, the [genetically encoded] relationship between ant body size and caste remains unchanged"
Piekarski: “"If some environmental factor affects caste, it will affect size too,” “…As far as we can tell, no matter which environmental variable you manipulate, the [genetically encoded] relationship between ant body size and caste remains unchanged"
Holy cow, it’s spectacular
Orange tip, Anthocharis cardamines. Five years after I found the butterfly, I was finally able to photograph the caterpillar and the pupa 🎉
August 12, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Holy cow, it’s spectacular
Reposted by Buck Trible
These are definitely Hymenopterans, don't worry about it
August 5, 2025 at 12:20 AM
These are definitely Hymenopterans, don't worry about it
tinyurl.com/4twykhnx, tinyurl.com/2f72a6we
Piekarski: “"If some environmental factor affects caste, it will affect size too,” “…As far as we can tell, no matter which environmental variable you manipulate, the [genetically encoded] relationship between ant body size and caste remains unchanged"
Piekarski: “"If some environmental factor affects caste, it will affect size too,” “…As far as we can tell, no matter which environmental variable you manipulate, the [genetically encoded] relationship between ant body size and caste remains unchanged"
Static allometries of caste-associated traits vary with genotype but not environment in the clonal raider ant | PNAS
Polyphenic traits in animals often exhibit nonlinear scaling with body size. Static
allometries (i.e., scaling relationships) themselves can exhibi...
tinyurl.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
tinyurl.com/4twykhnx, tinyurl.com/2f72a6we
Piekarski: “"If some environmental factor affects caste, it will affect size too,” “…As far as we can tell, no matter which environmental variable you manipulate, the [genetically encoded] relationship between ant body size and caste remains unchanged"
Piekarski: “"If some environmental factor affects caste, it will affect size too,” “…As far as we can tell, no matter which environmental variable you manipulate, the [genetically encoded] relationship between ant body size and caste remains unchanged"
Reposted by Buck Trible
Handy tip from an 18th century medical guidebook – always remember to prepare your medicinal woodlice in the same manner as your bees
June 5, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Handy tip from an 18th century medical guidebook – always remember to prepare your medicinal woodlice in the same manner as your bees
Reposted by Buck Trible
Correct. What comes for Harvard will come to others. There is not enough space nor $ to absorb students, postdocs, faculty, & labs. What happens when the administration attacks its next target? Protecting the project of American science & its benefits requires individual and collective action - now.
I appreciate the offers from other scientists to help Harvard (students, labs, etc) through this attack, but what would be most helpful is for you to use your position to contact your elected representatives and make it clear this fight isn't just Harvard, it will affect you, and their districts too
May 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Correct. What comes for Harvard will come to others. There is not enough space nor $ to absorb students, postdocs, faculty, & labs. What happens when the administration attacks its next target? Protecting the project of American science & its benefits requires individual and collective action - now.
Don't post often but it feels important to add another example: my NIH grant (sole source for 3 people's salaries) was canceled due to a concern about Harvard undergraduates that has absolutely nothing to do with us or our important genetics research. We'll squeak through, but I'm PISSED.
May 21, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Don't post often but it feels important to add another example: my NIH grant (sole source for 3 people's salaries) was canceled due to a concern about Harvard undergraduates that has absolutely nothing to do with us or our important genetics research. We'll squeak through, but I'm PISSED.
jfc seriously what the heck
What an awful headline. I think it's important to say this now, since it seems to be a trend right now.
IMMIGRATION AND BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS ARE NOT COMPARABLE PHENOMENONS.
Stop it.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
IMMIGRATION AND BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS ARE NOT COMPARABLE PHENOMENONS.
Stop it.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Immigration’s a hot topic – and it applies to non-native plants, animals and insects, all over the world | Tim Blackburn
Biodiversity is great in theory, but there are reasons to fend off invasive alien species and the knock-on effect of their presence, says professor of invasion biology Tim Blackburn
www.theguardian.com
March 11, 2025 at 1:41 AM
jfc seriously what the heck
Reposted by Buck Trible
Charles Darwin the barnacle taxonomist, a story in two parts
February 13, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Charles Darwin the barnacle taxonomist, a story in two parts
Reposted by Buck Trible
Feel like I spent more time writing my DEI statement than some orgs have spent defending their DEI programs
February 5, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Feel like I spent more time writing my DEI statement than some orgs have spent defending their DEI programs
Really fun conversation with Michael Levin (Tufts) today. Michael invited me to discuss ant castes for his YouTube channel after I reached out to ask his thoughts about hourglasses & intelligent behavior in development = ). Lots to learn fsho...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Ob...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Ob...
Conversation with Buck Trible on his work on static allometry of ant castes and emergent cognition
YouTube video by Michael Levin's Academic Content
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Really fun conversation with Michael Levin (Tufts) today. Michael invited me to discuss ant castes for his YouTube channel after I reached out to ask his thoughts about hourglasses & intelligent behavior in development = ). Lots to learn fsho...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Ob...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Ob...
Reposted by Buck Trible
(me watching burglars break all the windows and climb into my house)
“Just give it time. They might cut their hand on the glass.”
“Just give it time. They might cut their hand on the glass.”
Chuck Schumer’s advice for Democrats staring at a long two or more years out of power: Just wait.
“Trump will screw up,” he tells Semafor in an interview.
“Trump will screw up,” he tells Semafor in an interview.
‘Trump will screw up’: Schumer plots the Democratic comeback
The Senate minority leader talked to Semafor about his approach to the president’s polarizing uses of executive power.
www.semafor.com
February 3, 2025 at 4:50 PM
(me watching burglars break all the windows and climb into my house)
“Just give it time. They might cut their hand on the glass.”
“Just give it time. They might cut their hand on the glass.”
Reposted by Buck Trible
New paper by PhD advisee Alex Waugh, et al. academic.oup.com/jeb/article-... "Our study highlights the utility of profiling genes with plasticity-associated expression to gain insight into potential assimilation by inversion polymorphisms."
Molecular underpinnings of plasticity and supergene-mediated polymorphism in fire ant queens
Abstract. Characterizing molecular underpinnings of plastic traits and balanced polymorphisms represent 2 important goals of evolutionary biology. Fire ant
academic.oup.com
January 23, 2025 at 8:54 PM
New paper by PhD advisee Alex Waugh, et al. academic.oup.com/jeb/article-... "Our study highlights the utility of profiling genes with plasticity-associated expression to gain insight into potential assimilation by inversion polymorphisms."
Reposted by Buck Trible
If you are one of those interesting people who like sausage-like ants, you are in for a treat: we just published in @zookeys.pensoft.net a taxonomic update for Afrotropical Zasphinctus describing 5 new species! You read that right FIVE!
Happy 2025 for you as well
zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1312...
Happy 2025 for you as well
zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1312...
January 7, 2025 at 3:29 PM
If you are one of those interesting people who like sausage-like ants, you are in for a treat: we just published in @zookeys.pensoft.net a taxonomic update for Afrotropical Zasphinctus describing 5 new species! You read that right FIVE!
Happy 2025 for you as well
zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1312...
Happy 2025 for you as well
zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1312...
Reposted by Buck Trible
⭐ 2024 Top Finds/Pics ⭐
I mean, do I even need to explain why? 😂
.
.
.
This is a male stalk-eyed #fly from Costa Rica. Females lack the hammerhead while males "compare sizes" for a chance to mate. Evolution is magical 🪄
#Ulidiidae: #Plagiocephalus
Collected by @flyliceresearch.bsky.social
I mean, do I even need to explain why? 😂
.
.
.
This is a male stalk-eyed #fly from Costa Rica. Females lack the hammerhead while males "compare sizes" for a chance to mate. Evolution is magical 🪄
#Ulidiidae: #Plagiocephalus
Collected by @flyliceresearch.bsky.social
December 26, 2024 at 11:30 PM
⭐ 2024 Top Finds/Pics ⭐
I mean, do I even need to explain why? 😂
.
.
.
This is a male stalk-eyed #fly from Costa Rica. Females lack the hammerhead while males "compare sizes" for a chance to mate. Evolution is magical 🪄
#Ulidiidae: #Plagiocephalus
Collected by @flyliceresearch.bsky.social
I mean, do I even need to explain why? 😂
.
.
.
This is a male stalk-eyed #fly from Costa Rica. Females lack the hammerhead while males "compare sizes" for a chance to mate. Evolution is magical 🪄
#Ulidiidae: #Plagiocephalus
Collected by @flyliceresearch.bsky.social
Ugh I love these, they’re the BEST
A tiny tiger with teeth on the back end 👀
Happened to come home from work today to find this Conura wasp on my personal car, roaming like she just emerged. Been a long time since I saw a Leg Day Bae at home!
#InverteFest
Happened to come home from work today to find this Conura wasp on my personal car, roaming like she just emerged. Been a long time since I saw a Leg Day Bae at home!
#InverteFest
December 27, 2024 at 2:12 AM
Ugh I love these, they’re the BEST