Phil Barden
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haidomyrmex.bsky.social
Phil Barden
@haidomyrmex.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist | ants, sometimes shrimp | fossils, morphology, extinction, eusociality | associate professor at NJIT

bardenlab.org
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I am very glad so many of my science friends are here now. My only fear is that I'll now have to post something more substantial than reposting 70 year old Nancy comics every three months.
Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller
November 12,1954
Reposted by Phil Barden
November 17, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Sun's up in Portland! Talks you might want to check out if you're into fossils, ants, extinction, eusociality, or comparative morphology. I'm giving a talk today as well called "The diversity and longevity of the earliest ants" at 1:40pm in B113. #Entsoc25
November 9, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Phil Barden
Ugh this conference has barely started and the entomologists are already trashing the place
November 9, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Our dept!
Always excited for an increased salary submission! Congrats to the Department of Biological Sciences at New Jersey Institute of Tech for their stipend increase! This union-based win brings the pay almost to the 1:1 line! Update your department and find out more here: rhettrautsaw.app/shiny/Biolog...
September 23, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Press release out today on our new paper detailing the convergent origins of obligate ant and termite eating in mammals!
Mammals Evolved into Ant Eaters 12 Times Since Dinosaur Age, Study Finds
news.njit.edu
July 16, 2025 at 11:04 PM
This is a nationwide layoff for a generation of young scientists: undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs funded on current awards will be unemployed with no explanation. Their future opportunities also erased.
Staff members at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) were told on 30 April to “stop awarding all funding actions until further notice,” according to an email seen by Nature.

https://go.nature.com/44Ugf9V
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
go.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by Phil Barden
Oldest ant fossil ever found reveals history of ‘hell ants’ | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Oldest ant fossil ever found reveals history of ‘hell ants’
Unusual Brazilian specimen trapped in limestone is 113 million years old
www.science.org
April 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Phil Barden
Congratulations to Dr. Chloe Jelley @chloejelley.bsky.social ! Beautiful Ph.D. thesis defense today! #MoreauLab #ProudPI
April 17, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Phil Barden
👀🦋🐝🐞🐜🦗🪲🕷️Ento-Education Job alert!!👀
🚨 Job Alert! 🚨

UF Entomology & Nematology is hiring an Assistant Prof of Informal #Entomology #Education!

🔎 Interested in a faculty position leading innovative, evidence-based engagement outside the classroom?

🪲 Passionate about #insects & #outreach?

🧪 Learn more and apply! bit.ly/uflentojob
April 6, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Phil Barden
We weren't sure it would be possible, but huge thanks to the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America for supporting a last-minute symposium highlighting stories from terminated federal employees at the meeting on March 17th. #entomology 🧪

esa.confex.com/esa/2025eb/m...
Impact of Federal Dismissals and Disruptions on Entomology and Entomologists
esa.confex.com
March 4, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Today in Newark, New Jersey. 60+ scientists out in 25 degree weather to collectively say: hands off our healthcare, research, and jobs. One of 16 nationwide events held today as part of Labor for Higher Education.
February 19, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Phil Barden
Gall midges and their parasitoids are abundant, megadiverse, and very hard to identify! Such "double dark taxa" systems present special challenges for ecology and agriculture. 🧵🧪🐙 @smnstuttgart.bsky.social @marinamoser.bsky.social @krogmann.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/aesa...
Untangling host specialization in a “double dark taxa” system
Abstract. Platygastrine wasps (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) are parasitoids of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). They and their hosts are exceptionally
doi.org
February 12, 2025 at 11:01 PM
My morning to-do list for the indefinite future:

□ Call and send physical mail to a senator/congressperson
□ Email a federal civil servant to thank them
Murkowski says call volume to the Senate is now 40x higher than normal:
February 6, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by Phil Barden
Ant folks, is antweb down? Does anyone know why? Can we help?
January 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Hell yes to this title in a new paper on formicine ant venom. Although I think just the first part is enough: "Acid Reign"

doi.org/10.25849/myr...?
January 15, 2025 at 2:27 PM
In 2025 I will sell five copies of The Three EPs by The Beta Band
January 5, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Phil Barden
104 bugs from 2024
December 29, 2024 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Phil Barden
Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller
December 24,1945
December 24, 2024 at 3:29 PM
Holy cowwwwwwww !
For #Crustmas - a long isopod on the stipe of a kelp that was washed up on the beach and taken into the lab. I believe it is the kelp isopod Pentidotea.
December 19, 2024 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Phil Barden
Coach motel (like a coach beetle)
December 18, 2024 at 10:23 PM
Sluggo rules
December 7, 2024 at 1:09 AM
Reposted by Phil Barden
TAKE YOUR TIME- - -
NANCY’S THE BOSS
AROUND HERE
December 2, 2024 at 2:57 PM
If you stop disassociating just long enough, you can spot the psammophore on one of the ants crawling over the 700 dollar salt shakers in the NY Mag gift guide.

You may find comfort knowing these specialized beard-like hairs have helped seed harvester ants haul stuff for tens of millions of years.
December 2, 2024 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Phil Barden
talked about the Johnston's organ and airspeed sensing in insects in last night's class, so I figured they could have a little aviation entomology as a treat. One of Australia's finest research papers, WASP GO IN PLANE
November 20, 2024 at 4:18 PM