Tom Wenseleers
@twenseleers.bsky.social
Professor @KULeuven - evolutionary biology, theoretical biology & biostatistics (#Rstats). Social insects & microorganisms. Social evolution, self organisation, chemical ecology, statistical machine learning. https://bio.kuleuven.be/eeb/tw/research
Pinned
Tom Wenseleers
@twenseleers.bsky.social
· Nov 24
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Now that the Epstein files are apparently also bringing up the old Nowak inclusive fitness controversy - here a fun challenge: show me how to derive our recent eusociality model www.researchgate.net/publication/... using inclusive fitness methodology! A crate of Belgian beer awaits those who can!
(PDF) Early-season helping yields increasing returns to scale at the onset of eusociality
PDF | The evolution of eusociality, characterized by cooperative brood care, reproductive division of labor, and overlapping generations, represents a... | Find, read and cite all the research you nee...
www.researchgate.net
February 12, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Now that the Epstein files are apparently also bringing up the old Nowak inclusive fitness controversy - here a fun challenge: show me how to derive our recent eusociality model www.researchgate.net/publication/... using inclusive fitness methodology! A crate of Belgian beer awaits those who can!
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
A super handy database to help support academic society journals and other ethical publishing. academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology
Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R
academic.oup.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:53 AM
A super handy database to help support academic society journals and other ethical publishing. academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Where is AI showing up in the productivity data? - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
Where is AI showing up in the productivity data?
Signs of its effects are already starting to peek through
giftarticle.ft.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:57 AM
Where is AI showing up in the productivity data? - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
From the Epstein Files, the stated goals of Nowak's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics: "curing the world of cancer, infectious disease, selfishness, and inclusive fitness theory." www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
February 8, 2026 at 2:39 AM
From the Epstein Files, the stated goals of Nowak's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics: "curing the world of cancer, infectious disease, selfishness, and inclusive fitness theory." www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
OpenAI just released Prism, prism.openai.com, an Overleaf replacement to collaboratively edit Latex documents. Any ChatGPT subscriber can use it & freely invite as many collaborators as you like. Below it typeset a ChatGPT generated paper for me. With inbuilt Zotero integration!
January 29, 2026 at 8:49 AM
OpenAI just released Prism, prism.openai.com, an Overleaf replacement to collaboratively edit Latex documents. Any ChatGPT subscriber can use it & freely invite as many collaborators as you like. Below it typeset a ChatGPT generated paper for me. With inbuilt Zotero integration!
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Merry Christmas to you all! As a nerdy Christmas card I had Google Gemini Canvas code a Christmas-themed Galton board, to entertain my stats students (it is 1000 lines of JavaScript code)! :-) gemini.google.com/share/15f33a...
December 22, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Merry Christmas to you all! As a nerdy Christmas card I had Google Gemini Canvas code a Christmas-themed Galton board, to entertain my stats students (it is 1000 lines of JavaScript code)! :-) gemini.google.com/share/15f33a...
Merry Christmas to you all! As a nerdy Christmas card I had Google Gemini Canvas code a Christmas-themed Galton board, to entertain my stats students (it is 1000 lines of JavaScript code)! :-) gemini.google.com/share/15f33a...
December 22, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Merry Christmas to you all! As a nerdy Christmas card I had Google Gemini Canvas code a Christmas-themed Galton board, to entertain my stats students (it is 1000 lines of JavaScript code)! :-) gemini.google.com/share/15f33a...
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
A young PI here in Mainz has a fabulous PhD position that will be filled soon! By you? Keywords: Social insects, ageing, gene expression. www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb10-evoluti...
Behavioural Ecology and Social Evolution
www.blogs.uni-mainz.de
October 29, 2025 at 8:36 AM
A young PI here in Mainz has a fabulous PhD position that will be filled soon! By you? Keywords: Social insects, ageing, gene expression. www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb10-evoluti...
The @iussi-nwes.bsky.social that we organised this week in Leuven (18-19 December, www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings) was a success! @rmash.bsky.social and @patrick-kennedy.bsky.social delivered fantastic keynote talks and there was a great set of contributed talks and posters.
December 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
The @iussi-nwes.bsky.social that we organised this week in Leuven (18-19 December, www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings) was a success! @rmash.bsky.social and @patrick-kennedy.bsky.social delivered fantastic keynote talks and there was a great set of contributed talks and posters.
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
🚨 Tenure-track professorship at Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany, with a focus on evolutionary ecology of social hymenoptera 🐝🐜
Initially for 6 years:
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/pr...
Initially for 6 years:
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/pr...
Goethe University Frankfurt hiring Professur (W1 mit Tenure Track) für Evolutionäre Ökologie der Hymenopteren in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany | LinkedIn
Posted 11:13:19 PM. Die Professur wird zunächst auf sechs Jahre befristet besetzt, nach erfolgreicher Evaluation…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
www.linkedin.com
December 20, 2025 at 4:43 PM
🚨 Tenure-track professorship at Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany, with a focus on evolutionary ecology of social hymenoptera 🐝🐜
Initially for 6 years:
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/pr...
Initially for 6 years:
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/pr...
Talk I gave about our recent Evolution Letters paper, in which we quantified the benefits of helping at the origin of eusociality using a combination of experiment & theory, at the @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting in Leuven this week! Powerpoint here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4w3hw...
December 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Talk I gave about our recent Evolution Letters paper, in which we quantified the benefits of helping at the origin of eusociality using a combination of experiment & theory, at the @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting in Leuven this week! Powerpoint here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4w3hw...
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
POSTDOC ALERT🚨
Two exciting social evolution postdoc positions live today!
We're looking for two excellent field biologists. Join us to explore the evolution of sociality in wasps across Africa. Apply by 11th January.
Collaboration with
@dustinrubenstein.com
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
Two exciting social evolution postdoc positions live today!
We're looking for two excellent field biologists. Join us to explore the evolution of sociality in wasps across Africa. Apply by 11th January.
Collaboration with
@dustinrubenstein.com
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
December 12, 2025 at 8:58 PM
POSTDOC ALERT🚨
Two exciting social evolution postdoc positions live today!
We're looking for two excellent field biologists. Join us to explore the evolution of sociality in wasps across Africa. Apply by 11th January.
Collaboration with
@dustinrubenstein.com
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
Two exciting social evolution postdoc positions live today!
We're looking for two excellent field biologists. Join us to explore the evolution of sociality in wasps across Africa. Apply by 11th January.
Collaboration with
@dustinrubenstein.com
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
@patrick-kennedy.bsky.social talks about so many fun social evolution dramas at @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting #wasplove
December 19, 2025 at 8:35 AM
@patrick-kennedy.bsky.social talks about so many fun social evolution dramas at @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting #wasplove
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
@rmash.bsky.social from @ucl.ac.uk opening @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting in Leuven! #CareAsACapacitor
December 18, 2025 at 8:21 AM
@rmash.bsky.social from @ucl.ac.uk opening @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting in Leuven! #CareAsACapacitor
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Elegant experiment-theory mix, showing increasing returns from helping in a cooperative wasp
Early-season helping in Polistes wasps shows increasing returns - more helpers lead to convex gains in sexual productivity, resolving a key paradox in the origins of eusociality.
academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
@ricaliari.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
@ricaliari.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Elegant experiment-theory mix, showing increasing returns from helping in a cooperative wasp
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Early-season helping in Polistes wasps shows increasing returns - more helpers lead to convex gains in sexual productivity, resolving a key paradox in the origins of eusociality.
academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
@ricaliari.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
@ricaliari.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social
December 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Early-season helping in Polistes wasps shows increasing returns - more helpers lead to convex gains in sexual productivity, resolving a key paradox in the origins of eusociality.
academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
@ricaliari.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
@ricaliari.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social
Super handy! Upload your photo in Chatgpt and write "Use /Photoshop to remove XXX from background" and you get a .png back in original resolution. Works really well!
(Reuters) - Adobe is integrating Photoshop, Adobe Express and Acrobat apps into ChatGPT, it said on Wednesday, allowing users to edit images, design graphics and manage PDFs within the OpenAI-owned chatbot.
@reuters.com $ADBE
www.reuters.com/technology/a...
@reuters.com $ADBE
www.reuters.com/technology/a...
Adobe plugs Photoshop, Acrobat tools into ChatGPT
Adobe is integrating Photoshop, Adobe Express and Acrobat apps into ChatGPT, it said on Wednesday, allowing users to edit images, design graphics and manage PDFs within the OpenAI-owned chatbot.
www.reuters.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Super handy! Upload your photo in Chatgpt and write "Use /Photoshop to remove XXX from background" and you get a .png back in original resolution. Works really well!
Happy to see yet another article from our lab come out: "Deformed wing virus affects foraging success and foraging specialization of honeybee workers"! Check it out! Congrats to my coauthors @HelenaMFerreir2 Kristof Benaets Lina De Smet & Dirk de Graaf www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 11, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Happy to see yet another article from our lab come out: "Deformed wing virus affects foraging success and foraging specialization of honeybee workers"! Check it out! Congrats to my coauthors @HelenaMFerreir2 Kristof Benaets Lina De Smet & Dirk de Graaf www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
🚨 New paper out in @jexpbiol.bsky.social by Mattens et al @cintiaoi.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social on "Age-related differences in learning, #memory and #brain #plasticity in workers of the common #wasp Vespula vulgaris" 🧠🐝
↘️ doi.org/10.1242/jeb.... ↙️
↘️ doi.org/10.1242/jeb.... ↙️
Age-related differences in learning, memory and brain plasticity in workers of the common wasp Vespula vulgaris
Learning, memory, and brain plasticity are thought to play an important role in regulating behavioural roles in social insects, as workers perform different tasks as nurses, builders, foragers and def...
doi.org
December 2, 2025 at 7:44 AM
🚨 New paper out in @jexpbiol.bsky.social by Mattens et al @cintiaoi.bsky.social @twenseleers.bsky.social on "Age-related differences in learning, #memory and #brain #plasticity in workers of the common #wasp Vespula vulgaris" 🧠🐝
↘️ doi.org/10.1242/jeb.... ↙️
↘️ doi.org/10.1242/jeb.... ↙️
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Open postdoc position in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, focusing on mathematical models of social traits. Details: https://tinyurl.com/37uhtbne #postdoc
November 28, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Open postdoc position in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, focusing on mathematical models of social traits. Details: https://tinyurl.com/37uhtbne #postdoc
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
November 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
November 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Still 2 weeks left to register for our Winter Meeting 2025 in Leuven 🇧🇪!
Register here: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings
Date: 18-19 Dec
Host: Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution @KU Leuven (@twenseleers.bsky.social)
We have an exciting programme, incl. Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social
Register here: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings
Date: 18-19 Dec
Host: Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution @KU Leuven (@twenseleers.bsky.social)
We have an exciting programme, incl. Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Still 2 weeks left to register for our Winter Meeting 2025 in Leuven 🇧🇪!
Register here: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings
Date: 18-19 Dec
Host: Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution @KU Leuven (@twenseleers.bsky.social)
We have an exciting programme, incl. Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social
Register here: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings
Date: 18-19 Dec
Host: Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution @KU Leuven (@twenseleers.bsky.social)
We have an exciting programme, incl. Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social
Reposted by Tom Wenseleers
Independently evolved supergenes control colony social organization and queen reproductive strategies in several ant lineages. Sigeman et al. uncover a novel 9 Mb supergene controlling queen size and social organization in Myrmica ruginodis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf255
#evobio #molbio #ants
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf255
#evobio #molbio #ants
November 5, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Independently evolved supergenes control colony social organization and queen reproductive strategies in several ant lineages. Sigeman et al. uncover a novel 9 Mb supergene controlling queen size and social organization in Myrmica ruginodis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf255
#evobio #molbio #ants
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf255
#evobio #molbio #ants
In our new study we were the first to experimentally simulate the origin of sociality! By controlling how many wasp 🐝daughters could help their mom, we found that early helpers don't just add to colony success—they multiply it!
October 31, 2025 at 2:30 PM
In our new study we were the first to experimentally simulate the origin of sociality! By controlling how many wasp 🐝daughters could help their mom, we found that early helpers don't just add to colony success—they multiply it!