How did host plant specialization evolve in insect herbivores 🌱🐛🦋? If this is a question that bugs you, we have the perfect PhD-position to offer:
www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...

Very excited about our upcoming course "Chemical Communication in the Anthropocene" with wonderful speakers such as Markus Knaden, Meredith C Schuman, James Blande, Jeremie Topin, Niels Verhulst, and Jocelyne Vreede! There are still a few places available 👃 🦋 🌱 🪻.

Time flies! It is already three weeks ago that Lorenzo Corsico started his PhD on finding novel deterrent plant compounds to protect crops from hungry caterpillars 🌱 🐛! Welcome again Lorenzo, and thanks to all collaborators at InsectSense, Wageningen Plant Research, Bayer Crop Science and Bejo.

Very happy that Camila Fornaguera joined the lab of Entomology this week! Camila will be looking into the effect of the nectar microbiome on pollinator behavior as part of the @micropresearch.bsky.social team 🐝 🦋 🦠 🌼. Welcome Camila!

We are looking for a technician to support our sensory ecology lab 🐛🦋🌺! Would you like to help discovering how insects perceive their environment, and do you have a background in insect physiology / neuroscience or chemical ecology? Then please apply here: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/t...

Caterpillars use their sense of olfaction to find food and avoid natural enemies🐛🌱: The version of record of our @elife.bsky.social article has been set: doi.org/10.7554/eLif.... The work has been driven by Qi Wang with great support by many coauthors @dickemarcel.bsky.social, @w-u-r.bsky.social

Sometimes working in entomology is like being in a Sci-Fi movie full of fantastic creatures 👽 👾, like this amazing #hawkmoth caterpillar 🐛!

It is world brain day 🧠! Maybe a good opportunity to remind us that we are not the only species with a brain, but that even small animals like insects have sophisticated nervous systems 🪲 🐝 🦋. Here the bain of a caterpillar with its vast network of dopaminergic neurons 🐛:

We just had the last lecture in our Insect-Plant interaction course at @w-u-r.bsky.social on the topic of #pollination 🦋🐝🌺🌻. Our #hawkmoth with its 8cm proboscis was the star of the show, but the discussions also very much emphasized our need to save #biodiversity and reduce #pesticides!

We have an opening for a 4-year PhD position on the influence of the nectar microbiome on pollinator-plant interactions in the Lab of Entomology at @w-u-r.bsky.social and I would be delighted if you could share this with potentially interested candidates:

www.wur.nl/nl/vacature/...