And what's an arachnology conference without spiders?? I was so pleased when I found a subadult Pisaura mirabilis (my study species and the only spider I can actually identify 😅) during our excursion to Krka National Park, even though it was a bit early in the season!

Never too late to say that I had a fantastic time at the @35theca2025.bsky.social conference in gorgeous Zadar a few weeks ago! I met many incredible arachnid enthusiasts, presented about biotremology in a symposium on sensory biology, and was honored to be recognized with 2nd prize for my talk! 🕷️

The first chapter of my thesis is out now in Journal of Ethology! Check it out if you're interested in taking a deep dive into the vibrational signal of a very cute spider 🕷️〰️

Variation of vibratory performance during courtship of a cursorial spider: doi.org/10.1007/s101...

PhD position open with Dr. Jutta Schneider and @mherberstein.bsky.social in Hamburg, on sub-social behavior in crab spiders 🕷️ It even includes field work in Australia! Application deadline is 15 July, more info at the link:
www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...

Check out the paper to read more about the specifics of Cataglyphis fortis nagivation! (exclusive bonus fact: there’s no need to navigate when there’s a delicious watermelon right at your front door!) #ants #bugs #arthropods #behavior #entomology #inverts #insects

The desert ants were such a joy to work with, it was incredible to observe their behavior and test navigation and decision-making in the Tunisian salt pan! (If you were wondering what it’s like to track individuals for consecutive foraging runs…it requires patience, heat-tolerance, and sharp eyes!)

An unexpectedly shortened field season altered the direction of my thesis from what I originally planned, so I honestly didn’t expect to ever publish it. But our ringleader Dr. Marilia Freire combined two experiments in this great short communication, and I’m really proud to see our work there!

For me this study was an exercise in creativity– I wrote a mock grant proposal as an assignment, so didn’t expect the methods to be 100% feasible… but Dr. Knaden at the @mpi-ce.bsky.social was really supportive of my ideas and the maze channels I dreamed up were quickly produced by their workshop!

PS, Schizomida do this too 🥰 So cute! (figure from bioone.org/journals/the...) #arthropods #arachnids #arachnida

Schizomids are such adorable little creatures, and as I've learned about their biology, they've become one of my favorite animals! #arachnids #arachnida

The paper also features 14 new fossil descriptions, and beautiful amber images such as this one:

My good friends @jellybb.bsky.social and @rianbraig.bsky.social have finally both made it to Bluesky, so now it's time to re-share our passion-project paper from earlier this year! We looked at cool morphological trends over time in short-tailed whip scorpions! sjpp.springeropen.com/articles/10....

Here's how I normally spend the entire springtime- engulfed in grass/stinging nettles, searching for spiders which are very fast to escape once they see you coming! Always alot of fun, especially when friends like @ortizmovliavc.bsky.social help out 😁

@abcmicrogrants.bsky.social #ScienceInAction

Hi Bluesky 🙋‍♀️ I'm Morgan, a PhD student of the University of Greifswald, though you can currently find me as a guest researcher in Hamburg. I study courtship vibrations in Pisaura mirabilis spiders, but I'm pretty excited about all things animal behavior 🕷️🐜🦋🐛🐝🦇