Jess Awad
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parasitoidrex.bsky.social
Jess Awad
@parasitoidrex.bsky.social
1.4K followers 570 following 210 posts
Entomologist specializing in parasitoid wasps and dark taxa. Leiden, Netherlands.
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parasitoidrex.bsky.social
Jess Awad @parasitoidrex.bsky.social · Feb 12
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
Reposted by Jess Awad
linneansociety.bsky.social
We're letting our hair down this Friday by delving into the more social side of our history, sparked by some unexpected items in our archives: two drinks tokens...

Find out more in November's Treasure of the Month: buff.ly/vnrowQt
Drink tokens (LDC/9) (The Linnean Society of London). The text, in cursive handwiriting, reads 'Linnean Club. Port Wine. 1'
November 14, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
dipteracourse.bsky.social
Excited to announce that Fly School IV will be 27 July-9 August 2026, in Costa Rica! Applications will open in January. @dipterists.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @bertonemyia.bsky.social @teamdiptera.bsky.social @entcollnet.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @entsocamerica.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM
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rosariolebronentomology.com
Interested in work on control of Spotted lanternfly at USDA? Postdoc opportunity here:
www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/...
#hemiptera #Invert #bugsky 🧪 #entomology
A close view of a young spotted lanternfly perched on a pale triangular point mount. The insect has a glossy black body patterned with bright white patches and tiny yellow speckles that sit across its head and thorax. Its round dark compound eye is in clear view. One foreleg rests against the point mount and shows the same bold white markings. The background is a soft blue that creates a smooth field behind the insect. The focus is tight on the head which brings out the texture of the exoskeleton and the fine contours of the mouthparts while the rest of the body fades gently out of focus.
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
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ferrisjabr.bsky.social
Recently visited the Glass Flowers at Harvard, a collection of 4,300 extraordinarily realistic glass models of plants crafted by the Blaschkas, a father and son team of sculptors

That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
An overview shot of a portion of the collection: a long window box with wooden frames filled with glass models of plants carefully arranged and labeled on white backgrounds, as though part of a 3D herbarium. From this distance, they are indistinguishable from real plants. Glass model of maple leaves, featuring blended molten glass that mimics the red hues of autumn foliage A glass model of a Columbine (Aquilegia) with parsley-like leaves and pendulous, faintly red and yellow flowers that look like swans huddled together, necks touching and wings flared out. Glass model of a Potentilla with almost ferny foliage and simple, open-faced yellow flowers with fuzzy centers.
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
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floridamuseum.bsky.social
Work with us! 👉 Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager
Position will manage the extensive collections, conduct fieldwork, participate in public outreach, & pursue external funding.

🔸 Full info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/inver...

🔸 Apply @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
a group of people in matching t-shirts are standing at a table while a man holds up one of several trays of shallow boxes with different types of shells sorted neatly into them close up of a museum display of many large fossil shells mounted carefully on a black background with small info labels there is a person in outdoors clothing kneeling at the top of a long sandy slope covered in many small dark shells with a cloudy sky overhead
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
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swarmofthoughts.bsky.social
Very cool to see our recent research on biogeography of Jurassic insects from Australia to be picked up by Smithsonian Magazine, with the focus on the Robert Beattie´s tireless quest to know more about Oz´s `past. #fossilfriday 🦖⚒️
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...
This Amateur Fossil Hunter Discovered a 151-Million-Year-Old Insect—and It's a New Species
Retired teacher Robert Beattie, now 82, has been digging up remnants of the past ever since he was a child
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
hymenopterists.bsky.social
ART COMPETITION during #hymathon2025

Submission Deadline: Nov 22

Categories:
1. Photography - Specimen
2. Photography - Live Hymenoptera
3. Photography - Hymenopterists in action
4. Illustration - Scientific
5. Illustration - Fun & Artsy

Submit your works: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
November 14, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
jeremysell.bsky.social
Most Ichneumonid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) are parasitoids that lay their eggs inside other insects. The larvae hatch and slowly eat their hosts alive. Eventually the larvae burst out of their hosts, killing them. Many species are very useful for pest control. Palmyra Michigan, 13 May 2016.
Most Ichneumonid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) are parasitoids that lay their eggs inside other insects. The larvae hatch and slowly eat their hosts alive. Eventually the larvae burst out of their hosts, killing them. Many species are very useful for pest control. Palmyra Michigan, 13 May 2016.
November 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
entsocamerica.bsky.social
Now that you've presented your research at #EntSoc25, when you're ready to publish, publish with ESA! Learn more about ESA publications: academic.oup.com/insect-scien...
The photograph depicts the ESA Publications booth at Entomology 2025. There is a column that says "Publish with purpose" behind a table and two chairs. The conference center expo hall can be seen behind the column.
November 13, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
kleinevehnlab.bsky.social
If you know postdocs in the US whose work is restricted or becoming difficult, there are new fellowship possibilities in the south of Germany. Please, forward this information to them:

uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...

Our lab in Freiburg can also serve as a host — happy to discuss options.
Call for Applications: Early Career Rescue Fellowship – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
uni-freiburg.de
November 13, 2025 at 12:31 PM
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norikonbuchan.bsky.social
This tiny wasp who emerged from a miniature chestnut husk (Atrusca trimaculosa aka Woollybear Gall Wasp) reminds us how important self-care is. Well, she is doing a lot better job than I am! 😆
November 13, 2025 at 1:44 AM
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spissatella.bsky.social
Since working at the museum I have started to call spiders and centipedes "IPM officers" so that they'll feel more included in the team 🥰
November 13, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
xercessociety.bsky.social
Spread the word: we are providing multiple $5k awards for grad & undergrad research on invertebrate conservation !! In addition to our continuing DeWind Award (for Lepidoptera research), we now have the 1st annual BanDrosky Award (for any invert in decline). Details in thread🧵 ⤵️
“Applications are Open for Xerces’ 2026 Student Research Awards”. Up close with an ambush bug as it hides in wait on a purple flower.
November 10, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
entsocamerica.bsky.social
#EntSoc25 went by too fast! But you can connect with your colleagues and share your science again in just a few short months at an ESA Branch Meeting in Spring 2026. Will we see you there? entsoc.org/events
A slide showing the 2026 Branch Meetings schedule with dates, locations, and images of various cities and landscapes including beaches, cities, mountains, and monarch butterflies.
November 12, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
tjalamont.bsky.social
If you ever see a mantis, spider, or other predatory bug with prey (like this mantis with a bee), look closer and you may spot tiny jackal flies, aka freeloader flies (family Milichiidae), gleaning food while carefully avoiding becoming part of the meal themselves. (Two are visible here). #Bugsky 🐙🌿
A macro photo, vertical orientation, looking at the underside of a praying mantis's raptorial forelegs. The mantis is feeding on a pollen-sprinkled honeybee, and there are two tiny jackal flies, aka freeloader flies, gleaning any leftovers they can while avoiding becoming part of the mantis's meal themselves.
November 12, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
coleopterasam.bsky.social
Our abstract for #LivingData about the use of #Symbiota portals in #LatinAmerica is out! At least 140 collections in 12 countries are actively using the portals 🥰. So far, less than 40% of collections in the region are available anywhere online. We'd love to help! 💚 biss.pensoft.net/article/1773...
November 11, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Jess Awad
naturetodaynl.bsky.social
ARISE herkent Nederlandse natuur beter dan ooit
Alle Nederlandse soorten herkennen, op alle denkbare manieren. Vanaf vandaag kan iedereen gebruikmaken van ARISE, de onderzoeksinfrastructuur die dat mogelijk maakt. Door ARISE wordt biodiversiteit op grote schaal meetbaar. Een nieuw gereedschap voor onder andere soortenspecialisten, ecologen en computerwetenschappers. ARISE had niet ontwikkeld kunnen worden zonder de hulp van vele vrijwilligers.
dlvr.it
November 11, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
soilscholar.bsky.social
Interested in postgraduate study @nhm-london.bsky.social? There's a showcase coming up on 27 Nov 2pm to 5pm GMT. Find out about our programmes & meet current students. Sign up for free: www.eventbrite.com/e/nhm-postgraduate-showcase-tickets-1848134021609 I had an amazing MSc & PhD here - never left!
NHM Postgraduate Showcase
Come along to the NHM to learn more about postgraduate study at the museum!
www.eventbrite.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
entsocamerica.bsky.social
Entomologists love insects. Do they also love llamas?

Yes, yes they do.

You never know what you might see at the ESA Annual Meeting. #EntSoc25
A woman poses for a photo with with a white and brown llama inside a convention hall as other people observe nearby.
November 11, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by Jess Awad
jonathanpdrury.bsky.social
Looking for a PhD opportunity? I'm hoping to recruit someone to my group at Durham University to work on a project combining fieldwork and labwork to study speciation in rubyspot damselflies: iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

Get in touch if you want to chat!
The Durham cathedral A male smoky rubyspot damselfly
November 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
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cmtribull.bsky.social
Only section at #entsoc25 with a llama. #FitAtEntsoc25.
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 PM
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entopoc.bsky.social
Come say hi, grab a sticker, and learn about how you can help increase student membership in entomological societies! #entoPOC #EntSoc25

@entsocamerica.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 11:09 PM
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entcollnet.bsky.social
Jess Awad from Naturalis (massive Dutch biodiversity institute, formerly known as RMNH)— massive collection in a gorgeous new building (2019)
New Naturalis campus in Leiden. It’s very bold and modern.
November 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
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dollyjorgensen.bsky.social
It’s real!!
I just got my first copy of Ghosts Behind Glass and it is beautiful. You all really need to order your copies. You will not regret it. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Author holding copy of book Page with birds on left, text on right Double page spread with a photo of diorama Chapter 3 Cursed treasures on left, lion on right
October 6, 2025 at 1:34 PM
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cmtribull.bsky.social
Hey come see my talk at #Entsoc25!
fitentsocamerica.bsky.social Formal & Informal Teaching | Entomological Society of America @fitentsocamerica.bsky.social · 18d
Need/want to start a teaching collection? @cmtribull.bsky.social will share how she approached building one from scratch!

🗓️ Sun, Nov 9
🕜 2:52–3:10PM PT
📍 OCC C125–126
🧰 The General Entomology Toolbox: Activities and Practices for Improving a Foundational Course Symposium

#EntSoc25 #FITatEntSoc25
November 8, 2025 at 10:38 PM