Vincent Debat

Introducing the campest katydid of all time. 🦄💅🏽👸💞 Why would this animal (Arota festae) have evolved this way, other than to look utterly fabulous? We have unleashed some (slightly whacky) thoughts, now out in @esajournals.bsky.social. Photo credit: @zekerowe.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... 1/n

Species-specific spectral tuning of motion vision in butterflies Supple et al. investigate the spectral sensitivity of motion-sensitive descending neurons (DNs) connecting the brain to thoracic motor centers in butterflies. Optic flow-sensitive DNs are spectrally b...

Species-specific spectral tuning of motion vision in butterflies: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Infrared radiation is an ancient pollination signal Color and scent are well-known pollinator cues. Some plants also produce heat, but its role remains unclear. Here, we report that plant-generated thermal infrared radiation serves as a pollination sig...

This is amazing!
Infrared radiation is an ancient pollination signal | Science www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Climatic variability drives greater thermal tolerance breadth and enables larger range size in butterflies Abstract. Although climatic variability has been proposed to shape physiological tolerances, and in turn, species distributions, relatively few studies hav

We found support for the Rapoport effect in butterflies 🦋 species that live in more variable climates have broader thermal tolerances and larger range sizes. A collaboration with Aaron Yilmaz and @sarahdiamond.bsky.social 🔬

academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...

Qu’est-ce que l’iridescence ? L’iridescence est un phénomène optique dans lequel la couleur d’un objet dépend de l’angle d’observation et d’éclairage de celui-ci. En fonction de l’interaction de la lumière avec les structures à la...

Émerveillez vous devant le phénomène naturel d' #iridescence ! 💎✨

Liée à l'interaction entre la lumière et la surface d'un objet, l'iridescence s'observe dans la #nature : des ailes soyeuses de #papillons aux #minéraux irisés, on vous explique...

👉 www.mnhn.fr/fr/qu-est-ce...

Aerodynamic consequences of wing damage in dragonfly flapping flight Abstract. Flapping wings are the primary means by which dragonflies generate forces, but they are susceptible to damage due to their inherent fragility. Th

Aerodynamic consequences of wing damage in dragonfly flapping flight url: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...

The Map butterfly differs in wing size and color between seasons. We tested how these differences influence body temperature dynamics, revealing potentially optimized thermal performance between seasons. 🦋☀️

The study, led by Dani and Irča, is in preprint version: doi.org/10.64898/202...

A new paper on the genetics of fluctuating asymmetry... An old collaborative work finally published!! Thanks to Fred Peronnet and co and reviewer Ian Dworkin academic.oup.com/genetics/art...

Interested in adaptive genomics, genomic offset and simulations? This seems to be an extraordinary opportunity to work with Thibaut Capblancq and Olivier François, two excellent experts in the field (and also great people)

Great new paper from Agathe Puissant's PhD in Ecology Letters: predation‐driven adaptive syndromes combining wing shape and colour patterns in Swallowtail Butterflies onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Genomic analyses in Drosophila do not support the classic allopatric model of speciation Abstract. The allopatric model of speciation has dominated our understanding of speciation biology and biogeography since the Modern Synthesis. It is uncon

New paper out: “allopatric” Drosophila species aren’t so allopatric after all. We show that most currently allopatric species pairs probably overlapped in the past and exchanged genes at levels similar to sympatric pairs. @evolletters.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/evle... [1/6]

Geometric Morphometrics for Beginners Dive into geometric morphometrics and learn how it transforms our understanding of shape and structure in nature.

Two slots are available for the "Geometric Morphometrics for Beginners" course, focusing on biological shape variation. For details, visit: https://www.transmittingscience.com/courses/geometric-morphometrics/geometric-morphometrics-for-beginners/ #course

Please share: Last week to apply for a PhD position on butterfly evolution at high elevations in our lab 🦋

Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Biodiversity The Department of Biology was established in 2010 through the merger of the Departments of Ecology, Cell and Organism Biology, Biological Undergraduate Education, and the Biological Museums. The depar

Come and join me and my colleagues at the Department of Biology, #LundUniversity in #sweden! We have am open position as Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Biodiversity.

Apply here no later than February 11 2026:

https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:848749/type:job/where:4/apply:1

A north-south hemispheric migratory divide in the butterfly Vanessa cardui - Nature Communications Here authors find a latitudinal migratory divide in a butterfly across Earth’s hemispheres, highlighting how hemisphere-specific seasonality and navigational cues shape migratory strategies. They find...

Super cool new study from Talavera lab on migratory divide between painted lady (Vanessa cardui) populations north of the equator and south of the equator! They find a candidate gene that might be associated with the differenc ein behaviour.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The genetics, evolution, and maintenance of a biological rock-paper-scissors game Side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) play a biological rock-paper-scissors game in which three differently colored male morphs utilize alternative mating strategies. We identified the genetic basi...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A spotted insect with long legs and antennae is perched on a green plant, while a small ant walks on one of its appendages. The background is black.

Arthropod Photo of the Week: December 24, 2025
Leaffooted bug and ant
Chariesterus moestus
Hemiptera: Coreidae
By Alberto Sánchez Herrera, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
#arthropodPOTW

CT Data and Micro CT Specialist :South Kensington

JOB KLAXON! The @nhm-london.bsky.social is recruiting a micro-CT specialist! jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Multivariate trait evolution: models for the evolution of the quantitative genetic G-matrix on phylogenies Abstract. Genetic covariance matrices (G-matrices) are a key focus for research and predictions from quantitative genetic evolutionary models of multiple t

How do genetic variances and covariances evolve over deep time? This paper unifies quantitative genetics and macroevolution with analytical models for G-matrix evolution on phylogenies, enabling new tests of multivariate trait evolution.
academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Shades of blue and red in a slice through an immuno stained brain showing some deliciously lovely looking mushroom body lobes - ripe for investigation during a funded PhD - and the central complex. Image credit: Dr Max Farnworth

🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨

Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social

- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun

Deadline: 14/1/2026

Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

The CNRS is breaking free from the Web of Science From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics'

The CNRS is breaking free from the Web of Science

www.cnrs.fr/en/update/cn...

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

Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology url: academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...

Join us Opportunities Below are the positions currently open in our lab. Fully-funded PhD position The project aims to understand rapid evolution and adaptation in white butterflies flying at high elevatio…

New PhD position: Butterfly Evolution at High Elevations 🦋⛰️
The project aims to understand the rapid evolution and adaptation of white butterflies at high elevations.
DEADLINE: January 11, 2025
More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/

With winged legs, orchid mantis sets gliding record Camouflaged like a flower, these predators also have a getaway trick

The orchid mantis’ petal-shaped legs allow it to glide 50% to 200% farther than other invertebrates. #ScienceMagArchives https://scim.ag/44wjOC4

First paper from #TanguyMuller, PhD student in @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social: Population genomics of incipient allochronic divergence in an infamous moth. #WGS #demography #inbreeding #mutation-load #genome-scan onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Seeking a postdoc position?
​Balancing selection is a fascinating process: malaria resistance, self-incompatibility,etc. Yet, countless examples remain hidden in genomes!
​If this question intrigues you, the project led by Laure Segurel and Violaine Llaurens (Paris + Lyon) is perfect! urlr.me/Huj2De

Just for fun: a Morpho theseus juturna from north Peru

Very excited to release our new paper !
We characterized the thermal and temporal niches of a community of closely related Morpho butterflies, and found very significant ties between micro-habitat and thermal traits.

nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The emergence and diversification of dog morphology Dogs exhibit an exceptional range of morphological diversity as a result of their long-term association with humans. Attempts to identify when dog morphological variation began to expand have been con...

Looks amazing ! Congrats Allowen Evin ! The emergence and diversification of dog morphology | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The Durham cathedral

A male smoky rubyspot damselfly

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!