Tom Kay

Postdoc @RockefellerUniv. PhD: @unil, BA: @magdalenoxford. Ants - behavior, evolution & neurobiology. Birding, herping, nature

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

Our latest paper (https://t.co/7p232IGn8x) reports a strikingly strong association between social network position and brain-wide patterns of gene expression in a species of carpenter ant (📸 @bartjzijlstra)

[Rockefeller University @RockefellerUniv]

A study from Rockefeller's @DanielKronauer in @CurrentBiology finds that ants continually update their sense of nestmate identity and tolerance for outsiders, a discovery that opens the door to studying the neural circuits behind social recognition.

🔗:https://t.co/vikhO1WFej

[Eyal Privman @eyalprivman]

Our social chromosome paper is out in @CurrentBiology! Turned out to be beautiful paper, if I may say so myself. Amazing job by @AparnaLajmi with great contributions from other lab members! 🧵 below....

[Aparna Lajmi @AparnaLajmi]

Excited to share our new paper in @CurrentBiology 🐜
https://t.co/sgMUNBVf2g

with @eyalprivman, Pnina Cohen, Chih-Chi Lee, Zeev Frenkel, @YoannPellen @UofHaifa @GITAMUniversity

Here is a brief summary:

[Tom Wenseleers now @twenseleers.bsky.social @TWenseleers]

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. 🧵

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

A stick insect with a bead-like array of biting midges along its antennae. Taken in Mindo, Ecuador

[AntRoom 島田拓 @AntRoom_taku]

かっこいい！美しい！可愛いアリたち勢ぞろい！！
バンクシーアギトアリ、ホネストイクワガタアリ、青トゲアリ、ルフィペスフトハリアリ、大型ノコギリハリアリ、メタリカタタミアリなど入荷しました。
https://t.co/94G9duzS8W

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

We (@DanielKronauer @patKpiekarski) outline a general framework to explain for this convergence. /7

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

Parental care, and more complex cooperative systems of care, have independently evolved in hundreds of animal lineages. In an article published today, we explore how these behaviors evolve 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 /1 https://t.co/ybQi5xVGwK

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

Remarkably, some of the same molecular factors additionally govern lifetime behavioral changes in social insect workers (as they transition from nursing to foraging) and mammals (during puberty). /6

[Clayton Ziemke @legendofziemke]

Excited to share my first author paper in Proc Entomol Soc Wash! We report the first records of Trichorhina heterophthalma & Caraiboscia christiani in Puerto Rico, describe previously unknown ant associations for both species, and provide an updated checklist of isopods for PR 🇵🇷

[Tom Wenseleers now @twenseleers.bsky.social @TWenseleers]

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!

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

@LeahHouri What an image 😍

[Leah Houri-Zeevi @LeahHouri]

What does mating look like when you only have a single shot at getting it right?

Very excited to share our work on an almost-invisible female control, rapidly evolving mating recognition systems, and species that break the rules and take over the world.

IN MOSQUITOES>

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

Varied thrush: The first bird of the fall to get me running down to Prospect Park on a work afternoon. #birdcpp

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

Back today, this Cooper's hawk has been appearing and disappearing on @RockefellerUniv campus since early October #birdcpp

[Tom Kay @Tomas_A_Kay]

The past week has seen the return of kinglets to @RockefellerUniv campus - plenty of ruby-crowned (pictured) with a few golden-crowned mixed in #birdcpp