Piotr’s and colleagues’ last year’s fieldwork in Madagascar has resulted in large collections of insects, most of which belong to species unknown to science. Using this material, Brian Bahder from the University of Florida has led the description of a new species, Paraphenice fluctus, and the paper has just been published in Zootaxa!

We have recently completed two studies attempting to characterize microbiota in very different systems: tardigrades, and Macrosteles leafhoppers. Both are under peer review by established journals - but are also immediately available as preprints!

Lately, Anna Michalik et al. published a preprint about unusual transmission strategy adapted by one of the endosymbionts of the planthopper Trypetimorpha occidentalis (Hemiptera: Tropiduchidae) from Bulgaria.

In the new paper, we explore the overlap in microbial communities among neotropical army ants and diverse beetles that inhabit their colonies.