Brendan O'Loughlin
@brendanoloughlin.bsky.social
He/him
PhD student at The Ohio State University studying phylogenomics in arthropod systems
PhD student at The Ohio State University studying phylogenomics in arthropod systems
Pinned
I would like to announce that I'm starting my PhD this fall in the Carstens Lab at Ohio State University!
I haven't nailed down a specific topic yet, but it will most likely be in computational evolutionary biology using insects as a study system.
I'm very excited to take this next step!
I haven't nailed down a specific topic yet, but it will most likely be in computational evolutionary biology using insects as a study system.
I'm very excited to take this next step!
I have a question for more senior academics then me: how do you read the literature? Like the keeping-up-with-the-field reading.
After reading through 2-3 papers my brain gets really tired and its hard to read another one that day.
Is the answer practice? Skimming? Or maybe 2-3 a day is fine?
After reading through 2-3 papers my brain gets really tired and its hard to read another one that day.
Is the answer practice? Skimming? Or maybe 2-3 a day is fine?
December 15, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I have a question for more senior academics then me: how do you read the literature? Like the keeping-up-with-the-field reading.
After reading through 2-3 papers my brain gets really tired and its hard to read another one that day.
Is the answer practice? Skimming? Or maybe 2-3 a day is fine?
After reading through 2-3 papers my brain gets really tired and its hard to read another one that day.
Is the answer practice? Skimming? Or maybe 2-3 a day is fine?
@derekhennen.bsky.social Do you recognize this millipede? It was collected from a cave in Portage County, Ohio
December 2, 2025 at 1:47 AM
@derekhennen.bsky.social Do you recognize this millipede? It was collected from a cave in Portage County, Ohio
I collected and dissected this male Pterostichus (Abacidus). Is there any way that the species can be identified by the genitalia?
#Coleoptera
#Coleoptera
October 14, 2025 at 1:04 PM
I collected and dissected this male Pterostichus (Abacidus). Is there any way that the species can be identified by the genitalia?
#Coleoptera
#Coleoptera
Long shot here but does anyone recognize this small harvestman? I collected it from under a rock in central Ohio
#arachnology
#arachnology
October 6, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Long shot here but does anyone recognize this small harvestman? I collected it from under a rock in central Ohio
#arachnology
#arachnology
This is a weird one. I found a leafmine on Amur honeysuckle. Didn't know they even had herbivore damage!
October 4, 2025 at 12:03 AM
This is a weird one. I found a leafmine on Amur honeysuckle. Didn't know they even had herbivore damage!
My partner recently gifted me a piece of Baltic amber! It has this little beetle in it. #Coleoptera do you recognize it maybe?
September 21, 2025 at 3:09 PM
My partner recently gifted me a piece of Baltic amber! It has this little beetle in it. #Coleoptera do you recognize it maybe?
@kmagnacca.bsky.social is this Gonatocerus?
September 15, 2025 at 9:05 PM
@kmagnacca.bsky.social is this Gonatocerus?
Does anyone recognize this beetle? It has me stumped.
~1 mm long, collected from turfgrass on the OSU campus
~1 mm long, collected from turfgrass on the OSU campus
September 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Does anyone recognize this beetle? It has me stumped.
~1 mm long, collected from turfgrass on the OSU campus
~1 mm long, collected from turfgrass on the OSU campus
Reposted by Brendan O'Loughlin
OSU insect systematics chair!! This sounds like a DEEPLY cool job with a fantastic collection attached: osu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/OSUCareers/j...
Martha N. and John C. Moser Chair in Arthropod Biosystematics and Biological Diversity
Screen reader users may encounter difficulty with this site. For assistance with applying, please contact [email protected]. If you have questions while submitting an application, pleas...
osu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
September 9, 2025 at 1:32 PM
OSU insect systematics chair!! This sounds like a DEEPLY cool job with a fantastic collection attached: osu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/OSUCareers/j...
Productive day looking for galls! I found a few common ones for my area of Ohio + 2 galls that seem to be entirely new.
September 7, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Productive day looking for galls! I found a few common ones for my area of Ohio + 2 galls that seem to be entirely new.
Reposted by Brendan O'Loughlin
"The unknown is made up of small organisms, such as insects, mites, and crustaceans. These species are the nuts and bolts of ecosystems. And most of them have yet to be identified."
www.vox.com/down-to-eart...
www.vox.com/down-to-eart...
The search for Earth’s most mysterious creatures is turning up extraordinary results
We still haven’t documented 90 percent of animals on Earth
www.vox.com
September 5, 2025 at 9:38 AM
"The unknown is made up of small organisms, such as insects, mites, and crustaceans. These species are the nuts and bolts of ecosystems. And most of them have yet to be identified."
www.vox.com/down-to-eart...
www.vox.com/down-to-eart...
Reposted by Brendan O'Loughlin
A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species
go.nature.com/4mOb5T9
go.nature.com/4mOb5T9
‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother
Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.
go.nature.com
September 3, 2025 at 3:34 PM
A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species
go.nature.com/4mOb5T9
go.nature.com/4mOb5T9
This little guy came out of some Cecidomyiidae galls I collected. I think it's a beetle...? No clue about family though.
#Coleoptera
#Coleoptera
August 27, 2025 at 2:25 AM
This little guy came out of some Cecidomyiidae galls I collected. I think it's a beetle...? No clue about family though.
#Coleoptera
#Coleoptera
#Hymenoptera thoughts about this wasp? It's clearly a Eulophid and I've tentatively keyed it to Entiinae.
I reared it from the Cecidomyiid Neolasioptera vernoniae. However, Entiinae is virtually unknown from midge galls sp I am skeptical. Does anyone want to make a better guess?
I reared it from the Cecidomyiid Neolasioptera vernoniae. However, Entiinae is virtually unknown from midge galls sp I am skeptical. Does anyone want to make a better guess?
August 25, 2025 at 4:19 AM
#Hymenoptera thoughts about this wasp? It's clearly a Eulophid and I've tentatively keyed it to Entiinae.
I reared it from the Cecidomyiid Neolasioptera vernoniae. However, Entiinae is virtually unknown from midge galls sp I am skeptical. Does anyone want to make a better guess?
I reared it from the Cecidomyiid Neolasioptera vernoniae. However, Entiinae is virtually unknown from midge galls sp I am skeptical. Does anyone want to make a better guess?
Hey #entomology folks, anyone know what these nymphs are? They were chilling on a giant ragweed leaf in Ohio.
August 23, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Hey #entomology folks, anyone know what these nymphs are? They were chilling on a giant ragweed leaf in Ohio.
Update: young Belonocnema taste like green apples!!
Not Belonocnema. They taste like sawdust. Don't ask how I know
June 24, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Update: young Belonocnema taste like green apples!!
Reposted by Brendan O'Loughlin
Hey #Evol2025 - My colleague @waspvenom.bsky.social and I are looking for a postdoc for our #NSF - #USDA funded grant to understand the genetic basis of gall formation! Please see that attached ad, and feel free to talk to me @evolmtg.bsky.social, or contact Dr. Ellen Martinson directly!
June 21, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Hey #Evol2025 - My colleague @waspvenom.bsky.social and I are looking for a postdoc for our #NSF - #USDA funded grant to understand the genetic basis of gall formation! Please see that attached ad, and feel free to talk to me @evolmtg.bsky.social, or contact Dr. Ellen Martinson directly!
Old mystery of mine. I found these fossilized (?) bone fragments in a river in the Kenyan Rift Valley in 2018. Does anyone know what they could be from? The porousness of the bone is striking
#paleontology
#paleontology
June 21, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Old mystery of mine. I found these fossilized (?) bone fragments in a river in the Kenyan Rift Valley in 2018. Does anyone know what they could be from? The porousness of the bone is striking
#paleontology
#paleontology
@ceiseman.bsky.social I found a leafmine on Quercus virginiana that I didn't recognize! Unfortunately seem to have just missed their emergence. The exit hole seems to be covered in some sort of waxy membrane, which is bizarre
June 17, 2025 at 4:48 AM
@ceiseman.bsky.social I found a leafmine on Quercus virginiana that I didn't recognize! Unfortunately seem to have just missed their emergence. The exit hole seems to be covered in some sort of waxy membrane, which is bizarre
I've worked with Tsilavina and can vouch for her passion and conservation work! Please donate if you can.
Please support my friend and collaborator Tsilavina Lydie as she and her family face eviction. Tsilavina is a passionate researcher and conservationist working towards protecting natural heritage and biodiversity of Madagascar. gofund.me/58d2c7c4
Donate to Keep Tsilavina's Family Safe and Stable, organized by Camille Gladieux
Eric Wuesthoff
Attachments
8:59 AM (10 hours ago)
to me
… Camille Gladieux needs your support for Keep Tsilavina's Family Safe and Stable
gofund.me
June 16, 2025 at 9:43 PM
I've worked with Tsilavina and can vouch for her passion and conservation work! Please donate if you can.
Hey #Diptera folks, I have a really weird mystery going on.
I reared two Tachinidae flies from empty Rabdotus snail shells that I thought were still alive (they were glued down to vegetation)
It doesn't seem to key to any genus, and no recorded Tachinid parasitizes snails
I reared two Tachinidae flies from empty Rabdotus snail shells that I thought were still alive (they were glued down to vegetation)
It doesn't seem to key to any genus, and no recorded Tachinid parasitizes snails
June 13, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Hey #Diptera folks, I have a really weird mystery going on.
I reared two Tachinidae flies from empty Rabdotus snail shells that I thought were still alive (they were glued down to vegetation)
It doesn't seem to key to any genus, and no recorded Tachinid parasitizes snails
I reared two Tachinidae flies from empty Rabdotus snail shells that I thought were still alive (they were glued down to vegetation)
It doesn't seem to key to any genus, and no recorded Tachinid parasitizes snails
Collected a recently deceased Aloeus ox beetle and um... fly larvae burst forth
May 25, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Collected a recently deceased Aloeus ox beetle and um... fly larvae burst forth
Incredible news from @batcon.org! I used to live in the Comoros and these fruit bats are some of thebmost impressive animals on the islands
🎉Bat Conservation Win 🎉
Livingstone’s fruit bat (𝘗𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘪) has been officially downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered by the IUCN!
Livingstone’s fruit bat (𝘗𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘪) has been officially downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered by the IUCN!
May 20, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Incredible news from @batcon.org! I used to live in the Comoros and these fruit bats are some of thebmost impressive animals on the islands
Mesostenus sp. from west Texas. I don't know the species but it's beautiful!
May 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Mesostenus sp. from west Texas. I don't know the species but it's beautiful!
Anyone know what this is I found on a brick from the bottom of a lake??
May 17, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Anyone know what this is I found on a brick from the bottom of a lake??