Scott P. Egan
@scottpegan.bsky.social
Evolutionary Biologist & Scientific Naturalist | Associate Professor | Director, E4 Initiative | @RiceUniversity #science #biology #evolution #speciation #entomology #biodiversity #genomics #discovery
Lab website: https://scottpegan.com
Lab website: https://scottpegan.com
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
A bug of many hats – The red-shouldered soapberry bug as a pollinating seed-predator
Summary & Analysis by Pooja Nathan of “A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma” by Comerford et al.
Read here!
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Pooja Nathan of “A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma” by Comerford et al.
Read here!
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Fire Transforms Landscape Color, Affecting Camouflaging Animals
<p>Read about “Differential survival and background selection in cryptic trunk-dwelling arthropods in fire-prone environments” by João Vitor de Alcantara Viana, Rafael Campos Duarte...
www.amnat.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:37 PM
A bug of many hats – The red-shouldered soapberry bug as a pollinating seed-predator
Summary & Analysis by Pooja Nathan of “A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma” by Comerford et al.
Read here!
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Summary & Analysis by Pooja Nathan of “A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma” by Comerford et al.
Read here!
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Nifty Natural History Note in @asn-amnat.bsky.social: these frogs can change color from green to brown to hide against different-colored backgrounds (Image: Hugo Claessen, Wikimedia) 🌿
buff.ly/uAr9LnZ
buff.ly/uAr9LnZ
October 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Nifty Natural History Note in @asn-amnat.bsky.social: these frogs can change color from green to brown to hide against different-colored backgrounds (Image: Hugo Claessen, Wikimedia) 🌿
buff.ly/uAr9LnZ
buff.ly/uAr9LnZ
November 11, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Two rainforest butterflies have evolved to look more alike, likely to confuse shared predators. But why don’t they get confused themselves?
To avoid mating with the wrong species, they’ve cleverly evolved distinct scents.
buff.ly/fxVrlCI
To avoid mating with the wrong species, they’ve cleverly evolved distinct scents.
buff.ly/fxVrlCI
November 8, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Two rainforest butterflies have evolved to look more alike, likely to confuse shared predators. But why don’t they get confused themselves?
To avoid mating with the wrong species, they’ve cleverly evolved distinct scents.
buff.ly/fxVrlCI
To avoid mating with the wrong species, they’ve cleverly evolved distinct scents.
buff.ly/fxVrlCI
#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 427): The flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) perched on a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) near Houston, Texas #biodiversity 📸:Christa Denning
November 10, 2025 at 11:36 AM
#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 427): The flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) perched on a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) near Houston, Texas #biodiversity 📸:Christa Denning
#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 426): Red paper wasps (Polistes carolina) busy foraging at the top of the canopy of the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) near Houston, Texas #biodiversity 📸:Christa Denning
November 9, 2025 at 10:11 PM
#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 426): Red paper wasps (Polistes carolina) busy foraging at the top of the canopy of the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) near Houston, Texas #biodiversity 📸:Christa Denning
Ten mile run before 10am. 👟
San Jacinto River, Humble, TX.
San Jacinto River, Humble, TX.
November 9, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Ten mile run before 10am. 👟
San Jacinto River, Humble, TX.
San Jacinto River, Humble, TX.
Wonderful description by @pothebug.bsky.social about our #NaturalHistory paper in @asn-amnat.bsky.social!
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
A bug of many hats – The red-shouldered soapberry bug as a pollinating seed-predator
<p>Read about “A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma” by Mattheau S. Comerford, Scott. P. Carroll, and Scott P. Egan (August 2025)</p><br/>...
www.amnat.org
November 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Wonderful description by @pothebug.bsky.social about our #NaturalHistory paper in @asn-amnat.bsky.social!
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
New biology: stink bugs inoculate their eggs with a fungus that protects them from parasitoids
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs
Tympanal organs have repeatedly evolved in diverse insects and were thought to be required for auditory perception (1).
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org
October 17, 2025 at 11:35 AM
New biology: stink bugs inoculate their eggs with a fungus that protects them from parasitoids
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
(Part2) Biodiversity isn’t a quality only to describe far-off lands — it’s right here in our own backyards!
November 7, 2025 at 10:43 PM
(Part2) Biodiversity isn’t a quality only to describe far-off lands — it’s right here in our own backyards!
Monarch butterfly on its 1000 mile migration to Mexico, resting on a live oak in Texas! (📸: Christa Denning)
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Monarch butterfly on its 1000 mile migration to Mexico, resting on a live oak in Texas! (📸: Christa Denning)
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Agreed! Though my backyard is on an arguably far-off land (which, nevertheless, does share some fauna/flora with less far-off lands).
November 5, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Agreed! Though my backyard is on an arguably far-off land (which, nevertheless, does share some fauna/flora with less far-off lands).
Biodiversity isn’t a quality only to describe far-off lands — it’s right here in our own backyards!
November 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Biodiversity isn’t a quality only to describe far-off lands — it’s right here in our own backyards!
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Happy Halloween 🎃👻💀 from the crypt-keeper wasp, who lays its eggs into a crypt created by its host, then manipulates the host’s behavior for its own benefit, before devouring it from the inside out and emerging through its face!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
Euderus set - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 31, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Of COURSE it's from Florida 🤣
Happy Halloween 🎃👻💀 from the crypt-keeper wasp, who lays its eggs into a crypt created by its host, then manipulates the host’s behavior for its own benefit, before devouring it from the inside out and emerging through its face!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
Euderus set - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 31, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Of COURSE it's from Florida 🤣
Reposted by Scott P. Egan
The talented Devon Henderson just posted a new cartoon for Euderus set, see the original here:
www.facebook.com/share/1PC6ng...
www.facebook.com/share/1PC6ng...
October 31, 2025 at 8:29 PM
The talented Devon Henderson just posted a new cartoon for Euderus set, see the original here:
www.facebook.com/share/1PC6ng...
www.facebook.com/share/1PC6ng...
Happy Halloween 🎃👻💀 from the crypt-keeper wasp, who lays its eggs into a crypt created by its host, then manipulates the host’s behavior for its own benefit, before devouring it from the inside out and emerging through its face!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
Euderus set - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 31, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Happy Halloween 🎃👻💀 from the crypt-keeper wasp, who lays its eggs into a crypt created by its host, then manipulates the host’s behavior for its own benefit, before devouring it from the inside out and emerging through its face!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus...
Just in time for #Halloween 👻, a #NewSpecies of trapdoor spider discovered!!! 🕷️
www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...
www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...
New Species of Spider Discovered, Just in Time for Halloween
UC Davis scientists have discovered a new species of trapdoor spider in California's coastal sand dunes.
www.ucdavis.edu
October 30, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Just in time for #Halloween 👻, a #NewSpecies of trapdoor spider discovered!!! 🕷️
www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...
www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...
As a Center for Teaching Excellence Fellow, I cohosted a lunch discussion at #RiceUniversity on how to incorporate environment and sustainability topics into our teaching, and how to handle AI in the classroom! Great discussions! I learned a lot!
October 22, 2025 at 6:49 PM
As a Center for Teaching Excellence Fellow, I cohosted a lunch discussion at #RiceUniversity on how to incorporate environment and sustainability topics into our teaching, and how to handle AI in the classroom! Great discussions! I learned a lot!
Caterpillar crosswalk at #RiceUniversity 🐛
October 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Caterpillar crosswalk at #RiceUniversity 🐛
The Ocellated Tiger Beetle (Cicindelidia ocellata) hunting on the shore of Spring Creek, near Houston, TX. #biodiversity
October 18, 2025 at 1:09 PM
The Ocellated Tiger Beetle (Cicindelidia ocellata) hunting on the shore of Spring Creek, near Houston, TX. #biodiversity
Getting ready for my next trip to Mexico to visit colleagues and sample galls wasps! 🇲🇽
October 17, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Getting ready for my next trip to Mexico to visit colleagues and sample galls wasps! 🇲🇽
Lab members @maryamrfaghihi.bsky.social and Skylar Godwin participated in the Rice Natural Sciences Scientific Image contest.
October 8, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Lab members @maryamrfaghihi.bsky.social and Skylar Godwin participated in the Rice Natural Sciences Scientific Image contest.
RIP Jane Goodall. You were an inspiration to so many, including me.
an illustration of a woman holding a chimpanzee with the words " least i can do is speak out "
ALT: an illustration of a woman holding a chimpanzee with the words " least i can do is speak out "
media.tenor.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:56 PM
RIP Jane Goodall. You were an inspiration to so many, including me.