Miles Zhang | 张远濛
@ymilesz.bsky.social
🇨🇳🇨🇦🇺🇸🏴 | USDA Hilo 🌴 🥥 🌺| (mostly) Hymenoptera taxonomy, phylogenomics, and evolutionary ecology |
https://ymilesz.github.io/
https://ymilesz.github.io/
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...
More wasps from Sichuan! This time we describe a new rose gall found on a protected endemic rose from China. We named the gall wasp Diplolepis nezha and its ichneumonid parasitoid Orthopelma aobing, after characters from the Chinese legend/popular animated film.
mapress.com/zt/article/v...
mapress.com/zt/article/v...
October 9, 2025 at 9:55 PM
More wasps from Sichuan! This time we describe a new rose gall found on a protected endemic rose from China. We named the gall wasp Diplolepis nezha and its ichneumonid parasitoid Orthopelma aobing, after characters from the Chinese legend/popular animated film.
mapress.com/zt/article/v...
mapress.com/zt/article/v...
Anyone know what this little carrier-crab-like thing is? Asking for a friend, found during a survey in Southern New England. cc @jopabinia.bsky.social
October 9, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Anyone know what this little carrier-crab-like thing is? Asking for a friend, found during a survey in Southern New England. cc @jopabinia.bsky.social
Say hello to my horse faced children: a female Pleistodontes imperialis (Port Jackson Fig Wasp)
July 3, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Say hello to my horse faced children: a female Pleistodontes imperialis (Port Jackson Fig Wasp)
Proudly joining the growing list of papers that Kirk Fitzhugh bashes because of PhLoSoPhY 🤣
April 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Proudly joining the growing list of papers that Kirk Fitzhugh bashes because of PhLoSoPhY 🤣
Kilauea putting on a show for Prince Kuhio day, the rim of the caldera is 600ft/180m, judging by the livestream it is still going strong!
March 27, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Kilauea putting on a show for Prince Kuhio day, the rim of the caldera is 600ft/180m, judging by the livestream it is still going strong!
I forgot that I brought back these rose gall shaped candy from my Japanese collaborator Tatsuya Ide when I was there for #ICE2024, shaped like D.japonica galls but does not taste like it (I assume)?
March 7, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I forgot that I brought back these rose gall shaped candy from my Japanese collaborator Tatsuya Ide when I was there for #ICE2024, shaped like D.japonica galls but does not taste like it (I assume)?
Despite not knowing the biology of many species as they are endophytic, our ancestral state reconstruction indicates that secondary phytophagy has evolved at least seven times within the subfamily Eurytominae, showcasing the evolutionary flexibility of these vastly understudied wasps.
February 3, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Despite not knowing the biology of many species as they are endophytic, our ancestral state reconstruction indicates that secondary phytophagy has evolved at least seven times within the subfamily Eurytominae, showcasing the evolutionary flexibility of these vastly understudied wasps.
The historical biogeography remains somewhat inconclusive on where the family originated from, with North America, South America, and Africa all seen as possible origins, but the bulk of the diversity seems to around the K-Pg extinction ~66 mya.
February 3, 2025 at 5:49 AM
The historical biogeography remains somewhat inconclusive on where the family originated from, with North America, South America, and Africa all seen as possible origins, but the bulk of the diversity seems to around the K-Pg extinction ~66 mya.
Our UCE data recovered the four subfamilies as monophyletic, but not surprisingly, most large genera (like the trash can genus Eurytoma) within the giant Eurytominae are recovered as para- or polyphyletic, and multiple new genera needs to be created in the future to accommodate the aberrant taxa.
February 3, 2025 at 5:45 AM
Our UCE data recovered the four subfamilies as monophyletic, but not surprisingly, most large genera (like the trash can genus Eurytoma) within the giant Eurytominae are recovered as para- or polyphyletic, and multiple new genera needs to be created in the future to accommodate the aberrant taxa.
That's all for now, special shoutout to Qing Xue for inviting me onto this fun project (and I hope to visit you in beautiful Nanjing again soon), and to Oleksandr Holovachov for his encyclopedic knowledge of the 🪱(extant or extinct) that made my job so much easier.
January 2, 2025 at 2:53 PM
That's all for now, special shoutout to Qing Xue for inviting me onto this fun project (and I hope to visit you in beautiful Nanjing again soon), and to Oleksandr Holovachov for his encyclopedic knowledge of the 🪱(extant or extinct) that made my job so much easier.
Nevertheless, our phylogeny is well-resolved across most clades, with topologies remaining consistent across methods. I am not qualified to discuss the finer taxonomic details, but if you are interested please read the paper (I'll link it once it is available).
January 2, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Nevertheless, our phylogeny is well-resolved across most clades, with topologies remaining consistent across methods. I am not qualified to discuss the finer taxonomic details, but if you are interested please read the paper (I'll link it once it is available).
We also did a divergence dating analysis using fossils calibrations, yes who knew there were worm fossils? After a critical examination of the fossil records, our dates are still somewhat inconsistent with many of the nematode hosts. So a lot of room for improvement here.
January 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
We also did a divergence dating analysis using fossils calibrations, yes who knew there were worm fossils? After a critical examination of the fossil records, our dates are still somewhat inconsistent with many of the nematode hosts. So a lot of room for improvement here.
Since many of the worms are so small, we also tested whole genome amplification (10 worms) vs pooling samples (10,000 worms), and for the most part it worked well, although as expected it did also amplify any contamination. Still that's better than sequencing that many worms haha!
January 2, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Since many of the worms are so small, we also tested whole genome amplification (10 worms) vs pooling samples (10,000 worms), and for the most part it worked well, although as expected it did also amplify any contamination. Still that's better than sequencing that many worms haha!
We sequenced 60 new genomes from eight orders, and bolstered our sampling with existing genomes/ transcriptomes for a total of 156 🪱 and 10 outgroups. Not knowing much about worms means I can just analyze the data without priors, using various methods on the nucleotide and amino acid dataset.
January 2, 2025 at 2:30 PM
We sequenced 60 new genomes from eight orders, and bolstered our sampling with existing genomes/ transcriptomes for a total of 156 🪱 and 10 outgroups. Not knowing much about worms means I can just analyze the data without priors, using various methods on the nucleotide and amino acid dataset.
The talk went really well, sold out very fast (it was free but you had to register) and the kids were really excited. Some even asked for my autograph, so I guess I am now the Taylor Swift of entomology now 💅
December 23, 2024 at 3:03 PM
The talk went really well, sold out very fast (it was free but you had to register) and the kids were really excited. Some even asked for my autograph, so I guess I am now the Taylor Swift of entomology now 💅
Excited (and a tad nervous) to give my first presentation in Mandarin at the Sichuan University Museum this Sunday. Luckily it is more of an outreach talk about my journey as an entomologist rather than really technical stuff, so I should be able to fumble my way through it hahaha.
December 17, 2024 at 8:33 AM
Excited (and a tad nervous) to give my first presentation in Mandarin at the Sichuan University Museum this Sunday. Luckily it is more of an outreach talk about my journey as an entomologist rather than really technical stuff, so I should be able to fumble my way through it hahaha.
We are less than two weeks away from the annual online meeting for the International Society of Hymenopterists. This year we again have four phenomenal keynote speakers, and it is completely free for members. For more information on how to sign up:
www.hymenopterists.org/hymathon-202...
www.hymenopterists.org/hymathon-202...
November 26, 2024 at 10:00 AM
We are less than two weeks away from the annual online meeting for the International Society of Hymenopterists. This year we again have four phenomenal keynote speakers, and it is completely free for members. For more information on how to sign up:
www.hymenopterists.org/hymathon-202...
www.hymenopterists.org/hymathon-202...
Pteromalidae sensu stricto is now much easier to key since it's been split into 24 families, but I still gotta fight through old keys with long couplets to get to the genus level, propodeal characters are the worst 🫠
November 25, 2024 at 2:23 PM
Pteromalidae sensu stricto is now much easier to key since it's been split into 24 families, but I still gotta fight through old keys with long couplets to get to the genus level, propodeal characters are the worst 🫠
Alright my Twitter account is officially deactivated, I am here full time now!
I am in China for the next few months, establishing long term collaborations to work on the incredible gall wasp/parasitoid fauna here.
Pics are from Beijing, loved a brief stop in my beautiful hometown.
I am in China for the next few months, establishing long term collaborations to work on the incredible gall wasp/parasitoid fauna here.
Pics are from Beijing, loved a brief stop in my beautiful hometown.
November 14, 2024 at 1:28 AM
Alright my Twitter account is officially deactivated, I am here full time now!
I am in China for the next few months, establishing long term collaborations to work on the incredible gall wasp/parasitoid fauna here.
Pics are from Beijing, loved a brief stop in my beautiful hometown.
I am in China for the next few months, establishing long term collaborations to work on the incredible gall wasp/parasitoid fauna here.
Pics are from Beijing, loved a brief stop in my beautiful hometown.
We also highlighted the unresolved key nodes that still remains within the higher level phylogeny, and the huge variation in divergence age estimates for Hymenoptera 🧪.
July 18, 2024 at 3:44 PM
We also highlighted the unresolved key nodes that still remains within the higher level phylogeny, and the huge variation in divergence age estimates for Hymenoptera 🧪.
We summarized the current classification of Hymenoptera systematics, which includes 29 extant superfamilies / 143 families, plus 6 more extinct superfamilies/67 families 🧪.
July 18, 2024 at 3:43 PM
We summarized the current classification of Hymenoptera systematics, which includes 29 extant superfamilies / 143 families, plus 6 more extinct superfamilies/67 families 🧪.
Our paper on exploring the network structure and taxonomic composition of oak gall wasp community in Sichuan🇨🇳 is now published! I played a very small role in this long term project, but I was able to tag along for some field work last spring to the magical Mt. Emei. 🧪
July 16, 2024 at 12:17 PM
Our paper on exploring the network structure and taxonomic composition of oak gall wasp community in Sichuan🇨🇳 is now published! I played a very small role in this long term project, but I was able to tag along for some field work last spring to the magical Mt. Emei. 🧪
We’ve got a new phylogeny of the ants out as a preprint! It’s been an exciting collaboration with some awesome 🐜 people for the past few years, led by Marek Borowiec and @corriemoreau.bsky.social:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 6, 2024 at 6:08 AM
We’ve got a new phylogeny of the ants out as a preprint! It’s been an exciting collaboration with some awesome 🐜 people for the past few years, led by Marek Borowiec and @corriemoreau.bsky.social:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our study on the cophylogenetic interactions between oak gall wasps and their parasitoids in Hungary, using a Bayesian mixed modelling framework is now available as a preprint.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 3, 2024 at 9:32 AM
Our study on the cophylogenetic interactions between oak gall wasps and their parasitoids in Hungary, using a Bayesian mixed modelling framework is now available as a preprint.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...