Jay Stafstrom

🚨Good news, everyone! 1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026. 2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu

Blind cave spiders~ This occurs due to the process of regressive evolution. In an environment without light, vision provides no advantage in finding prey or avoiding predators. The loss of their eyes means that energy and resources once used for eyes are instead allocated to other traits.

🚨 Uh-oh!!! A suuuper hot #PhD opportunity just dropped! My friend and collaborator Massimo De Agrò is looking for someone to explore jumping spider vision and neurophysiology! #psychophysics #jumpingspiders #greatPI - apply!!!! (Deadline December 17th) 🚨

🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨 Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social - employment benefits - 4 years funding - 1000% fun Deadline: 14/1/2026 Details: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Light pollution is a major factor in insect population declines. Switching to narrow-band LED lighting and shaded outdoor lighting could make a major difference. 🧪 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Charles Darwin the barnacle taxonomist, a story in two parts

Hey All: Google is pulling the "automatically on for anyone over 18" bullshit with Gemini that the Dropbox did for its AI, but I can't afford to ditch Google Drive/Docs/Workspace. If you have a personal Google Account, first go to gemini.google.com/extensions and turn everything off...

We just re-locate our twitter/X-history with the help of @blueark.app and then our moving will be final. Please help us to build a new #neuroethology community here by asking colleagues to follow us and by using hashtags or linking @neuroethology.org so that we can share your content 🧪🧠🦋🪲🐝🦑🐟🦐🐜🐦🐸🐢🦈🪼

doi.org/10.1073/pnas... Olfaction in spiders. We found that the wall pore sensilla in spiders look similar from the outside to those of insects, but differ ultrastructurally in various ways. Independent evolution! 🧪

#Insertaninvert2024 October theme: Eyes Lensless: Fuzzy Nautilus (Allonautilus scrobiculatus) Lens eyes: Ogre-faced Spider (Deinopis spinosa) Compound eyes: Drake Mackerel (Ephemera vulgata) Eyeless: Feather Millipede (Brachycybe lecontii)

My first time being part of a published article! Everything about Dolomedes in one place. I wrote the section on parental care. 🕷️ I am very grateful to all of the collaborators on this paper especially Dr. Chrissie Painting and my advisor Eileen. www.frontiersin.org/journals/ara...

Alright arachnologists and arachnid enthusiasts, let’s get this started! Drop a comment below if you would like to be added or have people to add. Let’s make the official AAS starter pack 💪🕷️🦂🕸️ go.bsky.app/8Nb8974

I made a starter pack for animal behaviour researchers / ethologists! please share and feel free to self-nominate or suggest others to be added as this is very much still a work in progress and not an exhaustive list 🌍🧪😊 #SciSky #BioSky #AnimalBehaviour #AnimalBehavior #Ethology go.bsky.app/Tr8VZpV

Okedoke, giving this app another shot. Really miss the art and science I used to see on Twitter. Here's a quick contribution: Net-casting spider + radial symmetry = seasonally appropriate image from upstate NY. Posting the original image too because I think it's also pretty cool :)

Hi! I'm a senior undergrad entomology major at Cornell in the Hoy lab working with @jaystafstrom.bsky.social on the downward-facing eyes of ogre-faced spiders! Interested in sensory biology & behavior - especially with arthropod study systems (spiders haha). Looking forward to meeting new people :)

Friday the 13th in #Arachtober...gotta share something worthy of the occasion. Here's the first Portia I ever saw :) She was a delight.

Are folks doing #Arachtober over here?

Buckle up, emojikitchen.dev isn't messing around. Combining spider emoji + cat/dog/bear gives you something predictably cute (or nightmare fuel depending on your taste). But spider + wolf emoji? You get a MORPHOLOGICALLY ACCURATE WOLF SPIDER. Even the eye arrangement is correct. Pure brilliance.