Ant passionate PhD student @unibayreuth.bsky.social | Working with red wood ants and their myrmecophiles throughout Europe as part of the @monitant.bsky.social project 🐜🌳https://bsky.app/profile/melvinopolka.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/melvinopolka.bsky.social/post/3mtlk4bqx4c25Looking back on some great days at #IUSSI26 in Freiburg! As my first international IUSSI congress, it was incredibly inspiring to meet and exchange ideas with so many brilliant scientists. Hope to see you all again in South Africa! @uissi-social.bsky.social21 Aug 2026 10:22 +0000at://did:plc:js5fstl4osgasssjlrust4ta/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlk4bqx4c25https://bsky.app/profile/melvinopolka.bsky.social/post/3msddnsq7222uExcited to share our new paper on injuries in ants! 🥳 🐜 Together with Alina Koeters and @etf1989.bsky.social, we quantified injury rates and affected body regions among native ant species collected in Bavaria. If you’d like to learn more, read the full paper here: https://academic.oup.com/auk/article-abstract/106/1/163/5190983?redirectedFrom=fulltext05 Aug 2026 10:40 +0000at://did:plc:js5fstl4osgasssjlrust4ta/app.bsky.feed.post/3msddnsq7222uhttps://bsky.app/profile/melvinopolka.bsky.social/post/3mlnyjayk6c2eDuring our trip to the Bavarian Forest, we found some really nice nests of Coptoformica exsecta, where I was finally able to try out my new diffuser. It was difficult to get even a single worker in focus, as they were moving so quickly.12 May 2026 14:24 +0000at://did:plc:js5fstl4osgasssjlrust4ta/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnyjayk6c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/melvinopolka.bsky.social/post/3mk5qaglfx223Great to see these results finally published! Data Blanca (@bioivanezb.bsky.social) and I collected during my master’s research in Peruvian cacao agroforestry systems, where you can learn more about the favorite food of leafcutter ants and how herbivory damage strongly depends on distance! 🐜 [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Apr 2026 09:48 +0000at://did:plc:js5fstl4osgasssjlrust4ta/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk5qaglfx223https://bsky.app/profile/melvinopolka.bsky.social/post/3mgmkjftd3k2eOn Thursday, Gabriel Ziegler and I were invited to Berchtesgaden to talk about ants. Thank you again for the opportunity! There is currently an ant exhibition on the topic of wood ants with photos by Ingo Arndt, which is well worth seeing! I would have loved to stay longer in this beautiful setting.09 Mar 2026 09:35 +0000at://did:plc:js5fstl4osgasssjlrust4ta/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgmkjftd3k2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/melvinopolka.bsky.social/post/3mckifbukns2uProductive days in České Budějovice with @jiri-tuma.bsky.social and @eliaguariento.bsky.social, focusing on all aspects of camera traps for the MonitAnt project. We even squeezed in a wonderful trip to Šumava National Park. @monitant.bsky.social16 Jan 2026 16:11 +0000at://did:plc:js5fstl4osgasssjlrust4ta/app.bsky.feed.post/3mckifbukns2u