Conference Highlights: ESEB, DZG & ENTO25

This summer our team had a strong presence at major international conferences. At the Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) 2025, Weronika Antoł and Monika Ostap-Chęć presented posters that highlighted the role of microbial communities in shaping honeybee physiology and behavior. Weronika’s work explored how crop-associated microbes may contribute to endogenous ethanol production, while Monika showed results related to how infection with the gut parasite Nosema ceranae alters ethanol preference and reshapes microbial communities.

Weronika (left) and Monika (right) next to the ESEB 2025 welcome banner. Photo credit: Monika Ostap-Chec.

A bit later, at the 117th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG), Daniel Stec gave a talk on how local microhabitat features and broad environmental traits interact to structure tardigrade communities along an altitudinal gradient in the Italian Alps. At the same meeting, Krzysztof Miler talked about findings on the evolutionary ecology of ethanol in honeybees, showing that bees tolerate low, ecologically relevant doses and that microbes and parasites play a key role in shaping both exposure and preference.

Finally, at ENTO25, the Royal Entomological Society’s annual meeting dedicated to insect science, Krzysztof returned to the topic of ethanol and honeybees, emphasizing its behavioral relevance and adaptive role in pollinator ecology. His presentation showed that bees actively regulate ethanol intake in context-dependent ways, particularly under infection stress, highlighting the importance of microbial fermentation products in shaping plant–pollinator interactions.