19-20 November 2026
Get your showdown ideas ready, your presentations prepared and your coffee stocked up, because the Society’s 24 hour online symposium is back! with keynote speakers, scientific talks from ISH members, student competitions, a quiz, and of course the Hymenoptera ShowDown…
Hymathon takes place over 24 hours, so wherever you are you can opt to join sessions in the middle of your day or the middle of your night – or indeed both! This year we again have four sessions (exact starting times to be confirmed):
Session 1 Thursday 19 November 17:00-22:00 UTC
Session 2 Friday 20 November 00:00 – 04:30 UTC
Session 3 Friday 20 November 06:30 – 11:00 UTC
Session 4 Friday 20 November 13:00 – 17:00 UTC
Register to attend here (Hymathon is free to all ISH members but zoom invites will only be sent upon registration).
Scientific talks
All ISH members are invited to present during #Hymathon2026, and we particularly encourage students, early career members and researchers from a diverse range of countries to present.
We welcome presentations on all aspects of Hymenoptera: behaviour, biology, systematics,
biological control, evolution and more! We invite both regular talks (15 minutes including questions) and short talks (5 minutes): the latter could cover any topic of interest to hymenopterists including field trip stories, amazing specimens, new methods for field, lab or collection work etc.
Presenters are limited to one talk (either 5 or 15 minutes) per person, plus are welcome to also participate in The Hymenoptera Showdown and art competition.
Note that while Hymathon is a live event we can accommodate a few pre-recorded talks if needed (e.g. due to internet bandwidth issues) – please get in touch with Natalie Dale-Skey to discuss this if you are not able to give a live presentation.
To register a talk or a Hymenoptera Showdown entry, complete the form here before 21 October 2026 (you will need to be logged into the website and a current member to register a presentation). Note that Session 1 has regularly been oversubscribed – if this is the only session you can present in it is advisable to register early as later submissions might have to be moved to another session.
Keynote talks
Information on keynotes coming soon!
Hymenoptera Showdown
Refereed in 2026 by Erinn Fagan-Jeffries
For the fourth year running, the Hymenoptera Showdown is back in 2026! The showdown is an opportunity to tell all ISH members why your group is the best (or at least the best loved…) – in three minutes.
GET READY TO RUMBLE!!
Do you think that your study group is the best in the entire Hymenoptera order? Is there one taxon so amazing you want to tell everyone about it? Then it is your time to shine and embrace some friendly showdown!
Here are the rules:
Participants will have 3 minutes to demonstrate why their group is the best in the entire Hymenoptera, backing up that assertion with a mix of fun, cool and scientific facts. Anything can be used: beautiful images of specimens, amazing biological traits, astonishing species diversity, a unique distribution, body size, fossil record, cool names, importance, society recognition… the sky is the limit to brag about your group!
Taxa can be chosen at any level (from suborder to species).
The winners will be selected by popular vote and will win glory to boast about their group to the entire Hymenoptera society!
Submit your Showdown entry using the form here
Student presentation prizes
There are student prizes for best standard-length talk in each session, and a prize for the best speed talk throughout all of Hymathon. Students are judged on scientific content and presentation. See here for the scorecard used for the 15 minute talks and here for the scorecard used for 5 minute talks.
Hymathon Social Events
Join us for the Hymathon social events including an insect trivia quiz! more information to follow soon
#Hymathon2026 organising committee:
Natalie Dale-Skey
Robin P. Marquez
Luke Kresslein
Maura Haas-Renninger
Gavin Broad
Cristina Vasilița
Amelie Hoecherl
Erinn Fagan-Jeffries
Thomas Hall
Miles Zhang
Jessica Awad