Francesco Cicconardi

Over 4,600 odorant receptors annotated across 70+ Nymphalids (mostly Heliconiinae) and moths!
Our new paper reveals lineage-specific OR expansions/contractions shaping butterfly olfactory evolution.
Huge thanks to @giorgiobianchini and his amazing treeviewer.org
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

We find striking lineage specific expansions and contractions...

Evolution of the olfactory system during the radiation of Heliconiini butterflies Abstract. Sensory system evolution plays a crucial role in shaping species’ interactions with their environment, yet the extent to which olfactory system d

New paper out! A nice collaboration.
We explore how olfactory brain structures and receptors evolved across this remarkable group, Heliconiini butterflies.

Olfactory floral mimicry of injured ants mediates the attraction of kleptoparasitic fly pollinators Mochizuki reports a plant that lures pollinating flies by imitating the scent of ants injured by predators. This study reveals the first known case of ant mimicry in flowers and uncovers previously un...

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Finally... Grant proposal submitted!

MBE | Tales of a Super Butterfly: Is Vanessa carye a Truly Migrant Species? Unraveling Migration Using Morphological and Genomics Approaches

Villalobos-Leiva et al. analysed population structure, genetic diversity, and geometric morphometrics of wing shape in Vanessa carye, supporting its status as a migratory species with the longest journey among American butterflies.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molb...

#evobio #molbio #migration

Scientific productivity gap based on English-language peer-reviewed papers. Shown are the maximum % differences in the number of peer-reviewed papers published by female native English speakers from a high-income country (-45%), female non-native English speakers from a high-income country (-60%), and female non-native English speakers from a lower-middle income country (-70%), compared to male native English speakers from a high-income country (red flag).

Women, non-native English speakers & those form low-income countries are disadvantaged in science but by how much? We found that women with non-English first languages from low-income countries publish up to 70% fewer in English than their counterparts. 1/5
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
#languagebarriers

YouTube video by Middle East Eye #GameOverIsrael: European campaign calls to boycott Israel in football

#GameOverIsrael

Rapid Divergence of Visual Systems and Signaling Traits to Contrasting Light Regimes During Early Speciation of African Crater Lake Cichlid Fish Abstract. Sensory adaptation is widely hypothesized to drive ecological speciation, yet empirical evidence from natural populations undergoing early stage

Very proud of this extremely collaborative piece: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Here, we show that divergence in visual systems - in response to differences in the light environment - leads to rapid divergence in sexually selected colour traits. Work brilliantly led by Madeleine Carruthers. 🐟👀🎨

Genomic signatures indicate biodiversity loss in an endemic island ant fauna Insect populations have declined worldwide, but the extent and drivers of these declines are debated. Most studies rely on field surveys performed in the past century, leaving gaps in our understandin...

A new Science study of ants in Fiji—involving genomic sequencing of over 4000 ant specimens from museum collections—shows that most native species have been in decline since humans first arrived in the archipelago 3000 years ago. https://scim.ag/489mI2o

𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘱.

Our paper on central complex evolution in Heliconiini butterflies is now available as reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social 🎉🎉. Please check out the helpful and constructive reviews which we are going to address in the next weeks 🤗 elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre... @ebablab.bsky.social

This is figure 2, which shows trends in incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases across the Amazon.

Protecting Indigenous territories in areas of the Amazon rainforest with high levels of forest cover may help reduce the number of cases of several diseases in the surrounding areas, according to an analysis in Communications Earth & Environment. go.nature.com/47z1jPX 🧪

'Butterfly' Explores 4,000 Years of Our Fascination with Lepidoptera in Art and Science A new book forthcoming from Phaidon celebrates our love for these prolific winged things throughout millennia.

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

YouTube video by Autumn Parks I Booped a Caterpillar Every Day for 33 Days.

Boop!

More on the ancient foundation of animal development. Coyle & King illustrate how core regulatory modules were present in our pre-animal ancestors. The key was not invention, but recycling & new protein interactions. #CellBiology #multicellularity #protistsOnSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How Did Evolution Halve Genome Size During an Oceanic Island Colonization? Abstract. Red devil spiders of the genus Dysdera colonized the Canary Islands and underwent an extraordinary diversification. Notably, their genomes are ne

Red devil spiders from the Canary Islands have a genome half the size of mainland counterparts - Pisarenco, @jrozasub.bsky.social et al. show how purifying selection against slightly deleterious DNA and TE insertions is the primary mechanism.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206

#evobio #molbio #TEsky

MBE | Similar Genetic Routes Are Independently Targeted for Mimetic Color Convergence in Bumble Bees

Hines et al. examined the genetics of parallel color pattern acquisition in three bumble bees in Western N. America - in three lineages, color shifts map to the regulatory region of a segmental-fate-determining Hox gene called Abdominal B.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf187

#evobio #molbio

Finally good news!

This is a great opportunity to learn all about genomics!!!!!

Fuzzy white butterfly with green eyes and dark tarsi resting on a leaf, it has dark spots on the undersides of the wings accented with green and silver metal scales.

Fuzzy white butterfly with green eyes and dark tarsi resting on a leaf, it has red polygons scattered on the undersides of its wings that are accented with green and silver metal scales. The color scheme of this jewelmark reminds me of Christmas decorations.

“Bedazzled Jewels” The #metalmark butterflies (Fam. #Riodinidae) include many stunning species w/ diverse forms. In this group are the #Helicopiini, which are furry & often adorned w/ metallic scales. Here are Elegant #Jewelmark, #Anteros allectus, & Black-bellied Jewelmark, A. formosus. #Ecuador

This is figure 1, which shows the prospective cohort studies examining the interrelationship of genetics, plasma metabolomics, MedDiet, cognitive function and dementia risk.

A study in Nature Medicine identifies the Mediterranean diet as a promising approach to mitigate genetically dependent Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias risk by targeting a broad spectrum of metabolic pathways. go.nature.com/469m6s3 #medsky 🍎📃 🧪

$2.4B of Harvard’s canceled research grants, visualized | CNN As Harvard University and the Trump administration negotiate a funding stalemate, billions of dollars of research grants hang in the balance.

"#Antisemitism" cuts...

edition.cnn.com/2025/08/25/u...

Love this photo of Monarch Butterflies in Ontario Canada probably Point Peel National that i went to yearly in Sept in my twenties as they gathered to cross Lake erie migrating south waited for the wind to change

YouTube video by The Economist How much of Gaza has Israel destroyed?

What is the scientific community doing about this genocide?

😲😲😲😲😲

Evolution has produced an incredible array of ways to be male & female. In some tiny cave-dwelling insect species, the female is the one with a penis. She uses it to hook into the male's vagina-like structure (for up to 70hrs) while "voluminous & probably nutritious semen is passed to the female"🧪🧬🪲

Cool stuff!