Mattia Menchetti

🦋🧬 A milestone for biodiversity genomics.
Project Psyche is building chromosome-level genomes for ~11,000 European butterflies & moths — 1,000 sequenced, 3,000+ collected, across 34 countries.

🔗 Read the publication: bit.ly/ProjectPsyche
@projectpsyche.bsky.social

#BiodiversityGenomics 🧬🌍

It was great to meet so many other Early Career Researchers at our #TIBS2026 mixer last night - both catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

To celebrate all the ECR Biogeographers, we have created a starter pack so you can follow all the exciting work being done:
go.bsky.app/KvnmdnK

Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...

How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?

Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.

🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515

Thrilled to have received these two prizes for my PhD thesis! 🤩 More info at news covered by IBE.

Genome sequencing progress for Lepidoptera. Stacked bar charts represent the cumulative number of lepidopteran species with a reference genome per year. The colours represent the different levels of genome assembly quality, ranging from contig to chromosome-level. Numbers in brackets represent the range in numbers of species that have a given assembly level per year. Data derived from GoaT on 05.09.2025.

(1/6) 🦋 We are thrilled to announce the release of the 1,000th reference genome of Lepidoptera species found in Europe!
This goal was reached with the release of Stenoptilia islandicus, also known as the mountain plume moth.
Read the story below!👇🏽

Wasmaniia auropunctata queen

Our study on the recent invasion of the Little Fire #Ant in Southern Europe (including France!) was published today in Diversity & Distribution @consbiog.bsky.social #OA

great collaborative work led by @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social
@inrae-dpt-spe.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

First field trip of the #WG2 has come to an end! We will share some of the most relevant moments of this fantastic week! Stay tuned 🦋🧬

👩🏾‍💻 It’s finally here! 👩🏾‍💻

We’re excited to announce the launch of our official website for Cost Action 10kLepGenomes: www.10klepgenomes.eu 🦋

We invite you to explore and stay updated with our progress in Lepidoptera genomics! 🧬

#10kLepGenomes #Lepidoptera #Genomics

Collage of Lepidoptera-inspired tattoos featuring Actias isabellae, Erebia palarica, Acherontia atropos, Heliconius hermathena vereatta, Urbanus esmeraldus, Erebia euryale, Danaus plexippus and other Lepidoptera-related designs.

#Moths and #butterflies hold a special place in the hearts of #ProjectPsyche members, and some have chosen to carry them on their skin forever! 🦋
Check out this collage of Lepidoptera-inspired tattoos from our community, featuring real species and artistic interpretations alike 🎨

(1/4)🦋 Introducing Project Psyche! A groundbreaking initiative to sequence the genomes of all 11,000 species of butterflies and moths in Europe. The goal is to analyse this data to understand global climate insecurity and threats to biodiversity on a genomic level🧬 #ProjectPsyche #Genomics

Thanks to the Project Psyche and the Sanger Institute for such a fantastic course!

🚨 New Paper Alert! 🚨

🐜 How did ants evolve their highly specialized queens and workers?

With @adriatica.bsky.social, we reveal a key evolutionary innovation: adult control over larval feeding unlocked extreme caste dimorphism and complex societies. 🧵👇

🔗 Read in @pnas.org: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

📢Exciting Opportunity!! 🙌
We are hiring a reseach assistant!
Do you have experience in computerized tomography of insects and 3D segmentation? Come to work with us!
@ibb-botanic.bsky.social
#LabPaleoecology

It’s not the head, it’s the butt!
Meet a completely unknown organism: a blow fly (Calliphoridae) that evolved social integration in termite nests using a false termite head in the posterior part of the body.
@CurrentBiology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Awful and they won't be satisfied with even this. If not stopped, DOGE will dismantle American leadership in science & damage communities and economies throughout the US.

joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/cutting-th...

The Idiot's Guide to Effective Population Size This is a reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size (Ne), inspired by a classic, self-published manual of automotive repair ‘for the compleat idiot’...

Robin Waples' reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size (Ne) #biodiversity #genomics #conservation #evolution onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Thanks! 😄

Thrilled to receive the #MSCA grant with the AntTRAILS project! 🎉 I will explore the genomic legacy of human transitions in Mediterranean ants across history at Bonnie Blaimer’s lab (@mfnberlin.bsky.social) and with Pablo Librado (@ibe-barcelona.bsky.social). Lots of ants and fun ahead! 🐜