Aleix Palahí i Torres

To celebrate the genomes for 1,000 (!) species of Lepidoptera in Europe, Project Psyche has released a preprint outlining our ambitions to jointly sequence & leverage genomes of all 11,000 species in Europe to propel science, conservation & society.

This was a joy to write together as a community!

Global phenology maps reveal the drivers and effects of seasonal asynchrony - Nature A global land surface phenology map predicts complex geographical discontinuities in flowering phenology, genetic divergence and harvest seasonality across a range of taxa.

Nature research paper: Global phenology maps reveal the drivers and effects of seasonal asynchrony

go.nature.com/41mYj5q

Ripple bugs use a special fan-like structure on their middle legs to speed and steer through turbulent waters. In a new Science study, researchers report a water-walking robot inspired by this feature.

Learn more in our latest issue: https://scim.ag/3V8FjDU

Two last two things:
This paper comes from the thesis project of a super star MSc student @uu.se, Cesc, who put in a tremendous amount of work. By the way, he's looking for a PhD in case anyone is interested... #ProudPI

Hi-reComb: constructing recombination maps from bulk gamete Hi-C sequencing Abstract. Recombination is central to genetics and to evolution of sexually reproducing organisms. However, obtaining accurate estimates of recombination r

Want to make recombination maps from sperm/pollen/gametes? There is an easy way, based on Hi-C sequencing.

Full details in the Hi-reComb paper now in Genetics:
doi.org/10.1093/gene...

Thanks to Richard Durbin and Ed Green and a great group of co-authors for contributions.

No visit to Barcelona is complete without dinner at Rasoterra

My receding hairline and I yapping about the genetic consequences of wing length plasticity at #ESEB2025

Aphrodite Fritillary in Michigan, a rapidly declining species of butterfly in the midwestern United States. CREDIT: Ronda Spink

Some 4.3 million observations of butterflies show that 59 of 136 species have declined in abundance over the past three decades, while no species has increased in abundance. Butterfly declines undoubtedly have large ecological consequences. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

We’re live!

An old image of a salivary gland chromosome from Drosophila melanogaster, with lines across different segments indicating contact points.

The original circos plot? From the 1947-1948 Carnegie Yearbook, the page prior to McClintock's Mutable Loci in Maize paper.

Alternative Splicing in TRPA1 Drives Sensory Adaptation to Electrophiles in Drosophilids https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.09.653172v1

Atalanta - Vanessa atalanta 1064 imago, langstrekkend noord 2025-05-12 Knokke - Het Zwin - Zwinuitbreiding (WV)

Large numbers of migrating red admiral at the belgian coast this evening, 864 flying north counted in 5 minutes! waarnemingen.be/observation/... @migrantmothuk.bsky.social @phylomigrationlab.bsky.social

6/6) Our study shows how long-distance dispersal and species interactions can shape diversification and biogeographic patterns over evolutionary time — driving disjunctions at both population and species levels.

5/6) Ecological niche modeling further supports a scenario where the establishment of V. atalanta in Europe displaced V. indica to Asia. This, in turn, caused the current disjunction between V. indica and its sister species V. vulcania, which is endemic to the Macaronesia.

4/6) Genomic analyses reveal introgression between European V. atalanta and V. indica, a species now found only in Asia. This suggests they once coexisted in Europe – a case of ancient sympatry.

3/6) We found that American and European Vanessa atalanta populations are genetically distinct. The species originated in North America and crossed the Atlantic during the Last Glacial Maximum – a rare case of natural trans-Atlantic dispersal.

2/6) Vanessa butterflies show a remarkable variation in migratory behaviour – from local endemics to obligate long-distance migrants. Some species display striking disjunct distributions across continents, either within species or between sister species.

1/6) New paper out in Molecular Ecology! We uncover the intriguing biogeographic history behind the Holarctic disjunct distributions in Vanessa butterflies. @phylomigrationlab.bsky.social
#biogeography #insectmigration #butterflymigration #butterflies #evolution
shorturl.at/UFrrU