Excited to see this out!

Generalovic et al. studied the genetics of the black soldier fly, finding two highly divergent genetic clusters and signatures of domestication bottlenecks in this key species for the global industry of insects food and feed. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag097 #genome #evolution

Excited to be awarded a BBSRC grant with @henrylnorth.bsky.social to study pangenomes of hybridising Lepidoptera species

Voted

Human-potato coevolution

Read ‘Genetic parallelism underpins convergent mimicry coloration in Lepidoptera across 120 million years of evolution' from @york.ac.uk @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @joanameier.bsky.social, et al., in @plosbiology.org ⤵️ journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

No surprise - its Optix and Ivory again - amazing predictability of gene re-use in convergent mimicry phenotypes across amazonian mimicry rings @joanameier.bsky.social @wtf-r-species.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Wrote a fun little thing on gene tree discordance: authors.elsevier.com/a/1mzPI3QW8S...

If you are researcher or student in Latin America apply for our Biodiversity Genomics course in Colombia from 27th-31st July 2026 (10 days left for registration) biodiversitygenomicslatam.weebly.com

Back in the noughties when I was an academic, my lab did quite a bit of work on (conserved) alternative transcripts. This study in @plosbiology.org presents compelling evidence that most alternative transcripts are deleterious noise journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

I am advertising PhD opportunity with Syngenta to discover enzymes using microfluidics - an exciting collaboration with Florian Hollfelder in Biochemistry www.heliconius.zoo.cam.ac.uk/jobs/phd-ica...

Congratulations to Prof Ed Turner who has won a Pilkington Prize for excellence in teaching! He is recognised for his transformative and innovative teaching, as well as his outstanding outreach work with students from under-represented backgrounds. Read more: bit.ly/4lGKuYw

Excited so share our newest study using a single-library HiFi-CiFi approach to generate chromosome-scale diploid assemblies of two vole genomes, identifying putative drivers of divergent pair-bonding behavior, namely a prairie-vole-specific duplication of Avpr1a gene, led by @mabuelanin.bsky.social

I've just had a jaw-to-the-floor moment with this new paper from the Hines lab. They describe a yellow-white switch in bees, which maps to the same TF as the yellow-white switch in Colias butterflies, previously described by the @chriswheat.bsky.social lab. journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

We are thrilled to announce the next ECR (and apparently butterfly)-themed session of the Integration of Speciation seminar, featuring @charlottewright.bsky.social and @thymelicus.bsky.social + careers Q&A with Dr Sally Potter. Find the link on the Ios website & mailing list.

The #PestSurveyCard on Helicoverpa zea is now available! ➡️ link.europa.eu/GHgFVW EFSA ranked Helicoverpa zea among the EU candidate #PriorityPests: ➡️ bsky.app/profile/efsa... @chrisjiggins.bsky.social @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

This has been a great meeting, lots of exciting new genomics advances #AGBTGM26

EVOLUTIONARY GENOMICS: @chrisjiggins.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org talks about genomes and the network of life at the 2026 AGBT General Meeting. #AGBTGM26 #genomics #evolutionarygenomics

Mark Blaxter from @sangerinstitute.bsky.social describes the ambition of the @ebpgenome.bsky.social to #Biology26 in Switzerland

JOB ALERT! We are excited to announce that we are recruiting three new academics at lecturer level! Click the link below for more info on how to apply, and don’t forget to explore our research themes too! We look forward to receiving your applications! www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

A real pleasure to meet George Clarke and hear about his experiences growing up on a council estate. We both know the positive impact social housing can have on families’ lives. That’s why I’m determined to continue delivering more council homes as we build a fairer London for everyone.

Letter in Times today

I think we should be talking about this more www.brusselstimes.com/1916422/us-t...

Our new 416pp #FliesofBritainandIreland covering over 1300 species & with over 1500 photos is now being printed - due mid Feb 2026. You can still pre-order until 31 Jan bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @georgemcgavin.bsky.social

toucan mimicry is cool

Two-way native-invasive introgression and structural variants in invasive moth species. Admixture and exchange of adaptive alleles can facilitate adaptation, but this is also true for pests. Amazing work by @henrylnorth.bsky.social, @chrisjiggins.bsky.social and others, with a lot to think about.

Eight years ago, the US govt's malaria program took over the fight against the disease in northern Cameroon, one of the worst-affected places in the world, and went at it with all guns blazing. In March, it shut down overnight. I traveled there to see what came next. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/h...

Quote: "Using a decade-long time series of 975 genomes from hybridizing native and invasive Helicoverpa moths in Brazil, we demonstrate rapid, bidirectional adaptive introgression of pesticide resistance genes." #bioinvasions

"hybridisation has combined H. armigera adaptation to soy with H. zea Cry1Ac resistance, with global consequences for food security. Thus, the collision of genomes can drive rapid anthropogenic adaptation via combinatorial evolution."

We actually predicted this rather scary scenario in the grant proposal written BEFORE it happened. And then documented the evidence as the Bt resistance allele spread in Brazil during the grant.

One dramatic advance in evolutionary biology over the past 20 years has been the empirically lead shift in thought, away from rigid species boundaries towards introgression being very common, much of it adaptive. The ramifications are still rippling out (e.g. in ConBio). Below is a nice addition:

The collision of two genomes threatens global food security https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.25.696198v1

Excited about our new preprint showing bidirectional adaptive introgression between invasive and native crop pests over ecological timescales www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.22.695989v1

Day 21 of #InsectAdvent Christmas is a time of over-eating. But we're not the biggest feasters. Hermetia illucens (Black-Soldier fly) larvae are capable of eating up to 2x its own body mass in food per day - the best bio recyclers consuming our waste @royentsoc.bsky.social @dipterists.bsky.social

This is an exciting opportunity to work in Helsinki, and in collaboration with us in Cambridge… on moth colouration. Could focus on the role of Ivory long non coding RNA in regulating melanisation…

Moving out of my office after 19 years.

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

My main PhD work @monteirolab.bsky.social is now in @natecoevo.nature.com! We found a Hox gene promoter that helps butterflies🦋adjust their wing eyespots in response to seasonal temperatures🍃🍂, shedding light on the evolutionary origin of phenotypic plasticity. 1/9 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧬 Now published in Bioinformatics Advances: “Advances and challenges in understanding evolution through genome comparison.” Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbaf223

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Gift link: nyti.ms/48FOuUn

Exciting news! The next #PopGroup meeting will take place in Lille 🍟, France, 7–9 January 2026 – just 1 hour by train from London, Brussels, and Paris. This year, PopGroup will also host ALPHY, the annual meeting of Evolutionary Genomics. More info: populationgeneticsgroup.org.uk See you there !

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

2 job adverts on a NERC project w myself + @darrenobbard.bsky.social on “What determines the virome: ecology and the environment, evolution, or species history?” early 2026 in @uniexecec.bsky.social - Postdoc: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr... - RA: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr... Pls share!

If you are from the US and interested in applying for a PhD with me (or anyone else @camzoology.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social), your deadline for the gates scholarship is October 15! (You’ll need to write a research proposal, so contact PIs now) www.gatescambridge.org/programme/th...

I have gotten a bit behind at sharing the lab’s latest work - this paper is now published - check it out! www.cell.com/cell-reports... Long story short: insulin is the major determinant of female fat storage, with a relatively minor effect on males.

I'll start reviewing applications in a little over 3 weeks for this PhD position. You could be doing fieldwork here! (or focus only on dry lab work if that floats your boat)

Our paper Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus was published in Science today! It features inversions, selection in action, museum specimens and putative new ecotypes. doi.org/10.1126/scie...

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!

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was a scientific illustrator most famous for her 'Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium'. In this book filled with beautifully illustrated plates she explored the then poorly understood concept of insect metamorphosis.