New from me, with a short thread www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/
The gene ivory:mir-193 controls scale type differentiation in Heliconius butterflies - Nature Communications
Butterfly wing scales are diverse cell types that generate the colours and structures used in communication and adaptation. This study shows that the non-coding RNA ‘ivory’ controls alternative scale-...
www.nature.com
November 2, 2026 at 6:34 PM
New from me, with a short thread www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/
Big congrats to Mar for leading this preprint study!
Heliconius besckei occurs only in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. We found that it repeatedly exchanged genes with related species, sometimes more in one direction, and may have had more chances for contact during ice ages.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Heliconius besckei occurs only in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. We found that it repeatedly exchanged genes with related species, sometimes more in one direction, and may have had more chances for contact during ice ages.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
doi.org
November 3, 2026 at 8:23 AM
Big congrats to Mar for leading this preprint study!
Heliconius besckei occurs only in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. We found that it repeatedly exchanged genes with related species, sometimes more in one direction, and may have had more chances for contact during ice ages.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Heliconius besckei occurs only in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. We found that it repeatedly exchanged genes with related species, sometimes more in one direction, and may have had more chances for contact during ice ages.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Smash cut forward to my next postdoc with Owen McMillan and Greg Wray - we were doing a bunch of Heliconius single cell RNA sequencing, and with the vital assistance of Larry Gilbert, we were able to get a small developmental time series of these "ivory" mutants for scRNA. 4/
November 2, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Smash cut forward to my next postdoc with Owen McMillan and Greg Wray - we were doing a bunch of Heliconius single cell RNA sequencing, and with the vital assistance of Larry Gilbert, we were able to get a small developmental time series of these "ivory" mutants for scRNA. 4/
What a great story. This should be a popular book! -- Hanly 2030. How I discovered the master switch "ivory" (with a little help from my friends)! To my mind, this shows the power of collaboration we all started with the Heliconius Genome Consortium 2012. Much has flowed from that amazing start!
November 4, 2026 at 2:58 AM
What a great story. This should be a popular book! -- Hanly 2030. How I discovered the master switch "ivory" (with a little help from my friends)! To my mind, this shows the power of collaboration we all started with the Heliconius Genome Consortium 2012. Much has flowed from that amazing start!
ho boy there's some confusing data here. In Heliconius naturally occuring hybrids that vary at this locus, you get a 'shadow band' effect that for sure implies haploinsufficiency. Attached is a hybrid cross and a zoom on the shadow. BUT
November 3, 2026 at 11:54 PM
ho boy there's some confusing data here. In Heliconius naturally occuring hybrids that vary at this locus, you get a 'shadow band' effect that for sure implies haploinsufficiency. Attached is a hybrid cross and a zoom on the shadow. BUT
this is great! i guess this means you still culture Heliconius this way, out of deference to history? (when i was a phd, we still used milk bottles to grow flies, because of history).
November 3, 2026 at 10:48 PM
this is great! i guess this means you still culture Heliconius this way, out of deference to history? (when i was a phd, we still used milk bottles to grow flies, because of history).
Back in 2018, @wtf-r-species.bsky.social tweeted a picture of an ebay specimen that caught my eye. Through a long and elaborate process we ended up figuring out that there was an insectary mutant stock carrying a large deletion that caused this phenotype. academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar... 3/
November 2, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Back in 2018, @wtf-r-species.bsky.social tweeted a picture of an ebay specimen that caught my eye. Through a long and elaborate process we ended up figuring out that there was an insectary mutant stock carrying a large deletion that caused this phenotype. academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar... 3/
While we were at that, I worked with an amazing amazing team of interns and postbac scholars at STRI to knock out both ivory and miR-193 in a swathe of Heliconius species and pattern forms - which, let me tell you, was a logistical tour de force from that squad. 6/
November 2, 2026 at 6:34 PM
While we were at that, I worked with an amazing amazing team of interns and postbac scholars at STRI to knock out both ivory and miR-193 in a swathe of Heliconius species and pattern forms - which, let me tell you, was a logistical tour de force from that squad. 6/
Experience Improves Spatial Foraging Performance in a Complex Environment in Heliconius Butterflies Ecol&Evol
Experience Improves Spatial Foraging Performance in a Complex Environment in Heliconius Butterflies
Ecology and Evolution, Volume 16, Issue 11, November 2026.
dlvr.it
October 29, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Experience Improves Spatial Foraging Performance in a Complex Environment in Heliconius Butterflies Ecol&Evol
Experience Improves Spatial Foraging Performance in a Complex Environment in Heliconius Butterflies Ecol&Evol
Experience Improves Spatial Foraging Performance in a Complex Environment in Heliconius Butterflies
Ecology and Evolution, Volume 16, Issue 11, November 2026.
dlvr.it
October 29, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Experience Improves Spatial Foraging Performance in a Complex Environment in Heliconius Butterflies Ecol&Evol
These findings that lineages "slosh" around over vast continental areas, based on the fossil record in mammals, is concordant with our recent data on genomic analyses of Heliconius butterflies, where we have no fossil record.
October 27, 2026 at 2:59 AM
These findings that lineages "slosh" around over vast continental areas, based on the fossil record in mammals, is concordant with our recent data on genomic analyses of Heliconius butterflies, where we have no fossil record.
#Martian
To-sol is 222 Sagittarius 26
LS 012.5°
On this sol in 153 (1897 January 13-14):
Percival Lowell observed and drew the oases Hespiridum Lacus, Minor Lacus, and Niger Lacus, as well as the canals Amenthes, Astapus, Boreas, Boreosyrtis, Dosaron, Heliconius II....
To-sol is 222 Sagittarius 26
LS 012.5°
On this sol in 153 (1897 January 13-14):
Percival Lowell observed and drew the oases Hespiridum Lacus, Minor Lacus, and Niger Lacus, as well as the canals Amenthes, Astapus, Boreas, Boreosyrtis, Dosaron, Heliconius II....
October 26, 2026 at 2:41 PM
#Martian
To-sol is 222 Sagittarius 26
LS 012.5°
On this sol in 153 (1897 January 13-14):
Percival Lowell observed and drew the oases Hespiridum Lacus, Minor Lacus, and Niger Lacus, as well as the canals Amenthes, Astapus, Boreas, Boreosyrtis, Dosaron, Heliconius II....
To-sol is 222 Sagittarius 26
LS 012.5°
On this sol in 153 (1897 January 13-14):
Percival Lowell observed and drew the oases Hespiridum Lacus, Minor Lacus, and Niger Lacus, as well as the canals Amenthes, Astapus, Boreas, Boreosyrtis, Dosaron, Heliconius II....
It's not just maize, it's every genome. Currently, my favourite organism, Heliconius butterflies, is one of the champions of mess -- Fang, B., & Edwards, S.V. 2025. Pangenomes: new tools for ecological and evolutionary genomics. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 41:230–244. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
October 23, 2026 at 4:02 AM
It's not just maize, it's every genome. Currently, my favourite organism, Heliconius butterflies, is one of the champions of mess -- Fang, B., & Edwards, S.V. 2025. Pangenomes: new tools for ecological and evolutionary genomics. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 41:230–244. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
seems to me fairly consistent with point mutation diversity pi (e.g. Heliconius ~30 times more diverse than apes)
October 23, 2026 at 7:13 AM
seems to me fairly consistent with point mutation diversity pi (e.g. Heliconius ~30 times more diverse than apes)
Heliconius bat
What could be more Halloween than a BAT?
How about a bat colored like a JACK-O-LANTERN?
Let's meet the Painted Bat (Kerivoula picta), also called the butterfly bat, native to SE Asia. 🦇🎃
(📷: MerlinTuttle.org)
How about a bat colored like a JACK-O-LANTERN?
Let's meet the Painted Bat (Kerivoula picta), also called the butterfly bat, native to SE Asia. 🦇🎃
(📷: MerlinTuttle.org)
October 20, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Heliconius bat
it is just a ton of fun to get to introduce students to some of these classic study systems. it's like introducing someone to an old friend and getting to see them click. last week we talked Heliconius and they were very into it, so today should be fun!
oh boy, i get to talk about anoles today in class, fuck yeah !!!
October 21, 2026 at 7:41 PM
it is just a ton of fun to get to introduce students to some of these classic study systems. it's like introducing someone to an old friend and getting to see them click. last week we talked Heliconius and they were very into it, so today should be fun!
October 20, 2026 at 11:51 AM
There was a room in the Lightner Museum with lots of natural artifacts #butterflies
October 22, 2026 at 11:44 PM
There was a room in the Lightner Museum with lots of natural artifacts #butterflies
October 20, 2026 at 6:17 AM
Heliconius butterflies demonstrate that superior nutrition, evolutionary adaptations, and conserved ageing pathways collectively enable extended lifespans with preserved health quality.
https://news.gmj.ge/briefs/three-key-lessons-heliconius-butterflies-teach-about-ageing-and-longevity/
https://news.gmj.ge/briefs/three-key-lessons-heliconius-butterflies-teach-about-ageing-and-longevity/
Three Key Lessons Heliconius Butterflies Teach About Ageing and Longevity
Heliconius butterflies demonstrate that superior nutrition, evolutionary adaptations, and conserved ageing pathways collectively enable extended lifespans with preserved health quality.
news.gmj.ge
October 18, 2026 at 11:27 AM
Heliconius butterflies demonstrate that superior nutrition, evolutionary adaptations, and conserved ageing pathways collectively enable extended lifespans with preserved health quality.
https://news.gmj.ge/briefs/three-key-lessons-heliconius-butterflies-teach-about-ageing-and-longevity/
https://news.gmj.ge/briefs/three-key-lessons-heliconius-butterflies-teach-about-ageing-and-longevity/
Me watching a great departmental seminar by Marcus Kronforst on #Heliconius species in Costa Rica, from a pool in Costa Rica. #sabbaticallife
October 13, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Me watching a great departmental seminar by Marcus Kronforst on #Heliconius species in Costa Rica, from a pool in Costa Rica. #sabbaticallife
🇺🇸 Another symposium confirmed! Evolution, Genetics, and Behavior of Heliconius. 🦋 Swipe to meet the speakers!
#bobelen2027 #lepidoptera #science #unicamp
#bobelen2027 #lepidoptera #science #unicamp
October 11, 2026 at 1:02 PM
🇺🇸 Another symposium confirmed! Evolution, Genetics, and Behavior of Heliconius. 🦋 Swipe to meet the speakers!
#bobelen2027 #lepidoptera #science #unicamp
#bobelen2027 #lepidoptera #science #unicamp
@heliconians If you knew Richard ffrench-Constant, you'd be sad that he has passed. I wrote about him in heliconius dot org: www.heliconius.org/2026/richard...
Richard ffrench-Constant, Heliconius Genome Consortium Pioneer – Heliconius Homepage
www.heliconius.org
October 9, 2026 at 3:43 AM
@heliconians If you knew Richard ffrench-Constant, you'd be sad that he has passed. I wrote about him in heliconius dot org: www.heliconius.org/2026/richard...
Part 2 of 4 showcasing chronophotography by Dr. Adrian Smith & Xavi Bou!
🦋Entomography #536: The Sapho Longwing (Heliconius Sapho). The overlapping wingbeats reveal a ribbon-like sculpture of black and blue as the butterfly takes flight!
#ScienceArt #NCMNS #PosterPrinting #ArtPrint #NatureArt
🦋Entomography #536: The Sapho Longwing (Heliconius Sapho). The overlapping wingbeats reveal a ribbon-like sculpture of black and blue as the butterfly takes flight!
#ScienceArt #NCMNS #PosterPrinting #ArtPrint #NatureArt
October 8, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Part 2 of 4 showcasing chronophotography by Dr. Adrian Smith & Xavi Bou!
🦋Entomography #536: The Sapho Longwing (Heliconius Sapho). The overlapping wingbeats reveal a ribbon-like sculpture of black and blue as the butterfly takes flight!
#ScienceArt #NCMNS #PosterPrinting #ArtPrint #NatureArt
🦋Entomography #536: The Sapho Longwing (Heliconius Sapho). The overlapping wingbeats reveal a ribbon-like sculpture of black and blue as the butterfly takes flight!
#ScienceArt #NCMNS #PosterPrinting #ArtPrint #NatureArt
Contrasting signatures of interspecific gene flow in the Atlantic Forest endemic butterfly Heliconius besckei https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756708v1
October 7, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Contrasting signatures of interspecific gene flow in the Atlantic Forest endemic butterfly Heliconius besckei https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756708v1