Niklas Wahlberg
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lepphylo.bsky.social
Niklas Wahlberg
@lepphylo.bsky.social
Professor in Biological Systematics, and Director of the Biological Museum, Lund University, Sweden
Butterflies and moths are my thing, especially their systematics and evolutionary history
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
PhD position available in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics (hoehnalab.github.io/job_adverts/...). Topic: analyzing gene expression evolution across several firefly species and linking expression changes to genomic architecture. The position is jointly supervised with @anaevolcatalan.bsky.social
hoehnalab.github.io
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@ebablab.bsky.social and I helped a bit in this really informative article by Robin Grob in the el Jundi lab on spatial orientation strategies in Lepidoptera. Have a read :-)
The diversity of lepidopteran spatial orientation strategies – neuronal mechanisms and emerging challenges in a changing world - Journal of Comparative Physiology A
The Lepidoptera, butterflies and moths, display an astonishing diversity of spatial orientation strategies essential for survival, reproduction, and ecological success. These spatial orientation strat...
link.springer.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
We are excited to welcome new members to our network of affiliated initiatives!
🦋 @projectpsyche.bsky.social aims to sequence the genomes of all butterflies and moths of Europe, supporting their conservation, protection and driving innovation.

🦋 Learn more: www.projectpsyche.org #Lepidoptera
November 7, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
I am recruting a #postdoc for a project investigating the evolution of avian heat tolerance in @erc.europa.eu project #HotLife. Fieldwork over broad latitudinal gradients, common-garden experiments, and more. Read more and apply👇
shorturl.at/WA1Qa

Would appreciate a re-post!

@evoldir.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
👇Check out this article about our work in the Italian Alps and Barcelona, where we’re studying moth and butterfly genomes as part of @projectpsyche.bsky.social ’s goal to sequence every species in Europe 🦋🧬

#10kLepGenomes #Genomics #Lepidoptera
In July, our reporter traveled to the Italian Alps and to Barcelona, Spain, to observe researchers capturing moths and butterflies and then sequencing their genomes. It was all part of the most ambitious biology project ever: to sequence every species on Earth.
The Genome Revolution Takes Flight: Mapping the DNA of Europe’s Lepidoptera
An expedition in the Italian Alps unleashes advanced genome sequencing
spectrum.ieee.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Finally out in Elife @elife.bsky.social : well done @joledamoisel.bsky.social ! Convergent iridescence and divergent chemical signals in sympatric sister-species of Amazonian butterflies doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
November 6, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Gelechioidea, that superdiverse superfamily of Lepidoptera that has been a super mess taxonomically, finally gets some structure at the family level with phylogenomics! Read all about it in our article led by PhD student @etkayapar.bsky.social !
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Integrating Sanger and next‐generation sequencing data sheds light on phylogenetic relationships among gelechioid moths (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea)
The maximum-likelihood analysis of a phylogenomic dataset of 1767 protein-coding genes from 57 ingroup taxa yields a robust family-level topology for Gelechioidea, revealing novel among-family relat...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Apologies for the delay. I can recommend Sean Clancy's excellent report in the link below, which lists all the known immigrant Noctuid species -

www.atropos.info/flight-arriv...
Migrant Moth Totals - Atropos
Introduction to migrant moth totals
www.atropos.info
October 29, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Vampire moths might sound more horror film than natural world, but they’re 100% real! 😱

See why some moths pick human blood over fruit juice in this week’s Surprising Science. 🩸🦇
October 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Exiting career-boosting opportunity for a a skilled and highly motivated postdoctoral researcher: We're hiring a Post-doctoral fellow in Evolutionary Biology!

Please apply no later than 31 October!
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
October 22, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Dear colleagues,
I'd like to share a short new contribution on the application of highly complex site-heterogeneous models, in particular CAT-GTR, to phylogenomic inference. While this paper arises from a recent publication on the early-branching topology of ants...
Ant phylogeny is not resolved by the application of site heterogeneous models - Communications Biology
Communications Biology - Ant phylogeny is not resolved by the application of site heterogeneous models
tinyurl.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Hi @migrantmothuk.bsky.social ! I'd really like to get in touch about what species of Noctuidae moths are considered migrants to the UK for a project we are working on. I'd be happy to continue through email, if possible (first name dot last name at biol dot lu dot se). Thanks so much!
October 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Very cool paper from @rogervilalab.bsky.social on the Canary islands Hipparchia butterflies just came out! Each island has its own species, seems like no gene flow between the islands!
academic.oup.com/isd/article/...
Colonization, diversification and speciation of the genus Hipparchia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Canary Islands
Abstract. The Canary Islands harbor numerous endemic species, showcasing a wide array of colonization and diversification patterns. Butterflies belonging t
academic.oup.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
A single “sexy” gene can help combat one of the most destructive fruit pests. By deleting the gene that lets female moths produce their mating scent, researchers created an “unsexy” moth and showed a way to turn insect attraction into a powerful pest control tool.
theconversation.com/we-created-a...
We created an ‘unsexy’ moth that could be the key to greener pest control
Scientists have learned how to turn off moths’ sex signals – this could help farmers fight pests without pesticides.
theconversation.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
New preprint! 🌳🐛

We combined experimental and genomic methods to study local adaptation of winter moths to variation in oak budburst timing in Wytham Woods, UK.

With @andreaestandia.bsky.social, Lea Beaupere, Ella Cole, and @sheldonbirds.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Integrative analysis of fine-scale local adaptation of winter moths to variable oak phenology
For herbivorous insects whose fitness depends on tight phenological synchrony with host plants, spatial variation in plant phenology can impose strong selective pressures and promote local adaptation ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 16, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Celebrating the first 1000 genomes of Lepidoptera in Europe, sequenced at @sangerinstitute.bsky.social in collaboration with sampling hubs across the UK via the DToL project www.darwintreeoflife.org & across Europe via
@projectpsyche.bsky.social www.projectpsyche.org &
@10klepgenomes.bsky.social
October 15, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
1/3 Excited that my final PhD MS is online! Big thanks to Ullasa (PI) (vanasiri.in) & collaborators Freerk and Urszula. Turns out humidity, not just temperature, plays a major role in butterfly eyespot plasticity. doi.org/10.1101/2025...
October 16, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Jakub worked with @jadrankarota.bsky.social and @lepphylo.bsky.social, applying DNA sequencing to degraded specimens and integrating collection data into phylogenomic studies.

Congratulations, Jakub!🦋🧬
#10kLepGenomes #Lepidoptera #Museomics
October 15, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
🎉We have announced a new professorship at the University of Gothenburg 🇸🇪 to celebrate our Crown Princess’s 50th birthday!
🌿Broad focus on biodiversity — from microbes to modelling
📢A fantastic opportunity for researchers working across scales and disciplines!

🔗 web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/103...
The Crown Princess Victoria Professorship in Biodiversity
Professorship in Biodiversity. The University of Gothenburg hereby announces a unique and prestigious position – the
web103.reachmee.com
October 3, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
I am hiring! - looking for a Staff Scientist to co-run my research group with me. Staff Scientist is a senior professional scientist role at EMBL. Please forward to people you might know who could be interested! embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
Staff Scientist
About EMBL-EBI EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute is a data powerhouse, utilised on a global scale to advance scientific discovery through bioinformatics and solutions to some of the world’s mos...
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com
October 10, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
How did animals repeatedly conquer land? 🌊➡️⛰️ We analysed ~1,000 gene repertoires (24M genes!) from all animal phyla to uncover how this happened. Work led by @gemmaeling.bsky.social & Klara Eleftheriadi, both first coauthors of this titanic effort!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Independent genomic trajectories shape adaptation to life on land across animal lineages
How animals repeatedly adapted to life on land is a central question in evolutionary biology. While terrestrialisation occurred independently across animal phyla, it remains unclear whether shared gen...
www.biorxiv.org
October 7, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Fifteen 2-year postdoc fellowships available at U. Toulouse 😍 through a MSCA-COFUND (AToUT tiris.univ-toulouse.fr/en/programs/...)

Interested to apply for a postdoctoral research project focusing on the genomics of farm animals or pollinators? Let me know!

Eligibility: <1 yr in 🇫🇷 in the last 3 yrs
AToUT – TIRIS – Toulouse's Science In and For Society
tiris.univ-toulouse.fr
September 18, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Project Psyche is featured in a new article out now on @spectrum.ieee.org! Check it out to get an insight into the efforts of @ebpgenome.bsky.social and the milestones achieved during the fieldtrip of #ProjectPsyche and @10klepgenomes.bsky.social to the Italian Alps 🦋
Whole Genome Sequencing Will Transform Our Understanding of Life. The Earth BioGenome Project is using cutting-edge tech like long-read sequencing to map the DNA of 1.8 million organisms. Researchers anticipate major discoveries in evolution and medicine.
Mass-Scale Genome Sequencing Will Change Our Understanding of Life
The Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence 1.8 million species. It's one of the most ambitious science projects ever, and it will revolutionize biology
spectrum.ieee.org
October 3, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
University of Gothenburg announces a strategic professorship in biodiversity with an interdisciplinary profile
academicpositions.com/ad/universit...
The Crown Princess Victoria Professorship in Biodiversity - Academic Positions
Seeking an internationally recognized scientist for a prestigious professorship in biodiversity. Lead groundbreaking research, interdisciplinary collaboratio...
academicpositions.com
October 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Niklas Wahlberg
Hospodářská, @petrnguyen.bsky.social et al. investigated genome size and karyotype in Polyommatus and Lysandra butterflies, rejecting polyploidy to confirm karyotypic diversification via chromosome fragmentation in Polyommatinae butterflies.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf157

#genome #evolution
September 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM