What are the origins of biodiversity?  How can insects contribute to a sustainable future for our planet? We study insects to understand evolution at the population and species level, and to better manage insect pests and promote a sustainable food system. We like genetics, and are doing a lot of genome analysis, but also think that we need to understand development, behaviour and ecology to make sense of evolution. So our research ranges across all of these topics.

Current research topics include:

• The genomics of crop pests and the role of hybridisation in pest evolution

• Genetic improvement of the black soldier fly for waste management

• Plasticity in the chemical defences of Heliconius butterflies

• Tiger moth polymorphism

• Speciation genomics and patterns of divergence 

• The evolution and development of butterfly wing patterns

Key Publications

Montejo-Kovacevich, G. et al. Repeated genetic adaptation to altitude in two tropical butterflies. Nat Commun 13, 4676 (2022).

Nadeau, N. J. et al. The gene cortex controls mimicry and crypsis in butterflies and moths. Nature 534, 106–110 (2016).

Brien, M. N. et al. Colour polymorphism associated with a gene duplication in male wood tiger moths. Elife 12, e80116 (2023).

Valencia-Montoya, W. A. et al. Adaptive Introgression across Semipermeable Species Boundaries between Local Helicoverpa zea and Invasive Helicoverpa armigera Moths. Mol Biol Evol (2020) 

Generalovic, T. N. et al. A high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens L.). G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 11, jkab085 (2021).