Evolutionary_Genetics_of_Lepidoptera

The aim of this project is to generate high quality reference genome sequences for five butterfly and moth species that are the subject of evolutionary genetics studies. We will use Pacific Biosciences long read data coupled to 10X Genomics linked Illumina reads and Illumina shotgun of the parents in order to provide phasing information. Assembly will be undertaken by Richard Durbin's team under Shane McCarthy, and the samples and evolutionary biology context will be provided by Chris Jiggins' group, with downstream analysis led by the Jiggins group with collaborators, but involving both groups. The current plan is to sequence the following species: Hypolimnas missippus, Arctia plantaginis, Apatura ila, Argynnis paphyia and Ithomia salapia. All these species show extensive colour and/or pattern variation with population structure, and are variously models of mimicry, predator avoidance, mating preference and other selection paradigms. However we note that the exact species chosen may be changed subject to sample availability, within the Lepidoptera.