Ten mighty moths and beautiful butterflies around the Wellcome Genome Campus

The Elephant Hawk-moth – Deilephila elpenor – is named for the unusual appearance of its larva. The larva grows to around seven centimetres in length and is either dark brown or bright green. The first few segments behind the head are narrow and can be extended forward, making the larva resemble an elephant’s trunk as it sways side-to-side.

Elephant Hawk-moth larva. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

There is widespread loss of pollinating insects in Britain. This loss impacts the pollination of food crops and wild plants. Night-flying moths were previously undervalued but it is now established that they are important pollinators of night-blooming plants.

Elephant Hawk-moths, like many moths and butterflies, rely on their ability to smell their food plants as well as colour vision to locate plants best for feeding on. With overall habitat and biodiversity loss, it becomes even more important for these moths and others to be able to smell and see in order to successfully locate their food plants. Genomes of this species could help researchers better understand smell and colour differentiation in insects – critical for their pollination superpowers.

Adult Elephant Hawk-moth. Image credit: Sam Ebdon.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the Elephant Hawk-moth, Deilephila elpenor (Linnaeus, 1758)

The European Peacock butterfly – Aglais io – is found throughout the UK. Both male and female butterflies have vibrant orange-red wings with prominent blue ‘eyespots’ resembling the markings on a peacock's tail feathers.  Female Peacock butterflies are typically larger than males but maintain the overall coloration and prominent eyespots; females generally have a slightly larger wingspan.

European Peacock butterfly larva. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

These eyespots, along with a hissing sound produced by rubbing its wings together, help the butterfly to deter predators.

Peacock butterflies are not fussy, they are found throughout the UK – except in the Outer Hebrides – including gardens, woodlands, and other habitats, with a larva that prefers nettles or hops. Thanks to this butterfly being easy to recognise and with healthy-sized populations throughout the UK, it is relatively easy to monitor and could act as a good indicator species to measure environmental changes.

Adult European Peacock butterfly. Image credit: Nancy Holroyd

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the European peacock butterfly, Aglais io (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Marbled White butterfly – Melanargia galathea – is a common butterfly of flower-rich meadows and other grassy habitats. This butterfly is easy to spot because as the name suggests, its black and white markings distinguish it from all other species found in the British Isles.

Adult Marbled White butterfly. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

While it is restricted to England and Wales, it has expanded its range rapidly northwards in recent decades, suggesting that it could continue to occupy larger areas of the UK as the climate changes. As this butterfly expands its habitat, monitoring it could provide important information to conservationists. Using the genome in hand with population studies, population geneticists could inform how successful this species is in establishing new territory.

Adult Marbled White butterfly. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the marbled white butterfly, Melanargia galathea (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Meadow Brown butterfly - Maniola jurtina - is a common sight in UK grasslands, parks, and gardens during the summer months. Because it is a well-established butterfly that lives across the UK, the Meadow Brown is well-suited to serve long-term ecological studies.

Adult Meadow Brown Butterfly. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

The Meadow Brown is easily identified by its brown wings with washed-out orange patches, a single eyespot on the forewing and none on the hindwing, and often a small white pupil within the eyespot.

The spot and colour variation in this butterfly has been studied since the late 1960s, but with a genome now available, scientists can further understand the biology of this butterfly.

Adult Meadow Brown Butterfly. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the meadow brown, Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Small Skipper butterfly - Thymelicus sylvestris - is part of the Skipper family, named for their characteristic quick, darting flight. Similar to other types of Skipper butterflies, the Small Skipper has golden-orange wings with clear sex bands on males, but it can be distinguished by a lack of coloured patches on its wings and a dull brown or orange colouration to its antennae.

Adult Small Skipper butterfly. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Because grasslands are important for the Small Skipper lifecycle it is essential to manage habitats where the eggs, caterpillars and adults spend much of their lives – losing this widespread UK species would impact on pollination of crops and wild plants. A genome of the Small Skipper will allow scientists to study this butterfly using population genetics but also delve deeper into speciation processes within the Skipper butterfly family.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the small skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda, 1761)

The Six-spot Burnet moth can make its own poison to protect itself. Zygaena filipendulae has six bright red spots on each front wing making it easy to see during the day. Its bright colours warn birds and other animals that it is poisonous and tastes bad, helping it to avoid becoming an insectivore’s lunch. It flies slowly around grassy places and flowers like thistles and knapweed during summer months. This moth lives all over Europe. Like other moths its importance in pollination processes has been undervalued but researchers now know how crucial moths are to pollen transport.

Six-spot Burnet moths. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Interestingly, this moth can either make poison itself or from the plants it eats as a caterpillar. Scientists have no idea how the moths make their own poison, so the genome produced here at the Sanger Institute could help understand how animals like the Six-spot Burnet moth use chemicals to protect themselves.

Six-spot burnet larva. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the 6-spot burnet, Zygaena filipendulae (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Oak Beauty moth is as described – beautiful. But surprisingly, you will find Biston strataria – a fun one to say three times fast – on poplar trees more often than oak trees.

Oak Beauty moth. Image credit: Dr Sam Ebdon / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

With the full set of genes at their disposal, scientists can use the genome of the Oak Beauty moth to learn how butterfly wing colours change and how these insects can eat many kinds of plants. Healthy trees are just as important in the natural world as healthy Lepidoptera populations, so an indicator species like the Oak Beauty is an important population to monitor.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the Oak Beauty, Biston strataria (Hufnagel, 1767)

The Orange-tip butterfly – Anthocharis cardamines – is common and widespread; this medium-sized butterfly can be found in gardens and hedgerows. The adults lay their eggs on specific plants, such as Cuckoo-flower and Garlic Mustard, ensuring their caterpillars have a food source.

Orange-tip butterfly adult. Image credit: Sam Ebdon / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

In the late 1800s, there were fewer Orange-tip butterflies in Britain, and they only lived in a few places. But starting in the 1900s, they began to spread out again, and their numbers have been going up ever since, suggesting a shift towards healthy and stable populations. This species is useful to study habitat health and the impact of climate change on butterfly habitats and populations.

The males are white butterflies with bright orange wingtips, whereas the females are white with black wingtips. The orange acts as a form of warning to tell predators “don’t eat me!” and are likely due to mustard oils accumulated in the caterpillar stage from their food plants. Females lack this orange colouration, possibly because they are less active and spend more time near food plants, making the warning less useful. Studying male and female Orange-tip butterflies helps us understand more about their ecological roles and habitat preferences as well as to monitor any perturbations due to climate change.

Orange-tip butterfly. Image credit: Sam Ebdon / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

In England, these butterflies have 30 chromosomes, while those in Europe have 31. This likely means that, after the UK separated from Europe about 7,000 years ago, two chromosomes joined together in the English butterflies. This makes Orange Tip butterflies an interesting case study for understanding population genetics and habitat adaptation, as the chromosomal fusion enables the study of how these butterflies evolved and differentiated.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the orange-tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Riband Wave moth – Idaea aversata – has wave-like patterns on the wings. When resting, the wings are spread out and peppered with black spots. Widespread throughout the UK, the larvae spend winter in plant debris, and then often hatch all together in large numbers.

Riband Wave moth. Image credit: Charlotte Wright / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

A genome assembly for the Riband Wave moth will be invaluable for future work aimed at determining the genetic basis of colour polymorphism – differences in colour or patterns from one individual to another – and will contribute to the growing set of genomic resources for studying moth ecology and evolution.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the Riband Wave, Idaea aversata (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Red Admiral butterfly – Vanessa atalanta – earns its name due to the majesty of its colours: striking orange, dark brown and white. In the British Isles and Ireland, the most important and widely available foodplant for the larvae are nettles – although they can munch on hop plants too.

The Red Admiral butterfly can be found in almost any habitat, from gardens to seashores and from town centres to mountain tops. This makes these butterflies an excellent indicator species, as they are relatively easy to spot and are well distributed throughout the UK.

Red Admiral butterfly. Image credit: Luke Lythgoe / Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Red Admirals are well known for their migratory movements: they migrate latitudinally – North and South of the Equator - in Europe and North America and can survive winter in adult or larva form.

Males are known to be territorial, especially during late afternoons where they will choose a sunny spot to maximise their chances of encountering and mating with receptive females.

The genome of this species will further aid evolutionary studies of behavioural traits such as migration or male territoriality and the evolution of diapause – where a species can temporarily suspend development until more favourable environmental conditions occur.

Genome Note:

The genome sequence of the red admiral, Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758)