W. Owen McMillan

This study traces the invasion history of Aedes albopictus in Panama using mitogenomes and Wolbachia, finding multiple introductions from Asia via the Panama Canal rather than overland routes.

This study identifies ancient chromosomal inversions in the zebra longwing butterfly that are associated with local adaptation to environmental stressors.

This study identifies the Neotropical butterfly genus Heliconius as a model for studying longevity evolution, finding heritable mechanisms of slowed ageing in long-lived species.

The paper examines parallel visual adaptations in two coral reef fish species pairs under different light environments, finding convergent shifts in cone sensitivities achieved through distinct opsin gene sets.

This study presents genome assemblies for two transisthmian damselfish species separated by the Central American Isthmus, revealing structural variants and gene family expansions linked to environmental adaptation.

This study investigates convergent wing pattern evolution in Heliconius butterflies using GWAS, comparative genomics, and machine learning, identifying both known and novel genetic loci associated with color patterns.

The paper identifies ivory:mir-193 as a master regulator of scale type differentiation in Heliconius butterflies, showing it converts Type II scales to Type I and influences Type III scale development through readthrough transcription.

This study investigates cognitive healthspan in Heliconius butterflies, finding cognitive robustness in late life despite extended longevity.

The paper investigates how visual behaviour in Heliconius butterflies evolved through changes in mushroom body structure without increased investment in visual pathways.

The paper examines how two coral reef fish species adjust their diets in response to habitat degradation, finding that dietary changes can help some species cope but not all.

This study compares genomic adaptations in two distantly related reef fish families to environmental changes post-Isthmus of Panama formation, finding limited molecular parallelism despite shared selective pressures.

The paper reveals widespread genomic and epigenetic divergence in Heliconius erato populations, showing polygenic barriers to gene flow rather than few major-effect loci.

This study examines spatial patterns of Mullerian mimicry in Neotropical butterflies, revealing convergent climatic niches and vulnerability to climate change.

The paper identifies convergent molecular evolution in Heliconiini butterflies associated with repeated transitions to gregarious larval behavior, focusing on genomic and transcriptomic changes.

Heliconius butterflies retain odour associations over eight days no better than outgroup Heliconiini, contrasting with their superior visual long-term memory, consistent with a modality-specific memory enhancement.

This study uses single-nucleus transcriptomics to investigate sex-specific gene expression in wing scale cells of Colias eurytheme butterflies, revealing regulatory mechanisms underlying sexual dimorphism.

This study shows that lepidopteran scale cells originate from sensory organ precursors through a canonical lineage, supported by live imaging and single-nucleus RNA sequencing.

The paper examines eye morphology divergence between Heliconius species and their hybrids, finding adaptive differences and visual system disruption in hybrids.

The paper shows that WntA and Frizzled2 form a signaling axis that instructs butterfly color patterning, with Fz2 acting as a morphogen receptor and other Frizzleds having distinct roles in wing development.

The paper characterizes structural variation in Heliconius butterfly genomes and links it to chromatin accessibility and cis-regulatory elements.

The paper identifies a 78kb deletion at the cortex locus as the genetic basis of the ivory mutant phenotype in captive Heliconius butterflies, which is absent in wild populations.

The paper shows genome-wide admixture is common in Heliconius butterflies, revealing widespread gene flow and introgression across species, challenging the traditional tree model of speciation.

patternize quantifies color pattern variation across organisms using image alignment and segmentation, enabling comparison and analysis through PCA and heatmaps.

The paper analyzes parallel hybrid zones in Heliconius butterflies using genome-wide markers to identify genomic regions associated with color pattern divergence and detects new cryptic populations.