This series presents the work of two researchers from the Wellcome Sangers Institute in Cambridge during a workshop held in the mountains of Malles Venosta (Bolzano, Italy) from 14 to 18 July 2025, Joana Meier e Charlotte Wright. During those days, the small mountain village of Malles Venosta became a European reference center for the study of moths: over 50 experts from various universities and research centers in 19 countries gathered for the first field workshop of the European research Project Psyche, an ambitious Europe-wide initiative to sequence the genetic heritage of all 11,000 butterfly and moth species present in Europe. This unprecedented collaboration is supported by the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK) and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology Action 10kLepGenomes.
Various international stakeholders, including butterfly experts, DNA laboratories, and scientific societies, are involved. The city was chosen for its exceptional species richness (over 3,000 recorded) and the local focus on sustainability and pesticide reduction. The scientists resided at the Hotel Tyrol in Malles, which was transformed into a scientific laboratory for the occasion, where the specimens captured during the night were analyzed and processed. Samples suitable for the project were sent to various European laboratories for long-read genomic analysis.
10KLep Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Researcher Joana Isabel Meier, group leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute of Cambridge (UK), catches moths with a net in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy. «By studying and comparing the genomes of different species, we can find out how they have evolved and how they’ve diversified, as there have been different climatic shifts in Europe. And the genomes can help to tell us why it is that some groups of Lepidoptera have evolved into a greater number of species than others».
Researcher Charlotte Wright of the Wellcome Sanger Institute of Cambridge (UK) catches moths with a net in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Researchers Joana Meier and Charlotte Wright catches moths in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Researcher Charlotte Wright captures an Alpine burnet (Zygaena transalpina) in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
A specimen of the phegea (Amata phegea) on the index finger of researcher Joana Meier's left hand.
From left to right: Researchers Marcin Wiorek (Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences), Mónica Doblas-Bajo and Laura Torrado-Blanco (University of Oviedo’s entomological collection), Charlotte Wright and Joana Meier consult a manual to identify which moth specimen they have just caught during a trapping session in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy
After catching a specimen of Melanargia galathea with a net, Mónica Doblas-Bajo, Joana Meier and Charlotte Wright place it in a jar to be dissected.
After catching a specimen of Melanargia galathea with a net, Mónica Doblas-Bajo, Joana Meier and Charlotte Wright place it in a jar to be dissected.
Joana Meier e Charlotte Wright identify a specimen of Platypteryx falcataria through a manual in the paths of Curon Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Inside a room at the Hotel Tyrol in Malles Venosta, researcher Charlotte Wright photographs a moth specimen for cataloging. The photography precedes the specimen's dissection and division into samples for future genomic analysis.
Joana Meier (left) photographs a moth specimen while Charlotte Wright (right) dissects another in a room at the Hotel Tyrol in Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
The dissection of a a specimen of "Tiger moth” in the temporal laboratory set up at the Hotel Tyrol in Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Joana Meier (left) places moth samples into identification tubes for subsequent long-sequence genomic mapping at the Hotel Tyrol in Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Charlotte Wright places fragments of a moth inside an envelope with information about the specimen and its location for museum cataloging at the Hotel Tyrol in Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Charlotte Wright captures moths through a UV light trap in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Joana Meier captures moths through a UV light trap in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Charlotte Wright captures moths through a UV light trap in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.
Joana Meier captures moths through a UV light trap in the woods of Malles Venosta, Bolzano, Italy.