Project Psyche: Generating and utilising reference genomes for all Lepidoptera in Europe

Charlotte J. Wright, Niklas Wahlberg, Roger Vila, Marko Mutanen, Pável Matos-Maraví, Kay Lucek, Irena Kleckova, Leonardo Dapporto, Vlad Dinca, Claudia Bruschini , Christopher Wheat , Marta Vila, Laura Torrado-Blanco, Valentina Todisco, Michal Rindos, Petr Nguyen, Peter Mulhair, Stefaniya Kamenova, Marcus Hicks, Marianne Espeland, Ines A. Drinnenberg, Monica Doblas-Bajo, Richard Bailey, Project Psyche Community, Mark Blaxter, Joana I. Meier

Project Psyche is a trans-national initiative to generate and study chromosome-level reference genomes of all ca. 11,000 described species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) found in Europe. The Project Psyche community encompasses diverse researchers, amateur lepidopterists, practitioners, and industry experts united by a common vision of the importance of genomics for Lepidoptera. Lepidoptera are at the forefront of biodiversity genomics with genomes for over 1,000 species already generated - the highest number across all eukaryotic orders. Here, we outline how Project Psyche is generating and harnessing these genomes. This pan-European catalogue of openly accessible lepidopteran genomes will transform our understanding of evolution and ecology, inform conservation, and foster advances in pest management.