butterfly

Topic description and stories

Spanish butterflies better at regulating their body temperature than their British cousins

09 Jan 2024

Butterfly populations in northern Spain are better than their UK counterparts at regulating their body temperature, but rising global temperatures...

Butterfly co-mimic pairs from the species Heliconius erato (odd columns) and Heliconius melpomene (even columns). Illustrated butterflies are sorted by greatest similarity (along rows, top left to bottom right)

AI used to test evolution’s oldest mathematical model

14 Aug 2019

Researchers have used artificial intelligence to make new discoveries, and confirm old ones, about one of nature’s best-known mimics, opening up...

The butterflies are coming

25 Jul 2019

Climate change poses a major threat to butterflies but a new generation of Cambridge scientists is working to unlock their secrets and help them...

Butterflies are genetically wired to choose a mate that looks just like them

08 Feb 2019

Male butterflies have genes which give them a sexual preference for a partner with a similar appearance to themselves, according to new research.

Genetic switch that turned moths black also colours butterflies

02 Jun 2016

Heliconius butterflies have evolved bright yellow colours to deter predators, while peppered moths famously turned black to hide from birds. A new...

Heliconius Melpomene, a tropical butterfly found in South America. The study shows how its genetic structure has been defined by natural selection, even in areas that have no bearing on its survival prospects.

Natural selection sculpts genetic information to limit diversity

13 May 2016

A study of butterflies suggests that when a species adapts, other parts of its genetic make-up can be linked to that adaptation, limiting diversity...

A range of wing patterns across Heleconius butterfly species.

Genetic ‘paint box’ shuffled between butterfly species to create new wing patterns

15 Jan 2016

Research finds independent genetic switches control different splotches of colour and pattern on Heliconius butterfly wings, and that these switches...

How the butterflies got their spots

04 Feb 2010

How two butterfly species have evolved exactly the same striking wing colour and pattern has intrigued biologists since Darwin's day. Now, scientists...

On the wings of a butterfly

01 May 2009

Since Darwin’s time, Amazonian butterflies have intrigued biologists as examples of evolution in action.