Researchers witness natural selection at work in dramatic comeback of male butterflies

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Shown is a male Hypolimnas bolina also called the Blue Moon or Great Eggfly butterfly. A male-killing bacteria has led to skewed sex ratios in populations of H. bolina in the South Pacific but researchers have found that male butterflies on some isla ...
Shown is a male Hypolimnas bolina, also called the Blue Moon or Great Eggfly butterfly. A male-killing bacteria has led to skewed sex ratios in populations of H. bolina in the South Pacific, but researchers have found that male butterflies on some islands have bounced back thanks to the rise of a suppressor gene. Credit: Sylvain Charlat

An international team of researchers has documented a remarkable example of natural selection in a tropical butterfly species that fought back - genetically speaking - against a highly invasive, male-killing bacteria.


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All News summaries for July 12, 2007