News tagged with butterflies
MSU geneticist helps find butterfly gene, clue to age-old question
(PhysOrg.com) -- Years after sleeping in hammocks in the wilds of Peru and Panama, collecting hundreds of thousands of samples of colorful insects, Mississippi State assistant professor Brian Counterman now ...
Jan 30, 2012 |
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Fruit flies watch the sky to stay on course
Insects, equipped with complex compound eyes, can maintain a constant heading in their travels, some of them for thousands of miles. New research demonstrates that fruit flies keep their bearings by using ...
Jan 17, 2012 |
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Climate adaptation difficult for Europe's birds
Åke Lindström is Professor of Animal Ecology at Lund University, Sweden. Together with other European researchers he has looked at 20 years' worth of data on birds, butterflies and summer temperatures. During this ...
Jan 17, 2012 |
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Predators hunt for a balanced diet
An international team of scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Oxford in the UK, University of Sydney (Australia), Aarhus University (Denmark) and Massey University (New Zealand) based their research ...
Jan 11, 2012 |
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Trapping butterfly wings' qualities
Butterflies have inspired humans since the time of ancient Egypt, but now they're also inspiring researchers to look toward nature to help create the next generation of waterproof materials for electronics ...
Jan 04, 2012 |
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Draft sequence of monarch butterfly genome presented
Each fall millions of monarch butterflies from across the eastern United States use a time-compensated sun compass to direct their navigation south, traveling up to 2,000 miles to an overwintering site in ...
Nov 23, 2011 |
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Parasitoid larvae in caterpillars affect behaviour of moths
(PhysOrg.com) -- Parasitoid larvae that feed within caterpillars that eat cabbage plants influence the plant via the caterpillar, making the cabbage plant an unattractive prospect for moths looking for a spot ...
Nov 16, 2011 |
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How far can they go? Traveling is key for survival and conservation
Nowadays, more and more animal habitats are being fragmented, or lost. Many species need assistance and conservation of their environments to survive, and it is important to know the best way this can be achieved. ...
Nov 15, 2011 |
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Distribution atlas of butterflies in Europe
Scientists present the largest distribution data compilation ever on butterflies of an entire continent. The Germany based Society for the Conservation of Butterflies and Moths GfS ("Gesellschaft für ...
Oct 05, 2011 |
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Low oxygen triggers moth molt
A new explanation for one of nature's most mysterious processes, the transformation of caterpillars into moths or butterflies, might best be described as breathless.
Aug 22, 2011 |
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'Supergene' is key to copycat butterflies
Since Charles Darwin, biologists have pondered the mystery of "mimicry butterflies", which survive by copying the wing patterns of other butterflies that taste horrible to their predators, birds.
Aug 12, 2011 |
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'Paranoia' about rivals alters insect mating behavior
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that male fruitflies experience a type of 'paranoia' in the presence of another male, which doubles the length of time they mate with a female, despite the female of the ...
Aug 08, 2011 |
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Habitat loss imperils monarch butterflies
If you see a monarch butterfly lighting in your backyard this year, take an extra moment to enjoy it.
Jul 26, 2011 |
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An eye gene colors butterfly wings red
Red may mean STOP or I LOVE YOU! A red splash on a toxic butterfly's wing screams DON'T EAT ME! In nature, one toxic butterfly species may mimic the wing pattern of another toxic species in the area. By ...
Jul 21, 2011 |
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Butterfly study sheds light on convergent evolution
For 150 years scientists have been trying to explain convergent evolution. One of the best-known examples of this is how poisonous butterflies from different species evolve to mimic each other's color patterns – in effect ...
Jul 21, 2011 |
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Butterfly
A butterfly is an insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera, butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form. Most species are day-flying so they regularly attract attention. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly coloured wings and their erratic yet graceful flight have made butterfly watching a hobby.
Butterflies comprise the true butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), the skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea) and the moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea). Butterflies exhibit polymorphism, mimicry and aposematism. Some migrate over long distances. Some butterflies have evolved symbiotic and parasitic relationships with social insects such as ants. Butterflies are important economically as agents of pollination. In addition, a few species are pests, because they can damage domestic crops and trees in their larval stage.
Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts.
For more information about Butterfly, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
