Tag Archives: butterflies

Unlocking the Longevity of Heliconius Butterflies: The Surprising Role of Pollen

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A team of entomologists from the University of Bristol and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute has gathered decades of data from butterfly nests, field studies, and laboratory experiments to create the most comprehensive overview of the Heliconius butterfly. Found throughout Central and South America, this colorful species exhibits remarkably slow aging, with lifespans that can increase by approximately three times. Notably, close relatives, such as Heliconius Hewitsoni, have been recorded living up to 348 days in captivity.

Heliconius Hekale. Image credit: Robert Lawton / CC BY-SA 2.5.

The Heliconius genus includes vibrant butterflies found in tropical and subtropical areas of Central and South America, with some ranging into the southern United States.

Commonly referred to as “longwings,” these butterflies are noted for their elongated wings.

Unlike most butterflies that primarily consume nectar, Heliconius butterflies uniquely integrate pollen into their nectar diet, using their proboscis to collect pollen and extracting essential amino acids with saliva.

This innovative feeding behavior was first documented by evolutionary biologist Lawrence Gilbert in 1972.

The additional amino acids are believed to contribute to remarkable traits such as extended lifespan, continuous egg production, and enhanced chemical defenses.

Many Heliconius species can live for several months in the wild, significantly outlasting closely related butterflies in the broader Heliconiini tribe, which typically survive only about six weeks.

While the exact factors contributing to their incredible longevity are not fully understood, it is hypothesized that maintaining a pollen-rich diet into adulthood may be influential.

“Insects represent the most species-rich animal group, showcasing extraordinary morphological and ecological diversity,” says Dr. Jessica Foley from the University of Bristol.

“Lifespan variation is extreme, with maximum lifespans ranging from just a few days in adult mayflies to decades in reproductive castes of certain ants and termites.”

This results in a 5,000-fold difference within the class, as opposed to the 100-fold difference seen in mammals.

“Heliconius butterflies are notable not only for their longevity but also for their slower aging process,” Dr. Foley notes.

“This allows them to outlive their evolutionary relatives, who diverged more recently.”

In a new study, Dr. Foley and her team found that the unique pollen-based diet of Heliconius extends lifespan, but surprisingly, even when deprived of pollen in experiments, these butterflies lived about three weeks longer than their shorter-lived relatives.

This suggests evolved genetic changes in their biology, indicating that their unique longevity stems from more than just dietary benefits.

To explore the underlying mechanisms, researchers measured not only survival duration but also how physiological conditions change with age.

Using grip strength as a measure of physical condition, findings revealed that closely related species like Dorias Julia lost about a quarter of their grip strength within five weeks, while Heliconius Hekale showed no measurable decline in grip strength over a significantly longer lifespan.

The lifespan difference between these groups is a remarkable 25-fold, one of the largest recorded for closely related animals, rivaled only by certain fish species.

Insects are prime candidates for identifying mutations associated with longevity due to their brief lifespans, allowing for practical long-term studies that would take decades in mammals.

Scientists are optimistic that Heliconius butterflies will serve as a new model organism in aging research, as their rich genomic data facilitate studies of molecular mechanisms behind “extended healthspan.”

“Exploring lifespan extension in Heliconius provides an exceptional opportunity to understand the biological mechanisms of longevity,” said Dr. Foley.

“Comparing long-lived Heliconius butterflies with their short-lived relatives creates a natural evolutionary experiment that may illuminate how lifespans can be extended, making it a promising model for aging biology.”

The team’s findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

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J. Foley et al. 2026. Evolution of longevity and slowing of aging in a genus of tropical butterflies. Nat Commune 17, 5077; doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-73635-7

Source: www.sci.news

Study Reveals Butterflies and Moths Have Used the Same Genetic Toolkit for 120 Million Years

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A groundbreaking study examining various South American butterfly lineages and diurnal moths reveals that convergent evolution—where unrelated species develop similar traits—follows a consistent genetic pattern. This discovery has significant implications for understanding how species may adapt to climate change.

Ben Chehida and others. A flight study of Itomini, Isomini, and Heliconius butterflies, along with the Ketonga moth. Image credit: Ben Chehida et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003742.

“Convergent or parallel evolution serves as a natural experiment where unrelated species independently evolve similar traits in response to equivalent selective pressures,” states Kanchon Dasmahapatra, a professor at the University of York.

“This indicates how reproducible—and thus predictable—evolution can be.”

“Highly divergent lineages often display significant trait convergence, such as repeated colonization of habitats like land, water, and air, or the evolution of resistance against threats like pesticides, drought, and heat stress.”

According to the researchers, “Convergence in traits across different species can stem from genetic changes occurring in different genes or in the same gene (gene reuse).”

“Gene reuse is expected to be more prevalent among closely related lineages or when developmental pathways towards optimal fitness are limited.”

“Convergence may happen when the same allele is reused (allele sharing), either through independent mutations in one gene or through ancestral variation and introgression between species.”

In this study, the authors investigated various species of distantly related South American rainforest butterflies and moths that share similar wing color patterns for predator deterrence, a phenomenon known as mimicry.

The study aims to identify the genes responsible for these similar mimic color patterns among seven distantly related species.

Remarkably, researchers found that distinct butterfly and moth species reuse the same two genes—ivory and optics—which evolve into similar color patterns, despite being very distant relatives.

Genetic alterations in several butterfly species did not occur in the genes themselves but rather in similar “switches” that control gene expression.

Interestingly, one moth species utilizes an inversion mechanism where substantial DNA sequences flip directions, mirroring a genetic strategy used by a butterfly.

“Convergent evolution, where numerous unrelated species independently develop the same trait, is a widespread phenomenon across the tree of life,” says Professor Dasmahapatra.

“However, there is limited opportunity to explore the genetic foundation of this phenomenon.”

“By studying seven butterfly lineages along with diurnal moths, we demonstrate that evolution is surprisingly predictable and that both butterflies and moths have repeatedly employed the same genetic tricks to develop similar color patterns since the time of dinosaurs.”

The findings from this study reveal that evolution may not always be random and could be more predictable than previously believed.

Professor Joanna Meyer from the Wellcome Sanger Institute remarked: “All these distantly related butterflies and moths are toxic and unpalatable to birds that attempt to consume them.”

“Their similarities are advantageous; if birds recognize a specific color pattern as indicating ‘don’t eat us, we are poisonous’, it benefits other species to exhibit the same warning colors.”

“Our research illustrates that these warning colors are remarkably optimal. With a highly conserved genetic basis over 120 million years, evolving these similar color patterns could be quite straightforward.”

The results are published in the journal PLoS Biology.

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Y. Ben Chehida et al. 2026. Convergent mimic coloration in lepidopterans over 120 million years of evolution is underpinned by genetic parallelism. PLoS Biol 24 (4): e3003742; doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003742

Source: www.sci.news

Butterflies harness electrostatic forces for pollination purposes

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Have you ever found yourself sitting in your favorite overstuffed armchair and finding your coffee just out of reach? In situations like this, a Jedi could easily deflect a blaster bolt or recover a lost lightsaber. I often wish I could use the “Force”, a mythical energy field used to bring back . In the real world, humans cannot use telekinesis to manipulate objects. But some animals do It uses natural electric fields to attract and repel objects.

The lowercase f “force” exerted by the animal kingdom is caused by friction between two objects, causing one object to lose electrons and the other to gain electrons. static electricity. Since electrons are negatively charged, objects that have lost electrons accumulate a positive charge, and objects that have gained electrons accumulate a negative charge. of electrostatic force Charged objects repel those with the same charge and attract those with the opposite charge. When you rub a balloon against your head, the friction causes the balloon to become negatively charged and your hair to become positively charged, causing your hair to stand on end.

like the force star wars The universe and animals use electrostatic force for both good and evil. In “Light Side” bee, bumblebeeand hummingbird Static electricity builds up as the wing moves through the air. These pollinators use electrostatic forces to transport pollen to and from flowers, supporting plant reproduction and biodiversity. On the “dark side” (at least from the prey's point of view!), predators like orb spiders use electrostatic forces to trap prey in a nestparasites such as mites and mites use it to connect to host.

Scientists suspect that other winged animals use “light-side” electrostatic forces to aid pollination, but it is unclear how widespread this phenomenon is in nature. Not yet. Two biologists from the University of Bristol investigated whether butterflies and moths are members of the order Lepidoptera I did electrostatic pollination. Scientists believe that moths wide range of pollinatorsHowever, opinions are divided as to whether butterflies pollinate plants.

The researchers collected wild butterflies and moths from across the UK and Germany, or purchased captive-bred versions. butterflies of the world. They were kept in climate-controlled mesh enclosures that mimicked their natural habitat and fed artificial flowers and pineapple slices filled with a sugar solution.

The researchers hypothesized that because lepidopterans have relatively small wings and flap slowly, they may be less electrically charged than other pollinating insects. To test this, they measured the static electricity of 72 adult peacock butterflies in free flight. They transferred each butterfly to an acrylic box lined with leaves native to its habitat to ensure that the charge the butterflies carried was as close to natural as possible.

Next, the ring-shaped electrode was attached to a device called “Electric Signal” that detects extremely weak currents. picoammeter. They placed a ring electrode next to the box's exit hole and used a picoammeter to record the charge on each butterfly as it flew out of the hole and passed through the electrode. They found that peacock butterflies have an average charge of about +50 picocoulombs. This is actually more than any other pollinating insect.

The researchers then tested whether the insects' habitat and ecology influenced their static electricity. They used similar techniques to measure charges in four additional species of butterflies and six species of moths across five continents, different climates, and feeding behaviors. They found that all 197 individuals tested carried enough electrical charge to displace pollen grains from several millimeters away. However, the strength and polarity (whether it was positive or negative) depended on the insect's habitat and ecological niche. For example, tropical species are more likely to be negatively charged than temperate species, and nocturnal foragers are more likely to be negatively charged than daytime foragers.

The researchers concluded that butterflies are actually good at pollination. The researchers speculated that the high charge may improve the insect's “light side” ability to attract pollen and sense electric fields around nectar-containing flowers. However, carrying a high charge also has its drawbacks, as highly charged insects are more vulnerable to “dark side” predators and parasites. They suggested that tropical and nocturnal Lepidoptera may be negatively charged. detect predatorsare more active in warm weather and at night. May the electrostatic forces be with them!


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Source: sciworthy.com