Butterfly’s colourful past discovered
DNA studies of butterflies in the Amazon have helped scientists understand how rare breeding between different species of butterfly can acquire the protective wing patterns of others. It has been discovered that unrelated species with similar wing patterns share the same DNA which controls their beautiful colouring.
Butterflies use their wings to ward of prey and act as a warning sign to show they are harmful to eat – protecting them from attack. Very rare interbreeding has enabled them to exchange genes and acquire each other’s wing patterns.
A global team of researchers, including Edinburgh scientists, unravelled the DNA sequence of the Postman butterfly in South America and used this as a reference to study several butterfly species that live together in the Peruvian Amazon.
The study, published in Nature, was carried out with the Universities of Cambridge and Exeter, University College London, alongside partners in France and the US. It was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
. Dr Mark Blaxter, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Studies, said: "A recent revolution in the way we can look at DNAs allowed us to discover that the butterflies copy each other's patterns by exchanging DNA - a rather unexpected result. Edinburgh's expertise in this area enabled scientists here to join this exciting voyage of discovery."
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
