Butterflies

Monarch Butterflies Are Losing Their Navigational Abilities. You Can Guess Why

The loss of critical temperature cues could throw monarchs’ biological compasses out of whack during migration.

California’s Brutal Storms May Have Killed Over Half Its Monarch Butterflies

Monarchs overwintering along the state's coast, already endangered, were hit hard by a series of extreme winter weather events in December.

This Butterfly May Have Been the First Insect Driven Extinct by U.S. Urbanization

The beautiful Xerces blue butterfly was a distinct species, according to a new study. It hasn't been seen alive since 1943.

These Butterflies Use Their Putrid Genitalia to Keep Rivals Away From Mates

A chemical produced by the male genitals of this tropical butterfly is so repulsive, scientists refer to it as an “anti-aphrodisiac.” New research published today in PLOS Biology describes the genetic underpinnings of a chemical compound produced by male Heliconius melpomene butterflies. It’s a striking example of chemical signaling, in which scent is used for…

A Second Butterfly Defender Has Been Found Dead in Mexico

Two butterfly activists have been found dead in Mexico in less than a week. The body of guide and conservationist Raúl Hernández Romero was found in the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Ocampo, Mexico on Friday, following the discovery of the body of activist Homero Gómez González the week before in a retention pond. Both activists…

This Incredible New Footage of a Butterfly Laying Eggs Will Make You Love Bugs

If you haven’t taken a moment to really look at butterflies, you’re missing out. They’re more than just colorful bugs—they’re a group of insects consisting of almost 20,000 species of all sorts of incredible shapes and sizes. Their magic truly comes alive when you look up close. PBS’s new special, Nature: Sex, Lies and Butterflies, does…

This Ridiculous True Butterfly Crime Story Gets Weirder and Weirder

Hey England. You’ve got some beautiful rare butterflies, huh? It would be a real shame if some of them… went missing. The UK’s currently witnessing what I’d call the trial of the century, for the gravest of crimes: butterfly murder. Ex-body builder Phillip Cullen is being accused of taking specimens of the large blue butterfly,…

Guy Documents New Jerk Species of Butterfly

My college transcripts will plainly show I nearly failed Latin (twice!), but if there’s one thing I’m certain of it’s that Adelotypa annulifera translates roughly to “ungrateful dickhead.” That’s the scientific name of an Amazonian butterfly whose behaviors have finally been documented by entomologist Phil Torres and biologist Aaron Pomerantz, revealing what a horrendous manners…

Watch an Ant Bite a Butterfly to Make It Fly Away

The butterfly is in a much heavier weight class compared to the ant. But when you have a bite like this ant, it doesn’t even matter. Watch as the butterfly pokes its proboscis around until it irritates the ant enough for the ant to fight back by locking its jaws on the long, straw-like feeding…

This Artist “Paints” With Nanoparticles Inspired by Butterfly Wings

Combining art and science comes naturally to Kate Nichols. The colors in her pieces don’t come from pigment, but from tiny silver nanoparticles suspended in the paint. She makes them herself, as artist-in residence in the University of California, Berkeley’s nanotechnology research group. A graduate of Kenyon College, Nichols left school in 2002 to apprentice…

Do “Eyespots” On Butterflies Really Mimic Eyes?

The big black and gold symmetrical spots on butterfly wings deter predators because they resemble eyes in the darkness, right? Not necessarily. Here’s an experiment that indicates that we see eyes, but animals don’t. We all learned that the big black spots on the wings of butterflies are “eyespots.” They seem to turn the small,…

It’s Almost Impossible To Tell This Butterfly Is Actually a Robot

The butterfly is one of nature’s most graceful creations, but with upgrades from Festo, this robotic doppleganger is better equipped to navigate large spaces. It might flap and flutter like the real thing, but this butterfly is 100 percent artificial—although the branding on the wings probably gave that away. Festo showed off a small swarm…

All the Ways Butterflies Use Color to Stay Alive

We all know that camouflage is an important tool in the evolutionary toolbox. But it’s only one of the ways that butterflies and caterpillars use color to keep themselves safe. Image credit: First Butterfly In May by tdlucas5000/flickr/CC BY 2.0 Liz Langley atNational Geographichas an article on the bright colors used by various species of…

Mysterious Radar Cloud Over the Midwest Was Actually… Butterflies

Was it a bird? A plane? A tornado cell? Nope. The huge, slow-moving cloud picked up on radar in Illinois and Missouri last week was nothing anyone expected. The US National Weather Service reports it was actually a swarm of millions of monarch butterflies—which have been disappearing at alarming speeds over the past decade. As…

This Animated Field Guide To North American Butterflies Is Mesmerizing

Few infographs capture the liveliness of their subjects, but Eleanor Lutz’s lovely chart of 42 North American butterflies reminds us that these are living beings as each butterfly flaps its wings. Lutz, who blogs at Tabletop Whale, is a designer with a degree in molecular biology, and her infographs combine her interests in art and…

Harnessing the Power of Butterflies Was a Boon to Air Balloon Travel

It’s brought whole new meaning to the phrase “Butterfly Effect.” Christian Schloe‘s “Dream On” and “fly away” are available as prints on Artflakes. [via Victorious Vocabulary]

United Is Using Its Planes To Track Butterflies and Birds From Above

United Airlines is working with the Smithsonian on a conservation project that will tag and track the smaller members of the animal kingdom. More specifically, the project will use radio receivers mounted on planes to create a low-altitude network of vanishing species like the monarch butterfly. All while you enjoy your complimentary beverage. The project…

Caterpillar Metamorphosis Looks Even More Alien When You Speed It Up

Oregon’s endangered silverspot butterflies typically pupate into chrysalises over the course of several hours, in a nocturnal process rarely observed by humans. But in this time-lapse footage, members of the Oregon Zoo’s butterfly lab have combined over 15,000 photographs to compress the transformation into a matter of seconds. Read more about the Oregon Zoo’s silverspot…

Did you know that butterflies have (the weirdest) penises?

Scientists have discovered two new species of butterflies in eastern USA—”an extremely rare discovery.” That’s cool, but I just wanted to tell you that butterflies have penises, which is one of the reasons that served biologists to identify them as new species. They look like deathly alien manta rays. The new Intricate Satyr (Hermeuptychia intricate…

How the Super Bowl failed its transit-riding attendees, an L.A. museum that collects houses, and why Monarch butterflies are dying (spoiler: because of us). Plus a McDonald’s in Queens, Millennials in St. Louis, and biking in Las Vegas. It’s time for your weekly Urban Reads. What was promoted as the “Mass Transit Super Bowl” was…