罢丑别听Heliconius听or passion-vine butterflies are tropical butterflies from听Central and South America听that show a huge diversity of wing patterns. They have undergone rapid speciation and divergence听(being听different听from one another), and also show an amazing amount of convergence听(having traits similar to one another)听in wing pattern due to mimicry.听听
Heliconius听adults live a听relatively听long adult life for a butterfly鈥攗p to 8 months. This requires them to be听especially听good at avoiding predators. One way that听Heliconius听have evolved to听avoid being eaten听is to mimic the wing patterns of related species that are toxic to predators.听听
Heliconius听butterflies alone have 43 species with hundreds of subspecies, just one of the factors that make them a great research organism.听Living butterflies are being studied now, but to听learn听how they have evolved from butterflies of the past, we turn to natural history collections.听
罢丑别听basic question听of听how organisms change through time and space in response to the environment, helps us understand our world.听Finding answers听is increasingly relevant听to predicting how organisms might respond to environmental changes caused by human-induced change.听Natural history听museum collections鈥櫶齭pecimens provide a window to the past, and a record that spans time and geography, within and between species.听Each species studied by scientists becomes a page in the story we read of life on earth.听
A reminder that scientists don鈥檛 spend all their time with butterfly nets and DNA sequencing听machines:听species name use a standardized binomial听nomenclature听so they听are universally consistent. Scientists who discover a new species have the freedom to name it. In the case of these butterflies,听Helicon is a mountain in Greece that was regarded as the source of poetry and inspiration. The species names of听many of the听Heliconius听butterflies come from those of the听mythological听muses听that inhabited Helicon. Today鈥檚 WoW,听H听melpomene, is named for the muse of tragedy听and听rosina听is a variant of 鈥渞ose鈥�.听And,听in case you didn鈥檛 notice, the very word听鈥榤useum鈥� also derives from those muses.听WoW!听
Lopez, L., Turner, K. G., Bellis, E. S., & Lasky, J. R. (2020). Genomics of natural history collections for understanding evolution in the wild.鈥疢olecular Ecology Resources,鈥�20(5), 1153鈥�1160.鈥�
Gilbert, L. E. (1972). Pollen feeding and reproductive biology of鈥疕eliconius鈥痓utterflies.鈥疨roceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,鈥�69(6), 1403鈥�1407.鈥�
Beltr谩n, M., Brower. A.V.Z.,听Jiggins, C. (2013). Tree of Life鈥疕eliconius鈥疜luk听1780鈥疶S =鈥疨apilio听charithonia鈥疞., 1767 (designated by Hemming, 1933). Longwings or passion-flower butterflies.鈥�
. (2014).鈥疊utterfly Evolution from Jungles to Genomes. The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.鈥�