During a scientific project, 11,000 species of butterflies were studied and amazing results were found, according to a report. The Guardian.
The Silver Blue is one of the UK's most beautiful butterflies, soaring over the grasslands of southern England in summer. The caterpillars secrete honeydew, which ants eat. In return they get protection in the underground cells the ants make for them. The butterfly has reproduced well so far, but is now at risk.
The Psyche project aims to sequence and explore the genomes of all 11,000 European butterfly species in detail. As it turns out, climate change and habitat loss are seriously threatening them. Researchers on the project have discovered that blue butterfly cells contain different numbers of chromosomes depending on the location.
In southern Europe, they have a total of 87 chromosomes, but as you move north, this number increases and jumps to 90. This refutes the claim that a particular species has a specific number of chromosomes. In the case of the butterfly, this number may change because after the last ice age in Europe ended, the butterfly moved north and the number of chromosomes increased directly with it.
According to one ethicist, Mark Blackster:
If we look back a million years, we can pinpoint when two species diverged at the same time. We can probably see this even now, a species splitting into two according to differences in chromosome number. It's like seeing evolution in action.
Until now, the relationship between diurnal and nocturnal butterflies has been a matter of serious debate, but DNA technology has revealed that diurnal butterflies are a subset of nocturnal butterflies, only more colorful.
There are many species of butterflies on Earth, all of them extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and environment. But the more we learn about them, the more we learn about nature. 87-90 chromosomes may seem like a lot compared to the 23 pairs in humans, but these gene bundles are very common among butterflies, and the record is held by another species of blue butterfly, Polyommatus atlanticus.
It has a total of 229 chromosomes.
Another interesting example of a butterfly is the Xerces blue, which was recently rendered extinct by urbanization. Genetic testing of a 93-year-old specimen revealed that the Xerces blue was a separate species of butterfly, not a subset of another existing species, as some scientists had assumed. The Xerces blue was last seen in the 1940s. Although its relatives still live today, its evolutionary path ended shortly after its habitat was destroyed by urbanization.
A study of specimens from museum collections has revealed that species are becoming endangered due to inbreeding, for example.
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