All Articles Tagged As: butterflies

Biofuels and biodiversity don't mix, ecologists warn (7/9/2008)

Rising demand for palm oil will decimate biodiversity unless producers and politicians can work together to preserve as much remaining natural forest as possible, ecologists have warned ...> Full Article

Monarch butterflies help explain why parasites harm hosts (5/17/2008)

Study of monarch butterflies and the microscopic parasites that hitch a ride on them finds that the parasites strike a middle ground between the benefits gained by reproducing rapidly and the costs to their hosts ...> Full Article

Researcher says habitat destruction may wipe out butterfly migration (4/5/2008)

Intense deforestation in Mexico could ruin one of North America's most celebrated natural wonders - the mysterious 3,000-mile migration of the monarch butterfly. According to a University of Kansas researcher, the astonishing migration may collapse rapidly without urgent action to end devastation of the butterfly's vital sources of food and shelter. ...> Full Article

Can moths or butterflies remember what they learned as caterpillars? (3/5/2008)

Butterflies and moths are well known for their striking metamorphosis from crawling caterpillars to winged adults. In light of this radical change, not just in body form, but also in lifestyle, diet and dependence on particular sensory cues, it would seem unlikely that learned associations or memories formed at the larval or caterpillar stage could be accessible to the adult moth or butterfly. However, scientists at Georgetown University recently discovered that a moth can indeed remember what it learned as a caterpillar. Their findings are published in the March 5, 2008 edition of the journal PLoS ONE. ...> Full Article

Molecular Basis Of Monarch Butterfly Migration Discovered (1/12/2008)

Since its discovery, the annual migration of eastern North American monarch butterflies has captivated the human imagination and spirit. That millions of butterflies annually fly a few thousand miles to reach a cluster of pine groves in central Mexico comprising just 70 square miles is, for many, an awesome and mysterious occurrence. However, over the past two decades, scientists have begun to unveil the journey for what it is: a spectacular result of biology, driven by an intricate molecular mechanism in a tiny cluster of cells in the butterfly brain. ...> Full Article