(CNN) — The world’s largest butterfly tree of life is helping researchers determine where the winged insects originated when they first appeared on Earth about 100 million years ago. During the age of ...

A deep dive into the genetics of butterflies offers new clues as to how these pollinators shared DNA across generations. Nate Edelman, a graduate student at Harvard University and an author on the ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- A butterfly's wing is a uniquely visual exhibition, not only of the aesthetics of nature, but of the machinery of evolution. Biologists have long appreciated that butterfly wing ...

Colorful Heliconius butterflies have a wide variety of wing patterns and an amazing ability to mimic the appearance of other butterfly species. They also split into many species during a short ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- For hundreds of years, butterfly collecting has often inspired a special kind of fanaticism, spurring lengthy expeditions, sparking rivalries and prompting some collectors to ...

A unique butterfly breeding experiment gave researchers an opportunity to study the physical and genetic changes underlying the evolution of structural color, responsible for butterflies' iridescent ...

"We still have a long way to go, but this is the first comprehensive map of butterfly evolution," said Kawahara, associate professor and curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History's McGuire ...