don't they just remind you of snow?
Photo in the News: Hybrid Butterfly Found on Cold Mountaintops
Some, apparently, like it cold, thanks to a rare form of genetic mixing between two butterfly species.
The unnamed alpine-dwelling species of the butterfly genus Lycaeides, seen here, appears to be a genetic mashup of two known species—Lycaeides melissa and Lycaeides idas—according to a new study.
"The alpine populations possess a mosaic genome derived from both L. melissa and L. idas and are differentiated from, and younger than, their putative parental species," the authors wrote in a paper published online today by the journal Science. ............
—Victoria Gilman
Photograph by James A. Fordyce
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