Punnett's Square

A New York Times article discusses the recent advances in the understanding of mimicry occurring in nature. This study comes from a similar location to that of Charles Darwin’s studies: Brazil. The main individual of study is the butterfly. Mimicry is when an population begins to adapt similar colors, patterns and overall looks to another. In butterfly species, a non-poisonous population will begin to mimic the colors and patterns of poisonous populations. The benefits of this natural occurrence are numerous and help protect the non poisonous populations from becoming prey. Not only were non-poisonous populations mimicking poisonous ones, but poisonous species began mimicking each other. Mueller theorized that in this fashion, the butterflies formed a sort of “army” where all other species would know they were not the be eaten.

Until recently, however, how mimicry occurred was unknown. That was until Mueller proposed that mimicry stemmed from two sources: independent evolution or gene swapping. The genes controlling the causes of mimicry have been recently identified. Using this knowledge, it is safe to say that source of mimicry comes form both mechanisms working cooperatively. Although interbreeding is rarely seen between different populations, due to the extreme advantages of mimicry, one individual can spread the gene through the population quickly.

This mimicry is crucial to the survival of butterfly species in Brazil.

In a study in ScienceDaily, Smithsonian scientists in Panama have discovered a single gene that codes for all variations of red wing patterns in Heliconius butterflies. By combining old techniques with new, this fascinating new information was discovered; one gene for all red coloration in their wings. The only thing that differs, making different patterns of red, is the way this gene is regulated. Scientists accomplished this by looking at genes through different screens of butterflies with red wing patterns, and butterflies without them. They found such a gene that matched up every time to where the red pigment occurred on the wings.

 The interesting part is that this same gene is also one that is already known to code for assisting in eye development for other animals. It’s known as the Optix gene. This is a spectacular discovery because genetic variations in the tropics have always been a mystery to scientists. Now that they know one gene can cause some many variations, these scientists believe that the diversity of our world may be coded by far less genes than originally believed.