Scientists ape nature, create hybrid butterfly

  • 15/06/2006

Scientists said they have created a distinctive red and yellow butterfly in the laboratory by interbreeding two different species in a way similar to what they believe has occurred in nature. The laboratory hybrid is nearly identical to a wild species of butterfly in Colombia known as Heliconius heurippa. "We recreated the evolutionary steps that may have given rise to Heliconius heurippa, a hybrid butterfly species, in the lab,' said Jesus Mavarez, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City, Panama.