Is this mysterious hybrid butterfly a harbinger of climate change?
A butterfly species, misidentified for more than 60 years, may be the only type of butterfly endemic to Alaska, say scientists.
The newly identified Tanana Arctic lives in spruce and aspen forests in the Tanana-Yukon River Basin. Because butterflies react quickly to climate change, the species could help scientists identify alarming changes in the sensitive arctic ecosystem, says Andrew Warren, a lepidopterist (butterfly expert) at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
鈥淭his butterfly has apparently lived in the Tanana River valley for so long that if it ever moves out, we鈥檒l be able to say 鈥榃ow, there are some changes happening,鈥� 鈥� said Dr. Warren, lead author on a聽聽in the聽Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. 鈥淭his is a region where the permafrost is already melting and the climate is changing.鈥�
The Tanana Arctic butterflies 鈥� the first species discovered in Alaska in the last 28 years 鈥撀爉ay be a rare hybrid between two related species, the Chryxus Arctic (翱别苍别颈蝉听肠丑谤测虫耻蝉) and the White-veined Arctic (O. bore), says Warren.聽
He first identified the new species while organizing butterfly specimens in a museum collection, he told Smithsonian.com. He聽noticed that the specimens, while similar to O. chryxus, , including white specks on the underside of its penny-colored wings that gave it a "frosted" appearance. This butterfly was also larger and darker than the other species.
A group of eight scientists from three countries further examined the species and discovered DNA similar to that of the the White-veined Arctic (O. bore). Based on their findings, the researchers suggested that the new species is a hybrid, from butterflies that mated before the last ice age.
They suggest that as the climate became colder, the Chryxus Arctic was pushed south into the Rocky Mountains, while the Tanana Arctic and White-veined Arctic remained in Beringia.
鈥屸�淗ybrid species demonstrate that animals evolved in a way that people , although the phenomenon is fairly well studied in plants,鈥� said Warren, according to UF News. 鈥�...Beringia, including the strip of land that once connected Asia and what's now Alaska, served as a refuge where plants and animals waited out the last ice age and then moved eastward or southward from there.鈥�
Warren and his team plan to do more research to confirm that the species is indeed a hybrid.
