Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Evolution at Work

July 12, 2007

Evolution at Work - Blue Moon Butterfly

The tropical Blue Moon butterfly has developed a way of fighting back against parasitic bacteria. Six years ago, males accounted for just 1% of the Blue Moon population on two islands in the South Pacific. But by last year, the butterflies had developed a gene to keep the bacteria in check and male numbers were up to about 40% of the population.

Scientists believe the comeback is due to “suppressor” genes that control the Wolbachia bacteria that is passed down from the mother and kills the male embryos before they hatch. “To my knowledge, this is the fastest evolutionary change that has ever been observed,” said Sylvain Charlat, of University College London, whose study appears in the journal Science.
…
“We’re witnessing an evolutionary arms race between the parasite and the host. This strengthens the view that parasites can be major drivers in evolution,” Mr Charlat said.

It makes a great deal of sense that evolution would have such bursts under the right conditions. This seems an nearly perfect example of such conditions - if males can be produced they are going to have a large opening to reproduce and rapidly pass on a new tool to fight the bacteria. The University of California - Berkeley has a good site on understanding evolution (with lesson plans for k-16 and information for anyone interested in science).

Relates: Two Butterfly Species Evolved Into Third - Evolution in Darwin’s Finches - Evolution In Action - Evo-Devo

by curiouscat Tags: K-12, Life Science, Science, Students
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3 Responses to “Evolution at Work - Blue Moon Butterfly”

Gary Petersen Says:
July 13th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Keep reading in the article, though. This is from the second to last paragraph:

“But they said that the repopulation of male butterflies illustrates rapid natural selection, a process in which traits that help a species survive become more prominent in a population.”

What they’re reporting here seems more natural selection than evolution. There is a big, big difference.
Archana Raghuram Says:
July 17th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Thats a very interesting post, John. I never knew evloution works at such speeds.
Mendel’s Garden #17: Blog Carnival of Genetics « ScienceRoll Says:
August 5th, 2007 at 4:27 am
[...] Curious Cat shows us Evolution at Work with the Blue Moon Butterfly. [...]