Full Breakdown
Genetic Parallelism Drives Mimicry Across 120 Million Years in Butterflies and Moths
5/5/2026, 11:27:09 AM
Genetic Basis of Mimicry
An international team from the University of York and the Wellcome Sanger Institute examined eight distantly related lepidopteran species—seven South-American rainforest butterfly lineages and a day-flying moth—that share warning patterns. All use the same two genes, ivory and optix, to produce the colors. Evolutionary change occurs in regulatory switches that turn these genes on or off; the moth employs a DNA inversion that mirrors a switch pattern found in one butterfly. This conserved architecture spans 120 million years, suggesting a route for mimicry.
Team & Publication
The study was coordinated by Professor Kanchon Dasmahapatra (University of York) and Professor Joana Meier (Wellcome Sanger Institute). Results were published in *PLoS Biology* (2026) under the authorship of Y. Ben Chehida et al.
Key Data
Key data: the two genes ivory and optix; eight species (seven butterflies, one moth); evolution via regulatory-switch modifications and a DNA inversion; conserved over ~120 million years; the coloration serves as a bird-deterrent aposematic signal.
Official Responses
The authors say the repeated recruitment of ivory and optix shows a predictable genetic pathway for mimicry. They note that the conserved regulatory architecture simplifies the emergence of similar warning patterns across lineages. They suggest that recognizing these routes may improve forecasts of species’ responses to environmental change, including climate shifts.
Quotes
- “Convergent evolution, where many unrelated species independently evolve the same trait, is common across the tree of life. But we rarely have the opportunity to investigate the genetic basis of this phenomenon.” — Professor Kanchon Dasmahapatra, University of York
- “These distantly related butterflies and the moth are all toxic and distasteful to birds trying to eat them. They look very much alike because if birds have already learned that a specific color pattern means ‘do not eat, we are toxic,’ it is beneficial for other species to display the same warning colors.” — Professor Joana Meier, Wellcome Sanger Institute
- “Investigating seven butterfly lineages and a day-flying moth, we show that evolution can be surprisingly predictable, and that butterflies and moths have been using the exact same genetic tricks repeatedly to achieve similar color patterns since the age of the dinosaurs.” — Y. Ben Chehida et al., *PLoS Biology*
- “Understanding that evolution often follows established genetic routes could help scientists anticipate how species may respond to changing environments or climate shifts.” — Study conclusion, *ScienceDaily*
Predictive Implications
If evolution repeatedly uses the same genetic solutions, scientists may forecast responses to pressures such as habitat change or climate warming. The conserved ivory-optix regulatory network suggests a limited repertoire of viable pathways for phenotypes, enhancing predictive modeling.
Next Steps
Future work will map regulatory switches in lepidopteran groups and test whether similar genetic reuse underlies convergent traits. Extending this approach could refine predictive models of evolutionary dynamics under environmental change.
