Gloves that are not in the gene

Painted lady butter -free is a world traveler. What we encounter in Europe will fly from Africa to Sweden and eventually return north and south of Sahara. But what are the long distances while some butterflies are traveling long distances? Scientists from the Austrian Science and Technology Research Institute (ISTA) indicate that different moving strategies are not encoded on butterfly DNA, but are formed by environmental conditions.

It's a warm summer day in June. SUNHATS and Nets scientists are hiking along the trails of the mountains of Catalonia. They are looking for painted women with great care. It is a lively orange butterfly with a complex black and white pattern. Catching a painted woman is not an easy task. They are powerful flyers, and the fact that they had to recognize the evolved biologist, Dahlia Sipurina.

Previously, scientists who handled plants and birds try to catch one of the beautiful butterflies in the air. Her net shakes in every direction, but not a place to go. Finally, some butterflies are taking a break on honey and giving Syprina a long -awaited opportunity. A quick “SWOOSH”, and she goes on the net. It is a wonderful moment for biologists, and it is a greater proof of these incredible butterfly recovery and patience.

Every year, a painted woman goes from the northwest of Africa to Sweden, and embarks on a big migratory bird journey to find the perfect environmental conditions that guarantee their survival and breeding.
The group of scientists is trying to decipher the butterfly travel map alongside the civil science project. Recent interdisciplinary publications provide new insights. It is stipulated at Upsara University, and is currently characterized by the contribution to the postdoc (ISTA) with the Nicholas Burton group of the Austrian Science and Technology Research Institute (ISTA). , SOS SAVANE, Dakar's polytechnic high school, and Dalmstadt Institute of Technology. The result is currently published on PNAS NEXUS.

There is no distant distance and there is no burden that is too heavy

“The painted woman is a surprisingly beautiful and colorful butterfly seed,” says SHIPILINA. “Seeing them to form a large collection is a true sight, but it is an incredibly long -distance transition that makes them special.”

These butterflies go on a 10,000 km journey between Africa and Europe every year. They are looking for the best breeding conditions for their descendants through a series of generations. “In one section of individual moving cycles, the descendants continue to travel,” says SHIPILINA.

Colorful insects begin in northwest Africa, fly to Europe across the Mediterranean, and start a spectacular voyage in the spring. After that, the generations went to the UK and arrived at the Arctic Tundra in Sweden and spent the summer.

Until recently, it was believed that when a butterfly arrived in Sweden, it would be destroyed by the cold climate that occur at the end of summer. However, research has shown that a painted woman returns to a warm area in the fall and confirms the circulation crossing pattern. Some stay in the Mediterranean area, while others return to Africa over Sahara. But why? Do they have another GPS system?

Where were you or where?

SHIPILINA and colleagues tried to understand this phenomenon. To achieve this, scientists have proceeded to field trips and gathered women painted from both north and south of Sahara, such as Benin, Senegal, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, and Malta.

They used isotoped geolocation to estimate the geographical origin of each butterfly. “The important principle of this method is that the isotoped structure of the wings of the adult butterfly or the stable isotope reflects the signature of the isotope of the plant eaten as caterpillars,” said Shipilina. The isotope is a different form of the same element, with the same chemical properties, but slightly different atomic mass.

Megan Rich and Clement Batayille, a co -first writer at Ottawa University, have the development of this method, tests of various isotope, improving statistical approaches, and incorporating machine learning technology to enhance accuracy and resolution. I made annual expenses.

The analysis confirmed various travel behaviors between individuals. Some have long moved south from Scandinavia to the south, crossing Sahara, and a short distance to the north of the Mediterranean desert.

Is it in their genes?

Later, scientists compared each individual's DNA sequence using all genome sequences. Interestingly, there was no genetic difference between short trips and long -range butterflies.

“This discovery is fundamentally different from what is observed in some birds and other well -studied migratory birds,” says SHIPILINA. “For example, in the ward's warbler, the large chromosome region is related to the direction of various crossings, indicating how different expressions come from different genome compositions.” The pattern could not be related to factors such as gender, wing size, and wing shape.

Painted women adapt to the environment

According to scientists, the so -called expression type plasticity may explain various mobile styles. “Expressive plasticity is the ability to change the expression type in response to environmental conditions without changing the genetic configuration.

For example, in the summer, the Swedish butterflies may be prompted to travel long distances to the south across Sahara, as the length and other seasonal clues change rapidly. In contrast, a long -time southern France butterfly may not encounter a clue to these movements, so it only starts on short -distance journey in the Mediterranean region.

Most of the painted women are unknown, compared to other butterfly like the well -studied monarch. Is the observed pattern applied to the wide geographical distribution of painted women? Is this phenomenon unique to butterflies, or can other insects be observed? ISTA researchers, Daria SHIPILINA and her colleagues, have decided to fill in this knowledge gap.

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Information about animal research
For example, in order to better understand the basic processes in the field of neuroscience, immunology, or genetics, the use of animals in research is essential. Other methods such as the in Silico model cannot function as an alternative. Animals were raised, bred, treated, and conducted in accordance with the strict regulations of each country.