In 2010, Andrew Warren, Senior Collections Manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History, noticed that a specimen of the Chryxus Arctic(Oeneis chryxus) butterfly "didn't look right". The butterfly specimen has been housed at the museum for over sixty years when Warren noticed the discrepancies.
Upon closer examination, the butterfly's body was bigger and darker than expected; the underside of its brown wings also sported white specks, so that they almost looked frosted. Puzzled and intrigued, Warren conducted an investigation that ultimately lasted a few years.
In this investigation, a Russian scientist discovered the specimen had a unique DNA sequence. It was, indeed, a different species.
The Butterfly Effect
Warren visited Alaska to investigate the species further. Eventually, he realized the species had been mislabeled in multiple museums since at least 1955. These butterflies had been hiding in plain sight because they had been mistaken for a related species for over half a century.
This "new" species of butterfly, which has since been named Tanana Arctic(Oeneis tanana), is one of only a few butterflies which have emerged from a hybridization between two other species. A very basic definition of hybridization (in biology) is that a hybrid species emerges when two distinct species engage in sexual reproduction.
The Tanana Arctic is a hybrid whose parent species are thought to be the Chryxus Arctic and the White-Veined Arctic Butterfly(Oeneis bore). Hybridization may have occurred during the last ice age.
This species of butterfly is the first new species to be discovered from Alaska in 28 years-even if it isn't exactly "new".
Read More
- Hanson, Hilary. "This New Arctic Butterfly Species May Only Exist in Alaska." Huffington Post Posted 17 Mar. 2016. Accessed 17 Mar. 2016
- Howard, Brian Clark. "New Butterfly Discovered in Alaska for First Time in 28 Years." National Geographic. Posted 16 Mar. 2016. Accessed 13 Apr. 2016.
- Maynard, James. "First New Butterfly Species Found In Alaska In 28 Years May Be Ancient Hybrid, Researchers Claim." Tech Times. Published 20 Mar. 2016. Accessed 29 Apr. 2016.
- Warren, Andrew, Shinichi Nakaha, Vladimir R.A. Lukhtan, Kathryn M. Daly, Clifford D. Ferris, Nick V. Grishin, Martin Cesan, and Jonathan P. Pelham. "A New Species of Oeneis from Alaska, United States, with Notes on the Oeneis Chryxus Complex." The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 49 (2016): 1‑20. Published 15 Mar. 2016. Accessed 14 Apr. 2016.
