Feature

Alarming Butterflies and Go-Getter Fish

Overlooked ways to invent new species

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

There’s a trick at the top of evolutionary biologist James Mallet’s Web page, where five pairs of tropical Heliconius butterflies pose in a double row.

Despite the variety in looks, the butterflies in the top row represent just local color variations of a single species, Heliconius melpomene.