A ‘butterfly tree of life’ reveals the origins of these beautiful insects
Butterflies first evolved 100 million years ago. Deposit Photos Up until 100 million years ago, butterflies were night creatures. Only nocturnal moths were living on Earth until some rogue moths began to fly during the day. These enterprising members of the order Lepidoptera took advantage of the nectar-rich flowers that had co-evolved with bees by flying during the day. From there, close to 19,000 butterfly species were born. [Related: Save caterpillars by turning off your outdoor lights.] In 2019, a large-scale analysis of DNA helped solve the question of when they evolved. Now, the mystery of where in the world colorful winged insects evolved plagues lepidopterists and museum curators. A study published May 15 in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution found that butterflies likely evolved in North and Central America, and they...