Threatened Samoan butterflies fight back against extinction

This video is called Butterfly dance.

“The butterfly dance a renewal of life, a dance of nature new beings, expression of life! The footage taken near Ipswich, Australia. Can anyone tell me what the name of the butterflys are I think they are common eggfly?”

From Reuters:

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO- When faced with extinction, butterflies on two South Pacific islands quickly developed genetic defenses that helped them fight back, a team of international researchers said on Tuesday.

They said the butterflies’ tale is the fastest example of natural selection observed to date and shows evolution can happen quickly when the stakes are high.

In 2001, male Hypolimnas bolina butterflies on the Samoan islands of Savaii and Upolu were extremely rare. Just 1 percent of these butterflies — known commonly as Blue Moon or Great Eggfly — were male. They were under attack by the Wolbachia bacteria, a parasite passed through the female that kills off male butterflies before they can hatch.

Last year, the numbers of males had either reached or were approaching those of females. They were helped by the development of a genetic mutation that suppresses the bacteria, sparing the males and allowing them to repopulate quickly.

“This is one of the most clear and fastest cases of evolution under natural selection,” said Sylvain Charlat of University College London, whose study appears in the journal Science.

See also here.

Mao is an endemic honeyeater found in Samoa which is classified as Endangered by BirdLife on the IUCN Red List. Unless urgent action is taken, these unique birds have a very high risk of going extinct in the near future: here.