From the News Desk

Butterflies and moths making headlines around the world

Colors from the Eocene Epoch:  A 47 million year old moth fossil from Germany is so delicately preserved that the wing structures can be carefully observed to determine what colors shone on its wings.

• Story at Wired Science.
• Extended story at Science Daily.

 Monarch Migration: It’s Fall and Monarch butterflies are winging their way south to Mexico. This migration is truly fascinating.

• Video from New York Times.
• Population decline story at New York Times.

Nabokov was right!: Russian author and self-taught expert on butterflies Vladimir Nabokov proposed a theory in 1945 that Polyommatus blue butterflies migrated from Asia to the new world in a series of waves. As a self-taught expert he wasn’t taken very seriously by scientists of his day and his theory was dismissed. His theories were recently proved correct!

• Story at New York Times.
• Slide show from New York Times.

Color on the Wing: The colored scales on the wings of butterflies have their color because of the structure of each scale rather than from pigments.

• Story at New York Times.
• Story at MSNBC.
• Story at Wired Science.
• Slide show at National Geographic.

New Species: New butterfly species have been found in China, Ireland and even in the vast collection of the London Natural History Museum.

• Zebra-like ringlet (Splendeuptychia mercedes) discovered in museum collection. Story at Wildlife Extra News.
• Xiushan's Large Blue (Phengaris xiushani ) found in China. Story at Science Daily.
• Magdalena valley ringlet (Splendeuptychia ackeryi) is a species from Columbia found in the vast collection on the Natural History Museum in London. The butterfly even has a moustache. Story at Science Daily.
• Cryptic Wood White (Leptidea juvernica) is a new species found hiding in plain sight among another species in Ireland. Story at Guardian UK.