Scientists decode butterfly puzzle

WASHINGTON - Scientists have cracked the code of how butterflies get their wing patterns, according to a study published recently in the scientific magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Arnaud Martin, an evolutionary geneticist at George Washington University in the United States and one of the authors of the study, said the work will help scientists understand fundamental rules about the function of genes.

Butterfly wings vary in color and shape and have different functions. Some butterflies have brightly-colored wings to warn predators that they are poisonous. Others have dull camouflage wings, enabling them to pass off as leaves or bark.