RIO – Endangered Blue Butterfly Serum (via DNA analysis) confirmed by researchers.Glaucoma Cerseus) Was an item of its own. She lived in the San Francisco area of ​​the United States, but her existence was wiped out by human activity. It was last seen in the 1940s. Samples for questionable analysis were collected 93 years ago. After that, the question remains as to whether Cercus is its own species or a subspecies of another butterfly found in the western United States.

According to Felix Greaves, co-director of the Grencher Bioinformatics Center, the study, published in Biology Letters, highlights the importance of conserving insects, and the field museum in Chicago made it possible to compare Cerseus’ DNA from another species from the collection.

When this butterfly was collected 93 years ago, no one thought about aligning its DNA. That’s why we need to continue collecting for researchers for 100 years from now – said the main author of the article in a museum statement posted on the website “Eurek Alert”.

Scientists knew that Cercus became extinct as a result of urban development, but until then the question remained as to whether it was actually its own species or a subspecies of another common butterfly. So they used a sample that had been part of the museum’s collection since 1928 and found that it was sufficient to classify its DNA into an item.

“The Exercise blue butterfly is the most iconic insect for conservation, because we know it was the first insect to become extinct in North America,” said Corey More, director of inset collection at Cornell University. – Taking the first steps and pulling out the abdomen (from the 93-year-old butterfly) was very stressful, but it is also encouraging to know that we may be able to answer an unanswered question. 100 years, there is no other way to answer it.

The researcher explained that although DNA is stable, it will degrade over time. Despite this, you can compare several segments of the code and indicate what the original version would look like.

“It’s like you made a bunch of similar legos structures and abandoned them. Individual structures can be damaged, but if you look at them all together, you can find the shape of the original structure, ”he explained.

Morozyn said it’s important to protect animals without forgetting insects so as not to imbalance the habitat.

“We’m in the middle of what’s known as the Apocalypse of Insects, and we’ll be finding massive insect breaks around the world,” he said. “Although all insects are charismatic or like blue butterfly serpents, they have a profound effect on the functioning of the ecosystem. Many insects are actually the basis for keeping this habitat healthy. They make the soil aerated, which allows the plants to grow, which feeds the herbivores and then the carnivores. Every loss of an insect greatly affects the habitat.