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Butterflies at that awkward age

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Beautifully preserved specimens of butterflies from the Caribbean, caught maybe in the act of egg-laying some 20 million years ago, provide welcome grist to the mill of debate about butterfly history.

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Figure 1: Metalmarks past and present.

J. HALL/SMITHSONIAN INST. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

Figure 2: Relationships among the Lepidoptera — the butterflies (about 20,000 living species) and moths (ten times that number).

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  1. Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Dick Vane-Wright

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  1. Dick Vane-Wright
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Vane-Wright, D. Butterflies at that awkward age. Nature 428, 477–480 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/428477a

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