The National Science Foundation awarded scientists of the McGuire Center at the Florida Museum of Natural History a grant to classify a common but data-rich butterfly group.
A $458,104 grant was given to classify the often-misidentified Euptychiina subtribe, which is commonly found throughout the Americas and represents a group of more than 400 species.
The money will fund projects to distinguish Euptychiina species and send students to sites around the world.
Currently there are about 14,000 Euptychiina specimens at the Florida Museum that cannot be reliably identified, said principal investigator Keith Willmott, associate curator of lepidoptera at the Florida Museum.
“They’re small and largely drab, which is probably part of the reason why they haven’t been studied thus far,” said Willmott.
The typically brown Euptychiina is a common species to find in wooded habitats in Gainesville, but they are mainly found with expansive diversity in South America.
Just because two species look alike doesn’t mean they’re the same. Likewise, just because two species look different doesn’t mean they are different, said Andrew D. Warren, senior collections manager at the center.
Figuring out how these butterflies evolved, particularly in South America, will have widespread implications for the evolution of other butterfly groups, said Willmott.
“Given that we know this is a difficult group to identify, there will be a pretty heavy reliance on DNA testing,” said Warren.
This group of butterflies is more sedentary than its largely colored, fast-flying relatives. As a result, Euptychiina butterflies give a better understanding of the climate in which these butterflies live, Willmott said.
Genetic data will give a fresh coat of paint to a rarely touched realm of butterfly research. The new approach will give researchers clues for classifying diversity within this species, he said.
Funding will go into creating a website for public use that will have the ability to search for distribution, diversity and speciation of these butterflies, along with images, Willmott said.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 9/16/2013 under the headline "Florida Museum receives butterfly grant"
