The astounding story of the fake butterfly specimen Papilio ecclipsis – would you be fooled? – More Than A Dodo

For April Fool's Day, our Senior Collections Manager Darren Mann recounts the story of an elegantly fake butterfly – Papilio ecclipsis – asking whether it was a piece of scientific fraudulence or practical joke that went awry.

Genetic switch in UV response of mimicry-related pale-yellow colors in Batesian mimic butterfly, Papilio polytes

The Tawny mime is a mimic! – Ray Cannon's nature notes

The mimetic wing pattern of Papilio polytes butterflies is regulated by a doublesex-orchestrated gene network

The mimetic wing pattern of Papilio polytes butterflies is regulated by a doublesex-orchestrated gene network

The Origin of Butterflies: A 100 Million-Year-Old Mystery Unraveled

The astounding story of the fake butterfly specimen Papilio ecclipsis – would you be fooled? – More Than A Dodo

Fearless distasteful butterflies and timid mimetic butterflies: comparison of flight initiation distances in Papilioninae

Papilio ascalaphus fukuyamai ♂

Here's the butterfly—identified – Why Evolution Is True

The Origin of Butterflies: A 100 Million-Year-Old Mystery Unraveled

The astounding story of the fake butterfly specimen Papilio ecclipsis – would you be fooled? – More Than A Dodo