A butterfly living in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America that seems to have figured out how to live way longer than it should. According to a new study published in Nature Communications and led by researchers at the University of Bristol, butterflies in the Heliconius group were living way longer than their closest relatives. Their ability to age slowly makes them one of the longest-living creatures on the planet.
So, of course, that raises the question of how they’re doing this. Well, it turns out pollen might have something to do with it.
Most butterflies live for only a few weeks. Some members of the Heliconius group routinely live for months. One species in particular, Heliconius hewitsoni, has been documented to live for up to 348 days, making it ancient in butterfly terms. Especially so when you compare it to one of its close relatives, Dione Juno, which only lives for 14 days. That’s an enormous difference between two species that aren’t all that different from one another.
Researchers found that older Heliconius butterflies were still in great physical condition and didn’t show any of the kinds of age-related lapses in physical performance common in other types of butterflies.
The researchers think it might have something to do with their diet.
Heliconius butterflies are the only known butterfly species that collect and digest pollen as adults. Pollen is loaded with amino acids, fats, and nutrients that support immune function and long-term health. All of the longest-living butterflies in the study fed on pollen.
Just to see what would happen, the researchers deprived them of pollen. They still outlived other related species. This means they got something going on deep in their biology, some inherited mechanism, that’s slowing the aging process.
Maybe pollen is a pillar of it? Maybe it’s just a nice supplementary piece? The researchers aren’t sure just yet. But understanding why they age so slowly and remain healthier for so much longer than their cousins might be key to unlocking the mysteries of how to slow aging, not just in butterflies but in us humans.
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