Meadow brown butterflies ‘adapt’ to global heating by developing fewer spots

Study finds female chrysalises that develop at higher temperatures have fewer eyespots, making them harder to see in dry grass

Female meadow brown butterflies who develop in warmer weather sport fewer spots on their wings, in an unexpected adaptation to global heating.

The discovery was made by University of Exeter scientists who found that females whose chrysalises developed at 11C had six spots on average, while those developing at 15C had just three.