Successfully artificially reproduced the rarest butterfly in the world

This butterfly is on the list of animals that need top protection.

Chinese researchers have successfully artificially reproduced two yellow-spotted saber-tailed butterflies (one male and one female), whose scientific name is Teinopalpus aureus.

This is one of the eight rarest species of phoenix butterfly in the world and is on the verge of extinction. In China, this butterfly is on the list of animals that need top protection.

The research and artificial breeding facility for the yellow-spotted swordtail butterfly is located in Jiangxi Jiangxi National Nature Reserve, east China's Jiangxi province. The couple was born earlier this month.

According to experts at the aforementioned scientific facility, two female yellow-spotted swordtail butterflies have been found in the wild since the discovery of this butterfly by Chinese scientists in 2007. The rarity of butterflies females, resulting in low fertility, associated with the small numbers of this butterfly.

The research facility successfully performed the first artificial breeding of the yellow-spotted swordtail butterfly in 2020 and released two male butterflies into the wild.

With the successful artificial reproduction of female butterflies of this species, Chinese experts hope that the number of this rare insect species will increase in the near future.