Modular Paint-Box Explains Butterfly Color Patterns

Butterflies of the Amazon exhibit astonishing beauty and diversity. The Heliconius genus, in particular, is striking for its examples of mimicry, where members of different species have converged on the same color patterns on their wings. Collections of these butterflies can be arranged into series where yellow and red spots grow and shrink, grading into one another. How did this diversity come about?

The usual answer is Darwinian evolution -- a mutation of a gene leading to a novelty, then...