A recent analysis published in the Journal of Animal Ecology finds that smaller, lighter-colored tropical butterflies might lose out in a warming world.

Researchers caught over 1,000 tropical butterflies in Panama, then measured the temperatures of 54 species of the insect, homing in on 24 species for additional experiments. In the lab, they put captured butterflies in glass jars with water, then simulated human-caused climate change and extreme weather events by raising the water’s temperature. Over time, they pushed the temperature from about 82 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit, observing the point at which the insects could no longer function.