Biased learning affects mate choice in a butterfly

Westerman, Erica L.; Hodgins‐Davis, Andrea; Dinwiddie, April; Monteiro, Antónia

doi:10.1073/pnas.1118378109

Cited by 81 publications

(117 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Behavioural flexibility may further accelerate divergence by exposing organisms to new selection regimes. In other taxa, behavioural plasticity has been linked to range and niche expansion (Sol et al ., ; Gonda et al ., ), variation in host use (Snell‐Rood & Papaj, ; Nylin et al ., ) and mate choice (Svensson et al ., ; Westerman et al ., ).…”

Section: Understanding Adaptation Within Its Ecological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The diversification ofHeliconiusbutterflies: what have we learned in 150 years?

Merrill

Dasmahapatra

Davey

et al. 2015

J of Evolutionary Biology

161

176

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Research into Heliconius butterflies has made a significant contribution to evolutionary biology. Here, we review our understanding of the diversification of these butterflies, covering recent advances and a vast foundation of earlier work. Whereas no single group of organisms can be sufficient for understanding life's diversity, after years of intensive study, research into Heliconius has addressed a wide variety of evolutionary questions. We first discuss evidence for widespread gene flow between Heliconius species and what this reveals about the nature of species. We then address the evolution and diversity of warning patterns, both as the target of selection and with respect to their underlying genetic basis. The identification of major genes involved in mimetic shifts, and homology at these loci between distantly related taxa, has revealed a surprising predictability in the genetic basis of evolution. In the final sections, we consider the evolution of warning patterns, and Heliconius diversity more generally, within a broader context of ecological and sexual selection. We consider how different traits and modes of selection can interact and influence the evolution of reproductive isolation.

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Section: Understanding Adaptation Within Its Ecological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The diversification ofHeliconiusbutterflies: what have we learned in 150 years?

Merrill

Dasmahapatra

Davey

et al. 2015

J of Evolutionary Biology

161

176

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“…B. anynana were reared at 27°C, 80% humidity, as previously described (40). Upon eclosion, virgin male and female adults were isolated from one another to ensure virginity and were kept in cooler conditions (17°C) until all animals of that generation emerged and were measured.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial selection for structural color on butterfly wings and comparison with natural evolution

Wasik

Liew

Lilien

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Brilliant animal colors often are produced from light interacting with intricate nano-morphologies present in biological materials such as butterfly wing scales. Surveys across widely divergent butterfly species have identified multiple mechanisms of structural color production; however, little is known about how these colors evolved. Here, we examine how closely related species and populations of Bicyclus butterflies have evolved violet structural color from brown-pigmented ancestors with UV structural color. We used artificial selection on a laboratory model butterfly, B. anynana, to evolve violet scales from UV brown scales and compared the mechanism of violet color production with that of two other Bicyclus species, Bicyclus sambulos and Bicyclus medontias, which have evolved violet/blue scales independently via natural selection. The UV reflectance peak of B. anynana brown scales shifted to violet over six generations of artificial selection (i.e., in less than 1 y) as the result of an increase in the thickness of the lower lamina in ground scales. Similar scale structures and the same mechanism for producing violet/blue structural colors were found in the other Bicyclus species. This work shows that populations harbor large amounts of standing genetic variation that can lead to rapid evolution of scales' structural color via slight modifications to the scales' physical dimensions.thin film | constructive interference | parallel evolution | photonics O rganisms produce colors in two basic ways: by synthesizing pigments that selectively absorb light of certain spectral bands so that only light outside the absorption bands is backscattered (chemical color) or by developing nanomorphologies that enhance the reflection of light of certain wavelengths by interference (physical color or structural color). Structural colors play major roles in natural and sexual selection in many species (1) and have a broad range of applications in color display, paint, cosmetics, and textile industries (2). Structural color surveys across widely divergent species have revealed a large diversity of color-producing mechanisms (3-9). However, there has been a lack of systematic study and comparison of how different colors from closely related species or within populations of a single species evolve, even though these colors can vary dramatically. By examining how these species/populations evolve different colors, it is possible to identify the minimal amount of morphological change that results in significant color variation. Furthermore, this research may serve as an inspiration for future application of similar evolutionary principles to the design of photonic devices for color tuning, light trapping, or beam steering (2,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). From an evolutionary biology point of view, we are curious to examine how structural colors respond to selection pressure and whether there is sufficient standing genetic variation in natural populations to allow the rapid evolution of novel colors. Here we focus on d...

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“…Studies of other butterfly genera, such as those of the family Nymphalidae, have shown that dorsal wing patterns function primarily as sexual signals [54–56] whereas ventral patterns mostly aid in deterring predation [43, 57, 58]. The most likely explanation for the signal partition between dorsal and ventral surfaces is that, barring those species that upon sensing danger have a wing flashing display [59], most butterflies fold and hold their wings over their body, and primarily expose their ventral wing surfaces even during an attack.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yellow and the Novel Aposematic Signal, Red, Protect Delias Butterflies from Predators

Wee

Monteiro

2017

PLoS ONE

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Butterflies of the South Asian and Australian genus Delias possess striking colours on the ventral wings that are presumed to serve as warning signals to predators. However, this has not been shown empirically. Here we experimentally tested whether the colours of one member of this diverse genus, Delias hyparete, function as aposematic signals. We constructed artificial paper models with either a faithful colour representation of D. hyparete, or with all of its colours converted to grey scale. We also produced models where single colours were left intact, while others were converted to grey-scale or removed entirely. We placed all model types simultaneously in the field, attached to a live mealworm, and measured relative attack rates at three separate field sites. Faithful models of D. hyparete, suffered the least amount of attacks, followed by grey-scale models with unaltered red patches, and by grey-scale models with unaltered yellow patches. We conclude that red and yellow colours function as warning signals. By mapping dorsal and ventral colouration onto a phylogeny of Delias, we observed that yellow and red colours appear almost exclusively on the ventral wing surfaces, and that basal lineages have mostly yellow, white, and black wings, whereas derived lineages contain red colour in addition to the other colours. Red appears to be, thus, a novel adaptive trait in this lineage of butterflies.

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Biased learning affects mate choice in a butterfly

Cited by 81 publications

References 56 publications

The diversification ofHeliconiusbutterflies: what have we learned in 150 years?

The diversification ofHeliconiusbutterflies: what have we learned in 150 years?

Artificial selection for structural color on butterfly wings and comparison with natural evolution

Yellow and the Novel Aposematic Signal, Red, Protect Delias Butterflies from Predators

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