| 1. |
- Corral-Lopez, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Field evidence for colour mimicry overshadowing morphological mimicry
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0021-8790 .- 1365-2656. ; 90:3, s. 698-709
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Imperfect mimicry may be maintained when the various components of an aposematic signal have different salience for predators. Experimental laboratory studies provide robust evidence for this phenomenon. Yet, evidence from natural settings remains scarce.We studied how natural bird predators assess multiple features in a multicomponent aposematic signal in the Neotropical ‘clear wing complex’ mimicry ring, dominated by glasswing butterflies.We evaluated two components of the aposematic signal, wing colouration and wing morphology, in a predation experiment based on artificial replicas of glasswing butterflies (model) and Polythoridae damselflies (mimics) in their natural habitat. We also studied the extent of the colour aposematic signal in the local insect community. Finally, we inspected the nanostructures responsible for this convergent colour signal, expected to highly differ between these phylogenetically distinct species.Our results provide direct evidence for a stronger salience of wing colouration than wing morphology, as well as stronger selection on imperfect than in perfect colour mimics. Additionally, investigations of how birds perceive wing colouration of the local insect community provides further evidence that a UV‐reflective white colouration is being selected as the colour aposematic signal of the mimicry ring. Using electron microscopy, we also suggest that damselflies have convergently evolved the warning colouration through a pre‐adaptation.These findings provide a solid complement to previous experimental evidence suggesting a key influence of the cognitive assessment of predators driving the evolution of aposematic signals and mimicry rings.
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| 2. |
- Outomuro, David, et al.
(författare)
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Multitrait aposematic signal in Batesian mimicry
- 2016
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Ingår i: Evolution. - : Wiley. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 70:7, s. 1596-1608
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Batesian mimics can parasitize Müllerian mimicry rings mimicking the warning color signal. The evolutionary success of Batesian mimics can increase adding complexity to the signal by behavioral and locomotor mimicry. We investigated three fundamental morphological and locomotor traits in a Neotropical mimicry ring based on Ithomiini butterflies and parasitized by Polythoridae damselflies: wing color, wing shape, and flight style. The study species have wings with a subapical white patch, considered the aposematic signal, and a more apical black patch. The main predators are VS-birds, visually more sensitive to violet than to ultraviolet wavelengths (UVS-birds). The white patches, compared to the black patches, were closer in the bird color space, with higher overlap for VS-birds than for UVS-birds. Using a discriminability index for bird vision, the white patches were more similar between the mimics and the model than the black patches. The wing shape of the mimics was closer to the model in the morphospace, compared to other outgroup damselflies. The wing-beat frequency was similar among mimics and the model, and different from another outgroup damselfly. Multitrait aposematic signals involving morphology and locomotion may favor the evolution of mimicry rings and the success of Batesian mimics by improving signal effectiveness toward predators.
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| 3. |
- Sánchez-Guillén, Rosa A., et al.
(författare)
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The evolutionary history of colour polymorphism in Ischnura damselflies
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of evolutionary biology. - 1010-061X.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major challenge in evolutionary biology consists of understanding how genetic and phenotypic variation is created and maintained. In this study, we investigated the origin(s) and evolutionary patterns of the female-limited colour polymorphism in ischnuran damselflies. These consist of the presence of one to three colour morphs: one androchrome morph with a coloration that is similar to the male and two gynochrome morphs (infuscans and aurantiaca) with female-specific coloration. We (i) documented the colour and mating system of 44 of the 75 taxa within the genus Ischnura, (ii) reconstructed the evolutionary history of colour and mating system to identify the ancestral state, (iii) evaluated the stability of the colour morph status over time and (iv) tested for a correlation between colour and mating system. We found that the ancestral female colour of Ischnura was monomorphic and aurantiaca and that colour morph status changed over time, characterized by many gains and losses across the species tree. Our results further showed that colour polymorphism is significantly more frequent among polyandric species, whereas monandric species tend to be monomorphic. Research on some Ischnura species has shown that colour morphs have evolved to reduce male mating harassment, and our finding that the same phenotypic morphs have evolved multiple times (convergent evolution) suggests that several species in this genus might be experiencing similar selective pressures.
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