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opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

Behavioral data for: A learning experience elicits sex-dependent neurogenomic responses in Bicyclus anynana butterflies

This is the behavioral data file that corresponds to the behavioral data reported in "A learning experience elicits sex-dependent neurogenomic responses in Bicyclus anyana butterflies" by D.A. Ernst, G.A. Agcaoili, A.N. Merrill, & E. L. Westerman, published in Molecular Ecology. It contains one spreadsheet, with all the behavioral data corresponding to the training, trainer, and naive butterflies utilized in the comparative brain and eye transcriptomics analyses conducted in the manuscript. In our study, we show that male and female B. anynana butterflies exhibit sexually dimorphic gene expression in the brain and eye during a learning event. We further identify genes that were associated with learning independent of sex and show that a number of genes known to influence wing pattern are also differentially expressed in the brain and eye during a mate choice learning event. The sexually dimorphic expression was not the result of baseline differences in activity levels, as males and females exhibited similar amounts of behavior during the training and naive experiences.

opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

Data for: Recent range shifts of moths, butterflies, and birds are driven by the breadth of their climatic niche

Species are altering their ranges as a response to climate change, but the magnitude and direction of observed range shifts vary considerably among species. The ability to persist in current areas and colonize new areas plays a crucial role in determining which species will thrive and which decline as climate change progresses. Several studies have sought to identify characteristics, such as morphological and life-history traits, that could explain differences in the capability of species to shift their ranges together with a changing climate. These characteristics have explained variation in range shifts only sporadically, thus offering an uncertain tool for discerning responses among species. As long-term selection to past climates have shaped species' tolerances, metrics describing species' contemporary climatic niches may provide an alternative means for understanding responses to on-going climate change. Species that occur in a broader range of climatic conditions may hold greater tolerance to climatic variability and could therefore more readily maintain their historical ranges, while species with more narrow tolerances may only persist if they are able to shift in space to track their climatic niche. Here, we provide a first-filter test of the effect of climatic niche dimensions on shifts in the leading range edges in three relatively well-dispersing species groups. Based on the realized changes in the northern range edges of 383 moth, butterfly, and bird species across a boreal 1100 km latitudinal gradient over c. 20 years, we show that while most morphological or life-history traits were not strongly connected with range shifts, moths and birds occupying a narrower thermal niche and butterflies occupying a broader moisture niche across their European distribution show stronger shifts towards the north. Our results indicate that the climatic niche may be important for predicting responses under climate change and as such warrants further investigation of potential mechanistic underpinnings.

opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

Dataset: The dispersal of microbes among and within flowers by butterflies

This data set was collected to examine the ability of Lepidoptera to transport microbes among flowers, while foraging. The first set, "experiment 1", records bacteria and yeasts carried by two species of generalist-nectar-feeding butterflies, Speyeria mormonia and Glaucopsyche lygdamus. We captured wild butterflies in the central Colorado Rockies. We recorded butterfly species, sex, wing wear (which measures age, from 1 = youngest to 5 = oldest), date caught, date tested, and the number of colonies on a YM plate that was streaked by the proboscis, or by a wash from the thorax or by allowing the butterfly to walk across the plate. The second data set, "experiment 2", records the number of colonies of a test bacteria, Rhodococcus fascians, on stigma, anthers and nectaries of Pyrrocoma crocea. Data were collected using flowerheads and adult Speyeria mormonia collected in the field. A butterfly was allowed to feed on a floret; the floret was immediately dissected, and the stigma, anthers and nectaries streaked on a YM plate. A floret on a second flowerhead was then innoculated with the bacteria. The butterfly was allowed to feed on the innoculated floret, and the floret was immediately dissected and parts streaked as for the training floret. The butterfly then fed on a floret in the first flowerhead, and that floret was immediately dissected and parts streaked as for other florets. Data include the identity, sex and wing wear of the butterfly, the date captured, the date the experiment was run, the number of colonies of R. fascians from stigma, anthers and nectaries of all three floret types.

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2023View details →

Figure 28 in Thirteen new species of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from Texas

Figure 28. Holotype of Aguna mcguirei sp. n. dorsal (left) and ventral (right) views, data in text.

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

Data on female oviposition behaviour of the Pararge aegeria butterfly in outdoor cages (2019–2020)

We studied oviposition behavior in a butterfly (Pararge aegeria) that used to be confined to forest, but recently colonized anthropogenic areas too. This provides an ideal study system when trying to understand the underlying processes of niche expansion and colonisation success. The dataset produced allows us to test to what extent ecotype origin (agricultural vs. forest landscape types) and larval developmental conditions (open field vs. canopy-covered forest floors) affect multiple features of oviposition behahaviour. We also performed multiple behavioural trials per individual and considered changes in oviposition site preference within and over trials. The two provided files contain all behavioral or independent variables that were obtained during behavioural tracking of the oviposition behaviour of the Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) in an outdoor cage in 2019 and 2020. In the 'femdata' file, each line contains all dependent (e.g., proportion of time spent active) and independent variables (e.g. ecotype) that apply for a single observation trial of 30 minutes of a single individual.In total, 211 observation trials were performed, by 110 different female individuals. In the 'ovimdata' file, each line contains all variables for a single oviposition bout (i.e., if a butterfly curls its abdomen on a surface and lays eggs). Examples include number of eggs per bout, the height above ground where an egg was laid and temperature at the egg laying site. These data were for example used to track changes over consecutive bouts within a single trial. In total 275 oviposition bouts were observe, laid by 85 different female individuals. Data of the ovimdata file were also implemented in the femdata file. For example, in the femdata file information can be obtained about the properties of the first oviposition bout an individual made during that trial (starting with 'b1').

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

Strong habitat-specific phenotypic plasticity but no genome-wide differentiation across a rainforest gradient in an African butterfly

Habitat-specific thermal responses are well documented in various organisms and likely determine the vulnerability of populations to climate change. However, the underlying roles of genetics and plasticity that shape such habitat-specific patterns are rarely investigated together. Here we examined the thermal plasticity of the butterfly Bicyclus dorothea originating from rainforest and ecotone habitats in Cameroon under common garden conditions. We also sampled wild-caught butterflies from forest and ecotone sites and used RADseq to explore genome-wide population differentiation. We found differences in the level of phenotypic plasticity across habitats. Specifically, ecotone populations exhibited greater sensitivity in wing eyespot features with variable development temperatures relative to rainforest populations. Known adaptive roles of wing eyespots in Bicyclus species suggest that this morphological plasticity is likely under divergent selection across environmental gradients. However, we found no distinct population structure of genome-wide variation between habitats, suggesting high levels of ongoing gene flow between habitats is homogenizing most parts of the genome.

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

Chromosome VCF files and 1Mb recombination rate estimations for: Fine-scale recombination rate variation and association with genomic features in a butterfly

Genetic recombination is a key molecular mechanism that has profound implications on both micro- and macro-evolutionary processes. However, the determinants of recombination rate variation in holocentric organisms are poorly understood, in particular in Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). The wood white butterfly (Leptidea sinapis) shows considerable intraspecific variation in chromosome numbers and is a suitable system for studying regional recombination rate variation and its potential molecular underpinnings. Here, we developed a large whole-genome resequencing data set from a population of wood whites to obtain high-resolution recombination maps using linkage disequilibrium information. The analyses revealed that larger chromosomes had a bimodal recombination landscape, potentially due to interference between simultaneous chiasmata. The recombination rate was significantly lower in subtelomeric regions, with exceptions associated with segregating chromosome rearrangements, showing that fissions and fusions can have considerable effects on the recombination landscape. There was no association between the inferred recombination rate and base composition, supporting a negligible influence of GC-biased gene conversion in butterflies. We found significant but variable associations between the recombination rate and the density of different classes of transposable elements (TEs), most notably a significant enrichment of SINEs in genomic regions with higher recombination rate. Finally, the analyses unveiled significant enrichment of genes involved in farnesyltranstransferase activity in recombination cold-spots, potentially indicating that expression of transferases can inhibit formation of chiasmata during meiotic division. Our results provide novel information about recombination rate variation in holocentric organisms and has particular implications for forthcoming research in population genetics, molecular/genome evolution and speciation.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Patterns of host plant use do not explain mushroom body expansion in Heliconiini butterflies

The selective pressures leading to the elaboration of downstream, integrative processing centres, such as the mammalian neocortex or insect mushroom bodies, are often unclear. In Heliconius butterflies, the mushroom bodies are three to four times larger than their Heliconiini, and the largest known in Lepidoptera. Heliconiini lay almost exclusively on Passiflora, which exhibit a remarkable diversity of leaf shape, and it has been suggested that the mushroom body expansion of Heliconius may have been driven by the cognitive demands of recognising and learning the leaf shapes of local host plants. We test this hypothesis using two complementary methods: i) phylogenetic comparative analyses to test whether variation in mushroom body size is associated with the morphological diversity of host plants exploited across the Heliconiini; and ii) shape learning experiments using six Heliconiini species. We found that variation in the range of leaf morphologies used by Heliconiini was not associated with mushroom body volume. Similarly, we find interspecific differences in shape learning ability, but Heliconius are not overall better shape learners than other Heliconiini. Together these results suggest that the visual recognition and learning of host plants was not a main factor driving the diversity of mushroom body size in this tribe.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Parallel evolution of behaviour, physiology and life history associated with altitudinal shifts in forest type in Heliconius butterflies

Parallel evolution of morphological traits is widely reported, providing evidence for the role of local conditions in driving adaptive divergence. Comparatively, fewer studies have tested for parallelism in behaviour, and it is less clear to what extent heritable behavioural shifts contribute to adaptive divergence. We exploit repeated incipient speciation across altitudinal gradients to explore behaviour and physiology in Heliconius butterflies adapted to high-elevation. We performed common garden experiments with H. chestertonii, a high-altitude specialist from the Colombian Cordillera Occidental, and H. erato venus, a low-elevation proxy for the ancestral population, and compared our results to existing data for an equivalent Ecuadorian taxa-pair. Using broad-scale climatic data, we show that both pairs diverge across similar ecological gradients, confirmed using localised data loggers in the ranges of H. chestertonii and H. e. venus. We further show that H. chestertonii and H. e. venus have divergent activity patterns, attributable to different responses to microclimate, and life histories. Finally, we provide evidence for parallelism in these traits with H. himera and H. e. cyrbia. We propose that this is a result of selection associated with independent colonisations of high-altitude forests, emphasising the importance of heritable behavioural and physiological adaptations during population divergence and speciation.

Dataset for: Plasticity and genetic effects contribute to different axes of neural divergence in a community of mimetic Heliconius butterflies

Changes in ecological preference, often driven by spatial and temporal variation in resource distribution, can expose populations to environments with divergent information content. This can lead to adaptive changes in the degree to which individuals invest in sensory systems and downstream processes, to optimize behavioural performance in different contexts. At the same time, environmental conditions can produce plastic responses in nervous system development and maturation, providing an alternative route to integrating neural and ecological variation. Here, we explore how these two processes play out across a community of Heliconius butterflies. Heliconius communities exhibit multiple Mullerian mimicry rings, associated with habitat partitioning across environmental gradients. These environmental differences have previously been linked to heritable divergence in brain morphology in parapatric species pairs. They also exhibit a unique dietary adaptation, known as pollen feeding, that relies heavily on learning foraging routes, or trap-lines, between resources, which implies an important environmental influence on behavioural development. By comparing brain morphology across 133 wild-caught and insectary reared individuals from seven Heliconius species, we find strong evidence for interspecific variation in patterns of neural investment. These largely fall into two distinct patterns of variation; first, we find consistent patterns of divergence in the size of visual brain components across both wild and insectary reared individuals, suggesting genetically encoded divergence in the visual pathway. Second, we find interspecific differences in mushroom body size, a central component of learning and memory systems, but only among wild caught individuals. The lack of this effect in common-garden individuals suggests an extensive role for developmental plasticity in interspecific variation in the wild. Finally, we illustrate the impact of relatively small-scale spatial effects on mushroom body plasticity by performing experiments altering the cage size and structure experienced by individual H. hecale. Our data provide a comprehensive survey of community level variation in brain structure, and demonstrate that genetic effects and developmental plasticity contribute to different axes of interspecific neural variation.

Data From: Rapid expansion and visual specialisation of learning and memory centers in the brains of Heliconiini butterflies

Changes in the abundance and diversity of neural cell types, and their connectivity, shape brain composition and provide the substrate for behavioral evolution. Although investment in sensory brain regions is understood to be largely driven by the relative ecological importance of particular sensory modalities, how selective pressures impact the elaboration of integrative brain centers has been more difficult to pinpoint. Here, we provide evidence of extensive, mosaic expansion of an integration brain center among closely related species, which is not explained by changes in sites of primary sensory input. By building new datasets of neural traits among a tribe of diverse Neotropical butterflies, the Heliconiini, we detected several major evolutionary expansions of the mushroom bodies, central brain structures pivotal for insect learning and memory. The genus Heliconius, which exhibits a unique dietary innovation, pollen-feeding, and derived foraging behaviors reliant on spatial memory, shows the most extreme enlargement. This expansion is primarily associated with increased visual processing areas and coincides with increased precision of visual processing, and enhanced long-term memory. These results demonstrate that selection for behavioral innovation and enhanced cognitive ability occurred through expansion and localized specialization in integrative brain centers.

Characterizing each step of pollination in the wildflower, Phlox drummondii, reveals a single butterfly species predominates in the pollinator assemblage

Premise: A central goal of pollination biology is to connect plants with the identity of their pollinator(s). While predictions based on floral syndrome traits are extremely useful, direct observation can reveal further details of a species' pollination biology. The wildflower, Phlox drummondii, has a floral syndrome consistent with pollination by a variety of lepidoptera. We describe pollination in P. drummondii and use empirical data to test this prediction. Methods: We directly observe each step of the pollination process in P. drummondii. First, we observe 55.5 hours of floral visitation throughout the day/evening (7:00-20:30) at sites across the species range. We use a temporal pollinator exclusion experiment to determine the contribution of diurnal and nocturnal pollination to reproductive output. We then quantify P. drummondii pollen pickup and deposition by the dominant floral visitor, Battus philenor. Finally, we test the effect of B. philenor visitation on P. drummondii reproductive output by quantifying fruit set following visitation to greenhouse-grown flowers. Results: B. philenor is the primary pollinator of P. drummondii. Pollination is largely diurnal, and we observe a variety of lepidopteran visitors during this period. However, B. philenor is by far the most frequent visitor, representing 88.5% of all observed floral visits. We show that B. philenor is not only an extremely common visitor but also an effective pollinator by demonstrating that individuals transfer pollen between flowers and that a single visit can elicit fruit set. Conclusion: Our data are consistent with the syndrome prediction of lepidopteran pollination and further reveal a single butterfly species, B. philenor, as the primary pollinator. Collectively, our study demonstrates the importance of empirical pollinator observations, adds to our understanding of pollination mechanics, and offers a specific case study of butterfly pollination.

Data from: Local and landscape scale woodland cover and diversification of agroecological practices shape butterfly communities in tropical smallholder landscapes

The conversion of biodiversity-rich woodland to farmland and subsequent management has strong, often negative, impacts on biodiversity. In tropical smallholder agricultural landscapes, the impacts of agriculture on insect communities, both through habitat change and subsequent farmland management, is understudied. The use of agroecological practices has social and agronomic benefits for smallholders. Although ecological co-benefits of agroecological practices are assumed, systematic empirical assessments of biodiversity effects of agroecological practices are missing, particularly in Africa. In Malawi, we assessed butterfly abundance, species richness, species assemblages and community life-history traits on 24 paired woodland and smallholder-managed farmland sites located across a gradient of woodland cover within a 1 km radius. We tested whether habitat type (woodland vs. farmland) and woodland cover at the landscape scale interactively shaped butterfly communities. Farms varied in the implementation of agroecological pest and soil management practices and flowering plant species richness. Farmland had lower butterfly abundances and approximately half the species richness than woodland. Farmland butterfly communities had, on average, a larger wingspan than woodland site communities. Surprisingly, higher woodland cover in the landscape had no effect on butterfly abundance in both habitats. In contrast, species richness was higher with higher woodland cover. Butterfly species assemblages were distinct between wood- and farmland and shifted across the woodland cover gradient. Farmland butterfly abundance, but not species richness, was higher with higher flowering plant species richness on farms. Farms with a higher number of agroecological pest management practices had a lower abundance of the dominant butterfly species, but not of rarer species. However, a larger number of agroecological soil management practices was associated with a higher abundance of rarer species. Synthesis and applications: We show that diversified agroecological soil practices and flowering plant richness enhanced butterfly abundance on farms. However, our results suggest that on-farm measures cannot compensate for the negative effects of continued woodland conversion. Therefore, we call for more active protection of remaining African woodlands in tandem with promoting agroecological soil management practices and on-farm flowering plant richness to conserve butterflies whilst benefiting smallholders.

opencc-by-4.0Apr 2023View details →

Figs 3–4. Noctuids from Kunashir Island, dorsal view. 3 in Autumn moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) new for the fauna of Kunashir Island

Figs 3–4. Noctuids from Kunashir Island, dorsal view. 3 – Blenina senex (Butler, 1878),

Data and scripts for: Phylogeny of the Poritiinae (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), butterflies with ant assocations and unusual lichenivorous diets

The Poritiinae are a diverse subfamily of lycaenid butterflies with about 700 species divided into two major groups: the Asian endemic tribe Poritiini, and the African endemic tribe Liptenini. Among these, the Liptenini are notable for their lichenivorous diet and the strong but apparently non-mutualistic ant associations of many species. We present the first molecular phylogeny for this subfamily, based on data from 14 gene regions and including 218 representatives from 177 taxa (approximately 25% of species) in 50 of the 58 (86%) recognized genera. From this analysis, we confirm the division of the subfamily into two tribes, and we rearrange the Liptenini tribe into six subtribes, Durbaniina, Pentilina, Liptenina, Iridanina, and Epitolina, plus a new tribe, Cooksoniina subtrib. n., to fill a gap in the nomenclature revealed by the phylogenetic analysis. We also point to several genera in need of further taxonomic revision. Ancestral range reconstruction could not infer the range of the common ancestor of the Poritiinae; however, the common ancestor of the Poritiini was likely Asian, while that of the Liptenini was likely African, with subsequent narrowing of ranges in several lineages.

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2023View details →

Phylogenomic data exploration with increased sampling provides new insights into the higher-level relationships of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera)

Genomes, alignments and tree files of the study "Phylogenomic data exploration with increased sampling provides new insights into the higher-level relationships of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108113".

Niche breadth explains the range size of European-centred butterflies, but dispersal ability does not

Aim: The breadth of ecological niches and dispersal abilities have long been discussed as important determinants of species' range sizes. However, studies directly comparing the relative effects of both factors are rare, taxonomically biased and revealed inconsistent results. Location: Europe. Time period: Cenozoic. Major taxa: Butterflies, Lepidoptera. Methods: We relate climate, diet, and habitat niche breadth and two indicators of dispersal ability, wingspan and a dispersal tendency index, to the global range size of 369 European-centred butterfly species. The relative effects of these five predictors and their variation across the butterfly phylogeny were assessed by means of phylogenetic generalized least squares models and phylogenetically weighted regressions, respectively. Results: Climate niche breadth was the most important single predictor, followed by habitat and diet niche breadth, while dispersal tendency and wingspan showed no relation to species' range size. All predictors together explained 59% of the variation in butterfly range size. However, the effects of each predictor varied considerably across families and genera. Main conclusions: Range sizes of European-centred butterflies are strongly correlated with ecological niche breadth but apparently independent of dispersal ability. The magnitude of range size – niche breadth relationships is not stationary across the phylogeny and is often negatively correlated across the different dimensions of the ecological niche. This variation limits the generalizability of range size–trait relationships across broad taxonomic groups.

opencc-by-4.0Apr 2023View details →

Figure 1 in Riodinid butterfly fauna (Lepidoptera) of the Cosñipata Region, Peru: Annotated checklist, community structure, and contrast with Lycaenidae

Figure 1. Location of the Cosñipata Region (yellow box) in southeast Peru. © Amazonia Lodge.

opencc-by-4.0Apr 2023View details →

Figure 2 in Riodinid butterfly fauna (Lepidoptera) of the Cosñipata Region, Peru: Annotated checklist, community structure, and contrast with Lycaenidae