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46 results for “butterfly ecology”
Genomics of extreme ecological specialists: multiple convergent evolution but no genetic divergence between ecotypes of Maculinea alcon butterflies
<p>Biotic interactions are often acknowledged as catalysers of genetic divergence and eventual explanation of processes driving species richness. We address the question, whether extreme ecological specialization is always associated with lineage sorting, by analysing polymorphisms in morphologically similar ecotypes of the myrmecophilous butterfly <em>Maculinea alcon</em>. The ecotypes occur in either hygric or xeric habitats, use different larval host plants and ant species, but no significant distinctive molecular traits have been revealed so far. We apply genome-wide RAD-sequencing to specimens originating from both habitats across Europe in order to get a view of the potential evolutionary processes at work. Our results confirm that genetic variation is mainly structured geographically but not ecologically — specimens from close localities are more related to each other than populations of each ecotype from distant localities. However, we found two loci for which the association with xeric versus hygric habitats is supported by segregating alleles, suggesting convergent evolution of habitat preference. Thus, ecological divergence between the forms probably does not represent an early stage of speciation, but may result from independent recurring adaptations involving few genes. We discuss the implications of these results for conservation and suggest preserving biotic interactions and main genetic clusters.</p>
Sensory weighting reflects changing patterns of visual investment during ecological divergence in Heliconius butterflies
<p>Integrating information across sensory modalities enables animals to orchestrate a wide range of complex behaviours. The relative importance placed on one sensory modality over another reflects the reliability of cues in a particular environment and corresponding differences in neural investment. As populations diverge across environmental gradients, the reliability of sensory cues may shift, favouring divergence in neural investment and sensory weighting. During their divergence across closed-forest and forest-edge habitats, <em>Heliconius </em>butterflies <em>H. cydno</em> and <em>H. melpomene </em>evolved distinct brain morphologies, with the former<em> </em>investing more in vision. Molecular and anatomical data suggest selection drove these changes, but their behavioural effects remain uncertain. We hypothesised that divergent investment in neuropils may alter sensory weighting during behavioural tasks. To address this, we trained individuals in an associative learning experiment using multimodal colour and odour cues. When positively rewarded stimuli were presented in conflict pairing positively trained colour with negatively trained odour, and vice-versa, <em>H. cydno</em> prioritised visual cues more strongly than <em>H. melpomene</em>. Hence, differences in sensory weighting may evolve early during divergence and are predicted by patterns of neural investment. These findings, alongside other examples, imply that differences in sensory weighting stem from sensory investment as adaptations to local sensory environments.</p>
Fig. 3 in Ecological Analysis Of Butterflies And Day-Flying Moths Diversity Of The Gouraya National Park (Algeria)
Fig. 3. Projection of the butterfly and day-flying moth species of the three stations studied on the first two axes of the correspondence factor analysis.
Fig. 2 in Ecological Analysis Of Butterflies And Day-Flying Moths Diversity Of The Gouraya National Park (Algeria)
Fig. 2. Evolution of the species richness of butterflies and day-flying moths at the three stations of Gouraya National Park, mean temperature in Bejaia (DAAE, 2012).
Data from: Repeated evolution of reduced visual investment at the onset of ecological speciation in high-altitude <em>Heliconius</em> butterflies
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Weighting of sensory cues reflects changing patterns of visual investment during ecological divergence in Heliconius butterflies
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How butterflies keep their cool: physical and ecological traits influence thermoregulatory ability and population trends.
<p>Understanding which factors influence the ability of individuals to respond to changing temperatures is fundamental to species conservation under climate change.</p> <p>We investigated how a community of butterflies responded to fine-scale changes in air temperature, and whether species-specific responses were predicted by ecological or morphological traits.</p> <p>Using data collected across a UK reserve network, we investigated the ability of 29 butterfly species to buffer thoracic temperature against changes in air temperature. First, we tested whether differences were attributable to taxonomic family, morphology or habitat association. We then investigated the relative importance of two buffering mechanisms: behavioural thermoregulation versus fine-scale microclimate selection. Finally, we tested whether species' responses to changing temperatures predicted their population trends from a UK-wide dataset.</p> <p>We found significant interspecific variation in buffering ability, which varied between families and increased with wing length. We also found interspecific differences in the relative importance of the two buffering mechanisms, with species relying on microclimate selection suffering larger population declines over the last 40 years than those that could alter their temperature behaviourally.</p> <p>Our results highlight the importance of understanding how different species respond to fine-scale temperature variation, and the value of taking microclimate into account in conservation management to ensure favourable conditions are maintained for temperature-sensitive species.</p>
Variation of chemical compounds in wild Heliconiini reveals ecological and historical contributions to the evolution of chemical defences in mimetic butterflies
<p>Evolutionary convergence of colour pattern in mimetic species is tightly linked with the evolution of chemical defences. Yet, the evolutionary forces involved in natural variations of chemical defences in aposematic species are still understudied. Herein, we focus on the evolution chemical defences in the butterfly tribe Heliconiini. These neo-tropical butterflies contain large concentrations of cyanogenic glucosides, cyanide-releasing compounds acting as predator deterrent. These compounds are either <i>de novo </i>synthesized or sequestered from their <i>Passiflora</i> host-plant, so that their concentrations may depend on host-plant specialization and host-plant availability. We sampled 375 wild Heliconiini butterflies across Central and South America, covering 43% species of this clade, and quantify individual variations in the different cyanogenic glucosides using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. We detected new compounds and important variations in chemical defences both within and among species. Based on the most recent and well-studied phylogeny of Heliconiini, we show that ecological factors such as mimetic interactions and host-plant specialization have a significant association with chemical profiles, but these effects are largely explained by phylogenetic relationships. Our results therefore suggest that shared ancestries largely contribute to chemical defence variation, pointing out at the interaction between historical and ecological factors in the evolution of Müllerian mimicry.</p>
Opsin data from: Multiple axes of visual system diversity in Ithomiini, an ecologically diverse tribe of mimetic butterflies
<p><span>The striking structural variation seen in arthropod visual systems can be explained by the overall quantity and spatio-temporal structure of light within habitats coupled with developmental and physiological constraints. However, little is currently known about how fine-scale variation in visual structures arise across shorter evolutionary and ecological scales. In this study, we characterise patterns of interspecific (between species), intraspecific (between sexes) and intraindividual (between eye regions) variation in the visual system of four ithomiine butterfly species. These species are part of a diverse 26-Myr-old Neotropical radiation where changes in mimetic colouration are associated with fine-scale shifts in ecology, such as microhabitat preference. By using a combination of selection analyses on visual opsin sequences, in-vivo ophthalmoscopy, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, and neural tracing, we quantify and describe physiological, anatomical, and molecular traits involved in visual processing. Using these data, we provide evidence of substantial variation within the visual systems of Ithomiini, including: i) relaxed selection on visual opsins, perhaps mediated by habitat preference, ii) interspecific shifts in visual system physiology and anatomy, and iii) extensive sexual dimorphism, including the complete absence of a butterfly-specific optic neuropil in the males of some species. We conclude that considerable visual system variation can exist within diverse insect radiations, hinting at the evolutionary lability of these systems to rapidly develop specialisations to distinct visual ecologies, with selection acting at both the perceptual, processing, and molecular level.</span></p>
Environmental variation and biotic interactions limit adaptation at ecological margins: lessons from rainforest Drosophila and European butterflies
<p>Models of local adaptation to spatially varying selection predict that maximum rates of evolution are determined by the interaction between increased adaptive potential owing to increased genetic variation, and the cost genetic variation brings by reducing population fitness. We discuss existing and new results from our laboratory assays and field transplants of rainforest Drosophila and UK butterflies along environmental gradients, which try to test these predictions in natural populations. Our data suggest that: (i) local adaptation along ecological gradients is not consistently observed in time and space, especially where biotic and abiotic interactions affect both gradient steepness and genetic variation in fitness; (ii) genetic variation in fitness observed in the laboratory is only sometimes visible to selection in the field, suggesting that demographic costs can remain high without increasing adaptive potential; and (iii) antagonistic interactions between species reduce local productivity, especially at ecological margins. Such antagonistic interactions steepen gradients and may increase the cost of adaptation by increasing its dimensionality. However, where biotic interactions do evolve, rapid range expansion can follow. Future research should test how the environmental sensitivity of genotypes determines their ecological exposure, and its effects on genetic variation in fitness, to predict the probability of evolutionary rescue at ecological margins. This article is part of the theme issue 'Species' ranges in the face of changing environments (Part II)'.</p>
Fig. 1 in Ecological Analysis Of Butterflies And Day-Flying Moths Diversity Of The Gouraya National Park (Algeria)
Fig. 1. Geographic location of Gouraya National Park and the study sites (Hafir Halim).
Neuroanatomical shifts mirror patterns of ecological divergence in three diverse clades of mimetic butterflies
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Microhabitat partitioning in heterogenous environments can support more diverse communities but may expose partitioned species to distinct perceptual challenges. Divergence across microhabitats could therefore lead to local adaptation to contrasting sensory conditions across small spatial scales, but this aspect of community structuring is rarely explored. Diverse communities of ithomiine butterflies provide an example where closely related species partition tropical forests, where shifts in mimetic colouration are tightly associated with shifts in habitat preference. </span><span>We test the hypothesis </span><span>that these mimetic and ecological shifts are associated with distinct patterns of sensory neural investment by comparing brain structure across 164 individuals of 16 species from three ithomiine clades. We find distinct brain morphologies between Oleriina<em> </em>and <em>Hypothyris</em>, which are mimetically homogenous and occupy a single microhabitat. Oleriina, which occur in low-light micro-habitats, invests less in visual brain regions than <em>Hypothyris</em>, with one notable exception, <em>Hyposcada anchiala, </em>the only Oleriina<em> </em>sampled to have converged on mimicry rings found in <em>Hypothyris</em>. We also find that <em>Napeogenes</em>, which has diversified into a range of mimicry rings, shows intermediate patterns of sensory investment. We identify flight height as a critical factor shaping neuroanatomical diversity, with species that fly higher in the canopy investing more in visual structures. Our work suggests that the sensory ecology of species may be impacted by, and interact with, the ways in which communities of closely related organisms are adaptively assembled.</span></p>
Data for "Testing for variation in photoperiodic plasticity in a butterfly: inconsistent effects of circadian genes between geographic scales" (Ecology and Evolution, accepted manuscript)
<p>Raw data and analysis scripts belonging to <em>Testing for variation in photoperiodic plasticity in a butterfly: inconsistent effects of circadian genes between geographic scales</em> (Ecology and Evolution, accepted manuscript).</p> <p>Includes data from a photoperiodic assay with larvae of the speckled wood butterfly, <em>Pararge aegeria</em>, as well as a small bioinformatic analysis of SNP variation in two circadian candidate genes.</p> <p>List of files:</p> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td>statistics_and_figures.R</td> <td>Statistical analysis of phenotyping experiment; drawing figures</td> </tr> <tr> <td>variant_calling.sh</td> <td>Shell script for mapping sequencing reads; calling and tabulating SNPs</td> </tr> <tr> <td>experiment_diapause.txt</td> <td>Data from phenotyping experiment, for analysis of diapause induction</td> </tr> <tr> <td>experiment_larval</td> <td>Data from phenotyping experiment, for analysis of larval development</td> </tr> <tr> <td>snptable_timeless</td> <td>Tabulated allele frequencies for exonic SNPs in timeless</td> </tr> <tr> <td>snptable_period</td> <td>Tabulated allele frequencies for exonic SNPs in period</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Variation of chemical compounds in wild Heliconiini reveals ecological and historical contributions to the evolution of chemical defences in mimetic butterflies
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Environmental variation and biotic interactions limit adaptation at ecological margins: lessons from rainforest Drosophila and European butterflies
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Data from: Genomic and ecological divergence support recognition of a new species of endangered Satyrium butterfly (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)
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Neuroanatomical shifts mirror patterns of ecological divergence in three diverse clades of mimetic butterflies
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How butterflies keep their cool: physical and ecological traits influence thermoregulatory ability and population trends.
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Opsin data from: Multiple axes of visual system diversity in Ithomiini, an ecologically diverse tribe of mimetic butterflies
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Data from: Species-habitat relationships and ecological correlates of butterfly abundance in a transformed tropical landscape
Tropical butterfly conservation strategies often focus on total and/or common species richness to assess the conservation value of a patch or habitat. However, such a strategy overlooks the unique dynamics of rare species. We evaluated the species-habitat relationships of 209 common, intermediate, and rare butterfly species (including morphospecies) across four habitat types (mature, degraded, or fragmented forest, and urban parks) and two patch sizes (<400 ha, ≥400 ha) in Singapore. Common species richness was consistent across habitat types. Intermediate species richness declined by more than 50 percent in urban parks (relative to all forest habitats), and rare species richness was reduced by 50 percent in degraded and fragmented forest and by 90 percent in urban parks (relative to mature forest). Large patches had comparable overall richness to small patches, but they supported more rare species and three times as many habitat-restricted species over a similar area. Importantly, a number of rare species were confined to single small patches. Mixed-effects regression models were constructed to identify habitat and ecological/life history variables associated with butterfly abundance. These models revealed that species with greater habitat specialization, rare larval host plants, few larval host plant genera, and narrow global geographic ranges were more likely to be rare species. Overall, these results demonstrate that the richness of habitat-restricted and rare species do not follow the same spatial distribution patterns as common species. Therefore, while conserving mature forests is key, effective butterfly conservation in a transformed landscape should take into account rare and habitat-restricted species.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.