Trichromacy is insufficient for mate detection in a mimetic butterfly
Abstract Color vision is thought to play a key role in the evolution of animal coloration, while achromatic vision is rarely considered as a mechanism for species recognition. Here we test the hypothesis that brightness vision rather than color vision helps Adelpha fessonia butterflies identify pote...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07472-7 |
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| Summary: | Abstract Color vision is thought to play a key role in the evolution of animal coloration, while achromatic vision is rarely considered as a mechanism for species recognition. Here we test the hypothesis that brightness vision rather than color vision helps Adelpha fessonia butterflies identify potential mates while their co-mimetic wing coloration is indiscriminable to avian predators. We examine the trichromatic visual system of A. fessonia and characterize its photoreceptors using RNA-seq, eyeshine, epi-microspectrophotometry, and optophysiology. We model the discriminability of its wing color patches in relation to those of its co-mimic, A. basiloides, through A. fessonia and avian eyes. Visual modeling suggests that neither A. fessonia nor avian predators can readily distinguish the co-mimics’ coloration using chromatic or achromatic vision under natural conditions. These results suggest that mimetic colors are well-matched to visual systems to maintain mimicry, and that mate avoidance between these two look-alike species relies on other cues. |
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| ISSN: | 2399-3642 |