Babies or beauty? Ancient origin of how female butterflies invest
Published:11 Apr.2023 Source:Stockholm University
Evolutionary biologists have long been interested in understanding the factors that contribute to the evolution and maintenance of multiple alternative life-history strategies (ALHS) within species that lead to adaptation and novel traits. A new study published in Science Advances has not only revealed that an ALHS in Colias butterflies has an ancient origin, but also determined the mechanisms contributing to its persistence over millions of generations.
Colias butterflies are a charismatic group of butterflies, found on almost all continents and are characterized by their brightly colored orange or yellow wings in both males and females. However, in about one third of the 90 Colias species, a portion of females instead have white colored wings, called an Alba morph. This change in color appears to be a tradeoff in how females invest energy reserves gathered when in the caterpillar stage.
During the transition into a butterfly, females either spend these reserves to make orange wings and become very attractive to males, or they make no color (Alba) and use these resources to have more offspring. Thus, Alba is not just a simple color variant, but a visual representation of an ALHS unique to female Colias butterflies.