Winters restrict a climate change-driven butterfly range expansion despite rapid evolution of seasonal timing traits.

ABSTRACT: Climate change pushes species toward higher latitudes and altitudes, but the proximate drivers of range expansions vary, and it is unclear whether evolution facilitates climate change-induced range changes. In a temporally replicated field experiment, we translocated wall brown butterflies (Lasiommata megera) descending from range interior and range margin populations to sites at 1) the range interior, 2) the range margin, and 3) beyond the current northern range edge. Thereby, we tested for local adaptation in seasonal timing and winter survival and evaluated to what extent local adaptation influences the ongoing, climate-driven range expansion. Almost all individuals from all populations entered diapause at an appropriate time, despite previously identified among-population variat

SUBMITTER: Ittonen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12232556 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature