Correlations between adult mimicry and larval host plants in ithomiine butterflies.

ABSTRACT: The apparent paradox of multiple coexisting wing pattern mimicry 'rings' in tropical butterflies has been explained as a result of microhabitat partitioning in adults. However, very few studies have tested this hypothesis. In neotropical forests, ithomiine butterflies dominate and display the richest diversity of mimicry rings. We show that co-mimetic species occupy the same larval host-plant species significantly more often than expected in two out of five communities that we surveyed; in one of these, the effect remains significant after phylogenetic correction. This relationship is most probably a result of a third correlated variable, such as microhabitat. Host-plant microhabitat may constrain adult movement, or host-plant choice may depend on butterfly microhabitat preferences and mim

SUBMITTER: Willmott KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1810062 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature