Butterfly survival on an isolated island by improved grip.

ABSTRACT: On small isolated islands, natural selection is expected to reduce the dispersal capacity of organisms, as short distances do not require a high rate of dispersal, which might lead to accidental emigration from the population. In addition, individuals foregoing the high cost of maintaining flight capacity may instead allocate resources to other functions. However, in butterflies and many other insects, flight is necessary not only for dispersal but also for most other activities. A weakly flying individual would probably do worse and have an elevated rather than reduced probability of accidental emigration. Here, we report results consistent with the hypothesis that a butterfly population on an isolated island, instead of having lost its flight capacity, has evolved better grip to resist t

SUBMITTER: Duplouy A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3639777 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature