Why Small Is Beautiful: Wing Colour Is Free from Thermoregulatory Constraint in the Small Lycaenid Butterfly, Polyommatus icarus.

ABSTRACT: We examined the roles of wing melanisation, weight, and basking posture in thermoregulation in Polyommatus Icarus, a phenotypically variable and protandrous member of the diverse Polyommatinae (Lycaenidae). Under controlled experimental conditions, approximating to marginal environmental conditions for activity in the field (= infrequent flight, long duration basking periods), warming rates are maximised with fully open wings and maximum body temperatures are dependent on weight. Variation in wing melanisation within and between sexes has no effect on warming rates; males and females which differ in melanisation had similar warming rates. Posture also affected cooling rates, consistent with cooling being dependent on convective heat loss. We hypothesise that for this small sized butterfly,

SUBMITTER: De Keyser R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4414576 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature