Pupal colour plasticity in a tropical butterfly, Mycalesis mineus (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae).

ABSTRACT: Lepidopteran insects have provided excellent study systems for understanding adaptive phenotypic plasticity. Although there are a few well-studied examples of adult plasticity among tropical butterflies, our understanding of plasticity of larval and pupal stages is largely restricted to temperate butterflies. The environmental parameters inducing phenotypic plasticity and the selective pressures acting on phenotypes are likely to differ across tropical and temperate climate regimes. We tested the influence of relative humidity (RH), a prominent yet under-appreciated tropical climatic component, along with pupation substrate, larval development time, pupal sex and weight in determining pupal colour in the tropical satyrine butterfly Mycalesis mineus. Pupae of this butterfly are either brown

SUBMITTER: Mayekar HV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5291534 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature