Biogeographical patterns in the structural blue of male Polyommatus icarus butterflies.

ABSTRACT: Color is a widely used communication channel in the living world for a variety of functions ranging from sexual communication to warning colors. A particularly rich spectrum of colors appears on the wings of many butterflies. The males of lycaenid butterflies often exhibit a conspicuous blue coloration generated by photonic nanoarchitectures on their dorsal wing surfaces. Using UV-VIS spectroscopy, we investigated the spatio-temporal variations of this coloration for Polyommatus icarus butterflies, considering an interval of more than 100 years and a geographical range spanning Europe (west) and Asia (east). The blue coloration in Hungary is very stable both within a year (three broods typical in Hungary) and within the period of 100 years (more than 300 generations). East-west geographic

SUBMITTER: Kertesz K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6382816 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature