Population genetic structure and evolution of Batesian mimicry in Papilio polytes from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, analyzed by genotyping-by-sequencing.

ABSTRACT: Batesian mimicry is a striking example of Darwinian evolution, in which a mimetic species resembles toxic or unpalatable model species, thereby receiving protection from predators. In some species exhibiting Batesian mimicry, nonmimetic individuals coexist as polymorphism in the same population despite the benefits of mimicry. In a previous study, we proposed that the abundance of mimics is limited by that of the models, leading to polymorphic Batesian mimicry in the swallowtail butterfly, Papilio polytes, on the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. We found that their mimic ratios (MRs), which varied among the Islands, were explained by the model abundance of each habitat, rather than isolation by distance or phylogenetic constraint based on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. In the prese

SUBMITTER: Sato Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7820160 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature