Additive genetic variation, but not temperature, influences warning signal expression in Amata nigriceps moths (Lepidoptera: Arctiinae).

ABSTRACT: Many aposematic species show variation in their color patterns even though selection by predators is expected to stabilize warning signals toward a common phenotype. Warning signal variability can be explained by trade-offs with other functions of coloration, such as thermoregulation, that may constrain warning signal expression by favoring darker individuals. Here, we investigated the effect of temperature on warning signal expression in aposematic Amata nigriceps moths that vary in their black and orange wing patterns. We sampled moths from two flight seasons that differed in the environmental temperatures and also reared different families under controlled conditions at three different temperatures. Against our prediction that lower developmental temperatures would reduce the war

SUBMITTER: Binns GE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9288930 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature