EAPSI: Investigating the Evolution of Mimicry in Swallowtail Butterflies through the Lens of Predation

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Understanding the evolutionary origins and maintenance of biodiversity are leading questions in ecology and evolutionary biology. Batesian mimicry is a phenomenon where harmless species (mimics) imitate the warning signals of harmful species (models) to avoid predation. In response to predation, mimetic species may evolve multiple forms imitating distinct models. The butterfly Papilio polytes exhibits striking within-species diversity in its wing patterns by mimicking multiple toxic Pachliopta butterflies. To understand how the wing pattern diversity of P. polytes evolved in the context of avian predation, field experiments will be conducted to test how often P. polytes are attacked by predators relative to Pachliopta models. In addition, field surveys will be conducted to quantify the relative abundances of these species. The results of these studies will characterize the predation pressures are thought to favor polymorphic mimicry. This work will be done in Singapore, which lies within the natural ranges of both of these species, in collaboration with a leading butterfly wing pattern evolutionary biologist, Dr. Antónia Monteiro. Batesian mimicry favors the evolution of polymorphism (multiple distinct mimics) within a species due to negative frequency-dependent selection. The butterfly P. polytes is a polymorphic Batesian mimic that imitates the wing patterns of distantly related Pachliopta butterflies. Despite many theories on how polymorphic Batesian mimicry systems evolve, there exist few tests of relative predation on mimics and models and few surveys of their relative abundances. First relative predation on mimics and models by avian predators will be assessed using lab-fabricated butterfly replicas with varying wing patterns corresponding to P. polytes and Pachliopta morphology. Field surveys will be conducted to determine relative abundances of P. polytes and Pachliopta. These findings will provide new insights into the evolution of polymorphic Batesian mimicry. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Singapore.