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A Survey of Eyespot Sexual Dimorphism across Nymphalid Butterflies
Joint Authors
Monteiro, Antónia
Tokita, Christopher K.
Oliver, Jeffrey C.
Source
International Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Issue
Vol. 2013, Issue 2013 (31 Dec. 2013), pp.1-6, 6 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2013-12-05
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
6
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Differences between sexes of the same species are widespread and are variable in nature.
While it is often assumed that males are more ornamented than females, in the nymphalid butterfly genus Bicyclus, females have, on average, more eyespot wing color patterns than males.
Here we extend these studies by surveying eyespot pattern sexual dimorphism across the Nymphalidae family of butterflies.
Eyespot presence or absence was scored from a total of 38 wing compartments for two males and two females of each of 450 nymphalid species belonging to 399 different genera.
Differences in eyespot number between sexes of each species were tallied for each wing surface (e.g., dorsal and ventral) of forewings and hindwings.
In roughly 44% of the species with eyespots, females had more eyespots than males, in 34%, males had more eyespots than females, and, in the remaining 22% of the species, there was monomorphism in eyespot number.
Dorsal and forewing surfaces were less patterned, but proportionally more dimorphic, than ventral and hindwing surfaces, respectively.
In addition, wing compartments that frequently displayed eyespots were among the least sexually dimorphic.
This survey suggests that dimorphism arises predominantly in “hidden” or “private” surfaces of a butterfly’s wing, as previously demonstrated for the genus Bicyclus.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Tokita, Christopher K.& Oliver, Jeffrey C.& Monteiro, Antónia. 2013. A Survey of Eyespot Sexual Dimorphism across Nymphalid Butterflies. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology،Vol. 2013, no. 2013, pp.1-6.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-508711
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Tokita, Christopher K.…[et al.]. A Survey of Eyespot Sexual Dimorphism across Nymphalid Butterflies. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology No. 2013 (2013), pp.1-6.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-508711
American Medical Association (AMA)
Tokita, Christopher K.& Oliver, Jeffrey C.& Monteiro, Antónia. A Survey of Eyespot Sexual Dimorphism across Nymphalid Butterflies. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 2013. Vol. 2013, no. 2013, pp.1-6.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-508711
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-508711