Trichromacy is insufficient for mate detection in a mimetic butterfly

Authors

• Andrew Dang, University of California, Irvine
• Gary D. Bernard, UW College of Engineering
• Furong Yuan, University of California, Irvine
• Aide Macias-Muñoz, University of California, Irvine
• Ryan I. Hill, University of the PacificFollow
• J. P. Lawrence, University of California, Irvine
• Aline Giselle Rangel Olguin, University of California, Irvine
• Armando Luis-Martínez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• Sean P. Mullen, Boston University
• Jorge Llorente-Bousquets, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• Adriana D. Briscoe, University of California, Irvine

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Communications Biology

Department

Biological Sciences

ISSN

23993642

Volume

8

Issue

1

DOI

10.1038/s42003-025-07472-7

First Page

1

Last Page

14

Publication Date

2-6-2025

Abstract

Color vision is thought to play a key role in the evolution of animal coloration, while achromatic vision is rarely considered as a mechanism for species recognition. Here we test the hypothesis that brightness vision rather than color vision helps Adelpha fessonia butterflies identify potential mates while their co-mimetic wing coloration is indiscriminable to avian predators. We examine the trichromatic visual system of A. fessonia and characterize its photoreceptors using RNA-seq, eyeshine, epi-microspectrophotometry, and optophysiology. We model the discriminability of its wing color patches in relation to those of its co-mimic, A. basiloides, through A. fessonia and avian eyes. Visual modeling suggests that neither A. fessonia nor avian predators can readily distinguish the co-mimics’ coloration using chromatic or achromatic vision under natural conditions. These results suggest that mimetic colors are well-matched to visual systems to maintain mimicry, and that mate avoidance between these two look-alike species relies on other cues.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Dang, Andrew; Bernard, Gary D.; Yuan, Furong; Macias-Muñoz, Aide; Hill, Ryan I.; Lawrence, J. P.; Rangel Olguin, Aline Giselle; Luis-Martínez, Armando; Mullen, Sean P.; Llorente-Bousquets, Jorge; and Briscoe, Adriana D., "Trichromacy is insufficient for mate detection in a mimetic butterfly" (2025). Pacific Faculty Work. 13.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/all-faculty/13