Role of visual and olfactory cues in sex recognition in butterfly Cethosia cyane cyane

Li, Chengzhe; Wang, Hua; Chen, Xiaoming; Yao, Jun; Shi, Lei; Zhou, Chengli

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04721-6

Cited by 20 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(30 reference statements)

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“…Besides, the suitable area is too small for incident light with longer wavelength to meet the condition of total internal reflection, so the enhancement of reflectance is more significant for light with shorter wavelength, as shown in Figure b and Figure S7b (Supporting Information). Previous researches have demonstrated that the visual system of human and butterfly is different, the latter is more sensitive to UV light . The flicker of light especially around UV region during flight might be an ideal approach to realize sexual discrimination, even against the clear sky.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bright Silver Brilliancy from Irregular Microstructures in Butterfly Curetis acuta Moore

Liu

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

Advanced Optical Materials

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Structural whiteness in nature is one of the useful optical phenomena contributed by refined microstructures and serves important biological functions. However, whiteness residing in wings, antennae, and bodies of butterflies often draws less attention, with undetected physical mechanisms and applications. Here, it is discovered that bright silver scales on the ventral side of butterfly Curetis acuta Moore have enhanced broadband reflection with particular angle dependency, which is dominated by the irregularity of scales. The broadband reflection is the result of color mixing effect caused by laminated scales with irregular layer space and thickness. The special angle dependency suggests that the reflection intensity changes with azimuth angles but remains unvaried at different viewing angles along given direction. This is the consequence of diffraction caused by ridges and irregular holes on the scales, which generates the shining effect and extends the viewing angle of broadband reflection. The characteristic reflection property is speculated to be used for intraspecific communication. Furthermore, it is found that the broadband reflection property of the silver scales is helpful to lower the body temperature under direct sunshine. These findings for light and thermo controlling would offer a potential strategy to design bioinspired advanced materials for low‐energy, reflectance‐based applications.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bright Silver Brilliancy from Irregular Microstructures in Butterfly Curetis acuta Moore

Liu

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

Advanced Optical Materials

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“…However, this view is being revisited. Evidence is accumulating that pheromone cues function in interspecific discrimination, sexual attraction and discrimination, and expediate female acceptance in courtship in a range of butterflies (Andersson et al 2007; Constanzo and Monteiro, 2007; Schulz et al 2007; Mérot et al 2015; Chengzhe et al 2017; Darragh et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-emergence and diversification of a specialised antennal lobe morphology in ithomiine butterflies

Morris

Couto

Aldin³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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How an organisms sensory system functions is central to how it navigates its environment and meets the behavioural challenges associated with survival and reproduction. Comparing sensory systems across species can reveal how facets of behaviour and ecology promote adaptive shifts in the relative importance of certain environmental cues. The insect olfactory system is prominent model for investigating how ecological factors impact sensory reception and processing. Notably work in Lepidoptera led to the discovery of vastly expanded structures, termed a macroglomerular complex (MGC), within the primary olfactory processing centre. These structures typically process pheromonal cues and provide a classic example of how variation in size can influence the functional processing of sensory cues. Though prevalent across moths, the MGC was lost during the early evolution of butterflies, consistent with evidence that courtship initiation in butterflies is primarily reliant upon visual cues, rather than long distance olfactory signals like pheromones. However, a MGC has recently been reported to be present in a species of ithomiine, Godryis zavaleta, suggesting this once lost neural adaptation has re-emerged in this clade. Here, we show that MGCs, or MGC-like morphologies, are indeed widely distributed across the ithomiine tribe, and vary in both structure and the prevalence of sexual dimorphism. Based on patterns of variation across species with different chemical ecologies, we suggest that this structure is involved in the processing of both plant and pheromonal cues, of interlinked chemical constitution, and has evolved in conjunction with the increased importance and diversification of plant derived chemicals cues in ithomiines.

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“…Male butterflies generally respond to a conspecific by visual cues at first, and then at close contact, they use chemical information to confirm whether it is a ‘female’ [16–20]. Note that even if males are more attracted to females than to males, this does not necessarily mean that males can identify the males’ sex.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainty about flying conspecifics causes territorial contests of the Old World swallowtail, Papilio machaon

2019

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Background Male-male aerial contests of territorial butterflies are difficult to explain by major contest models based on game theory because of butterflies’ apparent inability to inflict substantial costs on their opponent. As an alternative, the “erroneous courtship hypothesis” was presented. This hypothesis is based on the assumption that territorial butterflies cannot discriminate the sex of flying conspecifics. The hypothesis regards the aerial contest of male butterflies as an inevitable same-sex entanglement in the butterflies’ behavioral sequence. To test the robustness of the hypothesis, we investigated the sex recognition abilities of the Old World swallowtail, Papilio machaon . Results We presented four types of flapping butterfly specimens (fresh male and female, chemicals-removed male and female) to territorial males. The males touched fresh female specimens and showed typical courtship flight. For the other types of specimens, they rarely showed courtship flight although they approached or touched them. In addition, territorial males reacted longer to fresh males than to fresh females. Conclusions The results indicated that although territorial males recognize flying females as sexual partners by sensing their semiochemicals, they cannot identify flying conspecific males, and continue to gather information on them. P. machaon is one of the species whose behavior is most incompatible with the erroneous courtship hypothesis, as its males perform a typical courtship flight to flying females, suggesting the ability of sexing flying conspecifics. Nevertheless, the erroneous courtship hypothesis was not disproved by our results. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12983-019-0324-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Role of visual and olfactory cues in sex recognition in butterfly Cethosia cyane cyane

Cited by 20 publications

References 26 publications

Bright Silver Brilliancy from Irregular Microstructures in Butterfly Curetis acuta Moore

Bright Silver Brilliancy from Irregular Microstructures in Butterfly Curetis acuta Moore

Re-emergence and diversification of a specialised antennal lobe morphology in ithomiine butterflies

Uncertainty about flying conspecifics causes territorial contests of the Old World swallowtail, Papilio machaon

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