Selection drives divergence of eye morphology in sympatric Heliconius butterflies.
Evolution
; 78(7): 1338-1346, 2024 Jul 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38736286
ABSTRACT
When populations experience different sensory conditions, natural selection may favor sensory system divergence, affecting peripheral structures and/or downstream neural pathways. We characterized the outer eye morphology of sympatric Heliconius butterflies from different forest types and their first-generation reciprocal hybrids to test for adaptive visual system divergence and hybrid disruption. In Panama, Heliconius cydno occurs in closed forests, whereas Heliconius melpomene resides at the forest edge. Among wild individuals, H. cydno has larger eyes than H. melpomene, and there are heritable, habitat-associated differences in the visual brain structures that exceed neutral divergence expectations. Notably, hybrids have intermediate neural phenotypes, suggesting disruption. To test for similar effects in the visual periphery, we reared both species and their hybrids in common garden conditions. We confirm that H. cydno has larger eyes and provide new evidence that this is driven by selection. Hybrid eye morphology is more H. melpomene-like despite body size being intermediate, contrasting with neural trait intermediacy. Overall, our results suggest that eye morphology differences between H. cydno and H. melpomene are adaptive and that hybrids may suffer fitness costs due to a mismatch between the peripheral visual structures and previously described neural traits that could affect visual performance.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Selección Genética
/
Mariposas Diurnas
/
Simpatría
Límite:
Animals
País/Región como asunto:
America central
/
Panama
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Evolution
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Alemania
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos