Contest behaviour in the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria): seasonal phenotypic plasticity and the functional significance of flight performance |
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Authors: | Darrell J Kemp C Wiklund H Van Dyck |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden;(2) School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA;(3) Biodiversity Research Centre, Ecology and Biogeography unit, Catholic University of Louvain, Croix du Sud 4, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium |
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Abstract: | Although contemporary animal contest theory emphasises the importance of physical asymmetries in resolving disputes, such
asymmetries do not obviously settle fights in all groups. Territorial male butterflies, for example, compete via elaborate
non-contact aerial interactions in which success is determined by relative persistence. Prior research suggests that the resolution
of these contests is not clearly related to physical variables such as body size or energy reserves. However, given that the
contests involve elaborate aerial manoeuvres, one long-standing suggestion is that asymmetries in flight performance, and
thus flight morphology, may be important. We addressed this hypothesis via a manipulative investigation into the biophysical
correlates of contest success in the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria. This species possesses the ability for significant adaptive phenotypic plasticity in relevant flight morphological parameters.
We took advantage of this plasticity to rear 90 individuals of markedly varying flight morphologies, which we then pitted
against each other in a semi-controlled experimental fashion. Multiple logistic and lognormal analyses provided little evidence
for the relevance of morphological parameters, including relative flight musculature, wing loading and wing aspect ratio (wing
length relative to area), to the outcome and/or duration of experimental contests. Instead, we found a positive effect of
age upon contest success. Given that ability for high acceleration is strongly linked to variation in these morphological
parameters, our findings suggest that flight performance is not a strong determinant of resource-holding potential in this
notably territorial butterfly. |
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Keywords: | Fighting Flight morphology Lepidoptera Resource-holding potential Sexual selection |
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