Affiliation:
1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol 1 , 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK
2. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol 2 Bristol Palaeobiology Group , , 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ , UK
3. Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter 3 , Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD , UK
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The striking structural variation seen in arthropod visual systems can be explained by the overall quantity and spatio-temporal structure of light within habitats coupled with developmental and physiological constraints. However, little is currently known about how fine-scale variation in visual structures arises across shorter evolutionary and ecological scales. In this study, we characterise patterns of interspecific (between species), intraspecific (between sexes) and intraindividual (between eye regions) variation in the visual system of four ithomiine butterfly species. These species are part of a diverse 26-million-year-old Neotropical radiation where changes in mimetic colouration are associated with fine-scale shifts in ecology, such as microhabitat preference. Using a combination of selection analyses on visual opsin sequences, in vivo ophthalmoscopy, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy and neural tracing, we quantify and describe physiological, anatomical and molecular traits involved in visual processing. Using these data, we provide evidence of substantial variation within the visual systems of Ithomiini, including: (i) relaxed selection on visual opsins, perhaps mediated by habitat preference, (ii) interspecific shifts in visual system physiology and anatomy, and (iii) extensive sexual dimorphism, including the complete absence of a butterfly-specific optic neuropil in the males of some species. We conclude that considerable visual system variation can exist within diverse insect radiations, hinting at the evolutionary lability of these systems to rapidly develop specialisations to distinct visual ecologies, with selection acting at the perceptual, processing and molecular level.
Funder
Natural Environment Research Council
Air Force Research Laboratory
Air Force Office of Scientific Researc
European Office of Aerospace Research and Development
University of Bristol
Publisher
The Company of Biologists
Subject
Insect Science,Molecular Biology,Animal Science and Zoology,Aquatic Science,Physiology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics