"Wing Bling: For Female Butterflies, Flashier Is Better"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 153115.htm
Not sure what to make of this - but sounds interesting - as often we see "conclusions" that are not necessarily ones which others may have come to.....
N
Biased learning affects mate choice in a butterfly
Biased learning affects mate choice in a butterfly
"Conservation starts in small places, close to home..."
Re: Biased learning affects mate choice in a butterfly
Interesting extract.The researchers found that female butterflies of the species learn to prefer males with four spots on their forewings over those with two spots.
Some thoughts spring to mind:
What were the criteria for defining
during the research ? -was it tolerate their presence? / pre-mating behaviours? / copulation observed? / successful copulation resulting in fertilised eggs and successful lifecycle?prefer
When cross-species occurances of mating occurs in the wild (Sussex Kipper's observation of one a couple of years ago - can't remember which species) can it be successful?
Tom Dunbar
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Re: Biased learning affects mate choice in a butterfly
This gets quoted a lot but is probably worth quoting again ... From http://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim/pap/des ... 0print.pdf:tomdunbar wrote:When cross-species occurances of mating occurs in the wild (Sussex Kipper's observation of one a couple of years ago - can't remember which species) can it be successful?
"Around 16% of the 440 European butterfly species are known to hybridize in the wild. About half or more of these hybrids are fertile, and show evidence of backcrossing" (p.1).
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html