Both Palatable And Unpalatable Butterflies Use Bright Colors To Signal Difficulty Of Capture To Predators

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Birds are able to recognize and learn to avoid attacking unpalatable, chemically defended butterflies after unpleasant experiences with them. It has also been suggested that birds learn to avoid prey that are efficient at escaping. This, however, remains poorly documented. Here, we argue that butterflies may utilize a variety of escape tactics against insectivorous birds and review evidence that birds avoid attacking butterflies that are hard to catch. We suggest that signaling difficulty of capture to predators is a widespread phenomenon in butterflies, and this ability may not be limited to palatable butterflies. The possibility that both palatable and unpalatable species signal difficulty of capture has not been fully explored, but helps explain the existence of aposematic coloration and escape mimicry in butterflies lacking defensive chemicals. This possibility may also change the role that putative Mullerian and Batesian mimics play in a variety of classical mimicry rings, thus opening new perspectives in the evolution of mimicry in butterflies.45107113FAPDF/CNPq/Pronex [563/2009]Brazilian Research Council [302585/2011-7]Brazilian Research Council (SISBIOTA-Brasil/CNPq) [563332/2010-7]National Science Foundation [DEB-1256742]FAPESP (BIOTA-FAPESP Program) [2011/50225-3]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Phylogenetic Codivergence Supports Coevolution of Mimetic Heliconius Butterflies

The unpalatable and warning-patterned butterflies _Heliconius erato_ and _Heliconius melpomene_ provide the best studied example of mutualistic Müllerian mimicry, thought – but rarely demonstrated – to promote coevolution. Some of the strongest available evidence for coevolution comes from phylogenetic codivergence, the parallel divergence of ecologically associated lineages. Early evolutionary reconstructions suggested codivergence between mimetic populations of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_, and this was initially hailed as the most striking known case of coevolution. However, subsequent molecular phylogenetic analyses found discrepancies in phylogenetic branching patterns and timing (topological and temporal incongruence) that argued against codivergence. We present the first explicit cophylogenetic test of codivergence between mimetic populations of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_, and re-examine the timing of these radiations. We find statistically significant topological congruence between multilocus coalescent population phylogenies of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_, supporting repeated codivergence of mimetic populations. Divergence time estimates, based on a Bayesian coalescent model, suggest that the evolutionary radiations of _H. erato_ and _H. melpomene_ occurred over the same time period, and are compatible with a series of temporally congruent codivergence events. This evidence supports a history of reciprocal coevolution between Müllerian co-mimics characterised by phylogenetic codivergence and parallel phenotypic change