Abstract
Papilio polytes
L. is a mimetic Swallowtail butterfly widely distributed in South East Asia. It has four female forms, three mimetic, and one non-mimetic resembling the monomorphic male in appearance. The various female forms are now shown to be controlled by allelomorphs at a single autosomal locus and not by independent genes as previously thought. The effects of the allelomorphs controlling the mimetic patterns are sex-limited to the female. There is some evidence that the locus is a complex one consisting of two or more tightly linked genes. As in previous investigations into mimicry in Swallowtails the dominance tends to be complete between sympatric forms. The accuracy of the mimicry depends not only on the presence of the appropriate major genes but also on the rest of the gene complex. Thus within a race there is an integrated genetic system and on outcrossing this becomes disturbed, leading to poorer mimicry. The system of modifiers controlling the accuracy of the mimetic pattern is closely paralleled by that in
P. dardanus
. In particular, in
P. polytes
f.
theseus
appears to differ from f.
polytes
only as a result of the presence of a modifier system, as does f.
hippocoon
from f.
hippocoonides
in
P. dardanus
. In
P. dardanus
from Ethiopia it was found that specific modifiers adjusting the tail length of mimetic females have been selected for, thus improving the mimicry. An analogous situation has been found in
P. polytes
although here the control is more effective in that the resulting difference in tail length between the mimetic and non-mimetic forms can be as much as 10 mm, whereas in
P. dardanus
it rarely exceeds 3 mm. The great similarity in the genetic structure of
P. polytes
and
P. dardanus
(as well as
P. memnon
) strongly suggests that selection for a mimetic polymorphism results in the evolution of very similar genetic control mechanisms in different species - that is to say it is the nature of the selection rather than the species involved which determines the genetic architecture.
Subject
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Business, Management and Accounting,Materials Science (miscellaneous),Business and International Management
Reference15 articles.
1. A study of hybrids between Japanese and Himalayan Papilio butterflies;Ae S. A.;Spec. Bull. Lep. Soc. Jap.,1966
2. Baur E. 1911 Einfiihrung in die experimented Vererbungslehre pp. 155-159. Berlin: Verlag von Gebriider Borntraeger.
3. Contribution a l'etude genetique et biogeographique de Zygaena ephialtes L;Bovey P.;Zool.,1941
4. Bovey P. 1966 Le problteie des formes oranges chez Zygaena ephialtes (L.). Revue suisse Zool. 73 193-218.
5. The relative abundance of model and mimic butterflies in natural populations of the Battus philenor mimicry complex;Brower L. P.;Ecology,1962
Cited by
73 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献