Journal article
Climate is a strong predictor of nearinfrared reflectance but a poor predictor of colour in butterflies
JT Munro, I Medina, K Walker, A Moussalli, MR Kearney, AG Dyer, J Garcia, KJ Rankin, D Stuart-Fox
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences | ROYAL SOC | Published : 2019
Abstract
Colour variation across climatic gradients is a common ecogeographical pattern; yet there is long-standing contention over underlying causes, particularly selection for thermal benefits. We tested the evolutionary association between climate gradients and reflectance of near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, which influence heat gain but are not visible to animals. We measured ultraviolet (UVA), visible (Vis) and NIR reflectance from calibrated images of 372 butterfly specimens from 60 populations (49 species, five families) spanning the Australian continent. Consistent with selection for thermal benefits, the association between climate and reflectance was stronger for NIR than UVA-Vis wavelength..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
Funding was from a University of Melbourne McCoy Seed Funding grant to D.S.-F. and K.W. D.S.-F. was supported by the Australian Research Council (FT180100216). I.M. was supported by a University of Melbourne McKenzie Fellowship.