Environmental control of pupal colour in swallowtail butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilioninae): Battus philenor (L.) and Papilio polyxenes Fabr.

Abstract

Abstract. 1. Some swallowtail butterflies produce both green and brown pupae. The phenotypes result from the joint action of genotype and environment and usually make the pupae cryptic in their habitats.2. The major environmental cues influencing pupal colour in two swallowtail species were determined to be textural and optical.3. Differences in the usage of these kinds of cues in the two species are thought to have evolved because of major differences in the pupation habitats. P.polyxenes, which usually pupates on slender stems amidst vegetation, responds more strongly to optical cues. B.philenor, which usually pupates on exposed surfaces of tree trunks and cliffs, responds more strongly to textural cues.4. Differences in the overall tendency to produce brown pupae (‘sensitivity’: Hazel, 1977) are thought to be related to the frequency of brown pupation sites utilized by these two species: high average sensitivity in philenor, which often uses brown sites, and lower average sensitivity in polyxenes, which often uses green sites.