Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The evolutionary history of colour polymorphism in Ischnura damselflies

Sánchez-Guillén, Rosa A. LU ; Cordero-Rivera, Adolfo ; Rivas-Torres, Anais ; Wellenreuther, Maren LU ; Bybee, Seth ; Hansson, Bengt LU orcid ; Velasquez-Vélez, María I. ; Realpe, Emilio ; Chávez-Ríos, Jesús R. and Villalobos, Fabricio , et al. (2018) In Journal of evolutionary biology
Abstract

A major challenge in evolutionary biology consists of understanding how genetic and phenotypic variation is created and maintained. In this study, we investigated the origin(s) and evolutionary patterns of the female-limited colour polymorphism in ischnuran damselflies. These consist of the presence of one to three colour morphs: one androchrome morph with a coloration that is similar to the male and two gynochrome morphs (infuscans and aurantiaca) with female-specific coloration. We (i) documented the colour and mating system of 44 of the 75 taxa within the genus Ischnura, (ii) reconstructed the evolutionary history of colour and mating system to identify the ancestral state, (iii) evaluated the stability of the colour morph status... (More)

A major challenge in evolutionary biology consists of understanding how genetic and phenotypic variation is created and maintained. In this study, we investigated the origin(s) and evolutionary patterns of the female-limited colour polymorphism in ischnuran damselflies. These consist of the presence of one to three colour morphs: one androchrome morph with a coloration that is similar to the male and two gynochrome morphs (infuscans and aurantiaca) with female-specific coloration. We (i) documented the colour and mating system of 44 of the 75 taxa within the genus Ischnura, (ii) reconstructed the evolutionary history of colour and mating system to identify the ancestral state, (iii) evaluated the stability of the colour morph status over time and (iv) tested for a correlation between colour and mating system. We found that the ancestral female colour of Ischnura was monomorphic and aurantiaca and that colour morph status changed over time, characterized by many gains and losses across the species tree. Our results further showed that colour polymorphism is significantly more frequent among polyandric species, whereas monandric species tend to be monomorphic. Research on some Ischnura species has shown that colour morphs have evolved to reduce male mating harassment, and our finding that the same phenotypic morphs have evolved multiple times (convergent evolution) suggests that several species in this genus might be experiencing similar selective pressures.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
in press
subject
keywords
Ancestral state, Colour polymorphism, Comparative method, Correlated evolution, Damselflies
in
Journal of evolutionary biology
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85047597937
ISSN
1010-061X
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f039201d-7058-4d13-b3e3-9d2c41268b2b
date added to LUP
2018-06-18 14:41:30
date last changed
2022-04-17 21:05:02
@article{f039201d-7058-4d13-b3e3-9d2c41268b2b,
  abstract     = {{<p>A major challenge in evolutionary biology consists of understanding how genetic and phenotypic variation is created and maintained. In this study, we investigated the origin(s) and evolutionary patterns of the female-limited colour polymorphism in ischnuran damselflies. These consist of the presence of one to three colour morphs: one androchrome morph with a coloration that is similar to the male and two gynochrome morphs (infuscans and aurantiaca) with female-specific coloration. We (i) documented the colour and mating system of 44 of the 75 taxa within the genus Ischnura, (ii) reconstructed the evolutionary history of colour and mating system to identify the ancestral state, (iii) evaluated the stability of the colour morph status over time and (iv) tested for a correlation between colour and mating system. We found that the ancestral female colour of Ischnura was monomorphic and aurantiaca and that colour morph status changed over time, characterized by many gains and losses across the species tree. Our results further showed that colour polymorphism is significantly more frequent among polyandric species, whereas monandric species tend to be monomorphic. Research on some Ischnura species has shown that colour morphs have evolved to reduce male mating harassment, and our finding that the same phenotypic morphs have evolved multiple times (convergent evolution) suggests that several species in this genus might be experiencing similar selective pressures.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sánchez-Guillén, Rosa A. and Cordero-Rivera, Adolfo and Rivas-Torres, Anais and Wellenreuther, Maren and Bybee, Seth and Hansson, Bengt and Velasquez-Vélez, María I. and Realpe, Emilio and Chávez-Ríos, Jesús R. and Villalobos, Fabricio and Dumont, Henri}},
  issn         = {{1010-061X}},
  keywords     = {{Ancestral state; Colour polymorphism; Comparative method; Correlated evolution; Damselflies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of evolutionary biology}},
  title        = {{The evolutionary history of colour polymorphism in Ischnura damselflies}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}