Contribución al conocimiento de la biofluorescencia en mariposas Ithomiini (Nymphalidae: Danainae): aportes a su historia evolutiva.

Abstract

Butterflies have developed strategies to communicate by means of light, chemicals, sounds and vibrations, which in turn reduce the probability of attack and play an important role in sexual selection. Within these communication mechanisms, fluorescent patches present in various living organisms, including butterflies, have been studied. This phenomenon, known in the field of biology as biofluorescence, can provide information on the physiological state of individuals, forms of interspecies communication and defense strategies against predators. However, aspects related to biofluorescence in butterflies are in general less studied than those of other groups and although some research is presented, the information tends to be scarce or presents data with some inconsistencies that lead to a biased interpretation about the extent of biofluorescence. This makes it difficult to determine a precise origin and to contribute to the evolutionary history of biofluorescence in species such as the ithomiines, which are important because they model the Batesian and Müllerian mimicry complexes through the aposematic signals they exhibit. For that reason, this work arises with the objective of contributing to the knowledge of biofluorescence in species of Ithomiini butterflies (Nymphalidae: Danainae) in Colombia. This was done through an exhaustive review of the presence of the phenomenon in species of the tribe Ithomiini found in entomological collections and collected in the field. With the data obtained, the phylogenetic reconstruction of the character was generated through specialized software and subsequently the mimetic rings were classified according to the incidence of biofluorescence in the species that conformed them. This led to generate new records of biofluorescent species and identify that biofluorescence occurs as a parallel homoplasy, present in different wing patterns with yellow coloration. In addition, the observations led to propose a more cohesive grouping of mimetic rings in the tribe Ithomiini.