Independent Major-Effect Loci and Limited Trait Associations Characterize Warning Colour Variation Across Sexes and Life Stages in the Wood Tiger Moth (Arctia plantaginis).
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- 2School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
- 3Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- 4Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
- 5CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris, Sorbonne Université (SU), Université Paris Cité (UPC), Université Paris Est Créteil (UPEC), Paris, France.
- 6Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
- 7BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Abstract
Variation in warning colouration is common, despite strong positive frequency-dependent selection favouring the most common morph and may arise from spatially or temporally variable selection or associations with other traits. We investigated the maintenance of warning colour variation in the wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, which shows sexual dimorphism in colouration: two distinct male morphs controlled by a single locus, and continuous variation in female hindwing colour and larval warning signal size. Using whole-genome sequencing of 657 individuals from a laboratory stock derived from a wild polymorphic population, we examined the genetic basis of multiple life-history traits, chemical defence, pheromones and male activity. We specifically tested for associations with male colour and aimed to identify the genetic basis of female and larval colour variation. We detected separate major-effect loci for female colour and larval signal size, which were different from the male colour locus. Hindwing melanism was the only trait associated with male colour, mapping to a nearby major-effect locus and showing a link to reduced activity at higher temperatures. Female colour was phenotypically correlated with pheromone amount. However, apart from melanism, none of the traits measured showed an association with any of the loci controlling warning colours and we found no evidence that male colour is part of a 'supergene' or complex co-adapted phenotype. Instead, our results indicate largely independent genetic architectures for warning colours, suggesting that variable selection rather than genetic associations may contribute to the maintenance of colour polymorphisms in this species.
Related
- Intratumoral microbiota-host gene associations characterize stage-associated microecological patterns in colorectal cancer
- Age-specific genomic and transcriptomic variation reveals limited evidence for cis-regulatory interactions modulating aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- Trait variation driven by tree size more than environment and shows limited translation to species vital rates
- Variation in Hygienic Behavior and Its Associations with Colony-Performance and Wing Morphometric Traits Among Honey Bee Colonies from Five Apiaries in Kazakhstan
- Genomic variation and ancestry of Helicobacter pylori in the admixed population of Cabo Verde reveal host adaptation, limited host-pathogen ancestry concordance, and signatures of trans-Atlantic slave trade migrations
BibTeX
@article{koch2026independent,
title = {{Independent Major-Effect Loci and Limited Trait Associations Characterize Warning Colour Variation Across Sexes and Life Stages in the Wood Tiger Moth (Arctia plantaginis).}},
author = {Eva L Koch and Melanie N Brien and Yingguang Frank Chan and Marek Kučka and Cristina Ottocento and Chiara De Pasqual and Eetu Selenius and Ossi Nokelainen and Juan A Galarza and Sandra Winters and Chris D Jiggins and Johanna Mappes},
journal = {Molecular ecology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1111/mec.70602},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908230},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Independent Major-Effect Loci and Limited Trait Associations Characterize Warning Colour Variation Across Sexes and Life Stages in the Wood Tiger Moth (Arctia plantaginis).
AU - Eva L Koch
AU - Melanie N Brien
AU - Yingguang Frank Chan
AU - Marek Kučka
AU - Cristina Ottocento
AU - Chiara De Pasqual
AU - Eetu Selenius
AU - Ossi Nokelainen
AU - Juan A Galarza
AU - Sandra Winters
AU - Chris D Jiggins
AU - Johanna Mappes
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Molecular ecology
DO - 10.1111/mec.70602
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908230
AB - Variation in warning colouration is common, despite strong positive frequency-dependent selection favouring the most common morph and may arise from spatially or temporally variable selection or associations with other traits. We investigated the maintenance of warning colour variation in the wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, which shows sexual dimorphism in colouration: two distinct male morphs controlled by a single locus, and continuous variation in female hindwing colour and larval warning signal size. Using whole-genome sequencing of 657 individuals from a laboratory stock derived from a wild polymorphic population, we examined the genetic basis of multiple life-history traits, chemical defence, pheromones and male activity. We specifically tested for associations with male colour and aimed to identify the genetic basis of female and larval colour variation. We detected separate major-effect loci for female colour and larval signal size, which were different from the male colour locus. Hindwing melanism was the only trait associated with male colour, mapping to a nearby major-effect locus and showing a link to reduced activity at higher temperatures. Female colour was phenotypically correlated with pheromone amount. However, apart from melanism, none of the traits measured showed an association with any of the loci controlling warning colours and we found no evidence that male colour is part of a 'supergene' or complex co-adapted phenotype. Instead, our results indicate largely independent genetic architectures for warning colours, suggesting that variable selection rather than genetic associations may contribute to the maintenance of colour polymorphisms in this species.
SN - 0962-1083
SN - 1365-294X
ER -