Decoupled wing evolution reveals trait-specific links between morphology, geography, and diversification in Ithomiini butterflies.
- 1Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Abstract
Understanding when species diversification and phenotypic evolution are coupled remains a central challenge in macroevolution. Such coupling may depend on the traits considered, phenotypic integration, or the geographic context in which diversification occurs. Here, we investigate these relationships in Ithomiini, a diverse Neotropical butterfly tribe whose diversification is strongly associated with the Andes-Amazonia system. We quantified forewing and hindwing size and shape for 1,618 individuals representing 291 species using geometric morphometrics, and combined these data with phylogenetic comparative methods, diversification-rate estimates, and spatial analyses of species distributions. Evolutionary rate shifts were largely trait- and wing-specific, indicating limited coupling between forewing and hindwing evolution. Across the phylogeny, wing size evolution and extant wing size were not associated with species diversification, nor was hindwing shape evolution. By contrast, forewing shape evolutionary rates showed a positive association with diversification. Spatial analyses revealed that this coupling was geographically concentrated in the Andes, where high diversification rates coincided with elevated forewing size and shape diversity and increased forewing evolutionary rates. Hindwing diversity, by contrast, more closely tracked phylogenetic diversity and showed weaker or opposing relationships with diversification. Our results show that diversification and phenotypic evolution in Ithomiini are neither generally coupled nor fully independent, but linked in trait-specific and geographically structured ways. More broadly, they highlight the need to decompose complex phenotypes and integrate spatial context when testing macroevolutionary coupling.
Related
- Beyond elevation: climate, geography, and the diversification of Himalayan Rhododendrons. A commentary on ‘Phenotypic and genetic variation among Rhododendron arboreum species complex widely distributed throughout the Himalayas suggests an obscure geographic origin of the clade’
- Evolution of compound eye cell types shapes visual behaviors across Heliconius butterflies
- Chemosensory receptor copy number evolution is not associated with host-plant specialization in butterflies
- Repeated evolution of convergent iridescence in closely related species of Morpho butterflies living in sympatry
- Genome evolution of Mediterranean olives following DNA repeats diversification
BibTeX
@misc{chazot2026decoupled,
title = {{Decoupled wing evolution reveals trait-specific links between morphology, geography, and diversification in Ithomiini butterflies.}},
author = {N. Chazot and M. Dore and A. Mathou and K. R. Willmott and S. Lagarde and A. V. L. Freitas and R. Cornette and M. Elias},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.25.754348},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.754348v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Decoupled wing evolution reveals trait-specific links between morphology, geography, and diversification in Ithomiini butterflies.
AU - N. Chazot
AU - M. Dore
AU - A. Mathou
AU - K. R. Willmott
AU - S. Lagarde
AU - A. V. L. Freitas
AU - R. Cornette
AU - M. Elias
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.25.754348
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.754348v1
AB - Understanding when species diversification and phenotypic evolution are coupled remains a central challenge in macroevolution. Such coupling may depend on the traits considered, phenotypic integration, or the geographic context in which diversification occurs. Here, we investigate these relationships in Ithomiini, a diverse Neotropical butterfly tribe whose diversification is strongly associated with the Andes-Amazonia system. We quantified forewing and hindwing size and shape for 1,618 individuals representing 291 species using geometric morphometrics, and combined these data with phylogenetic comparative methods, diversification-rate estimates, and spatial analyses of species distributions. Evolutionary rate shifts were largely trait- and wing-specific, indicating limited coupling between forewing and hindwing evolution. Across the phylogeny, wing size evolution and extant wing size were not associated with species diversification, nor was hindwing shape evolution. By contrast, forewing shape evolutionary rates showed a positive association with diversification. Spatial analyses revealed that this coupling was geographically concentrated in the Andes, where high diversification rates coincided with elevated forewing size and shape diversity and increased forewing evolutionary rates. Hindwing diversity, by contrast, more closely tracked phylogenetic diversity and showed weaker or opposing relationships with diversification. Our results show that diversification and phenotypic evolution in Ithomiini are neither generally coupled nor fully independent, but linked in trait-specific and geographically structured ways. More broadly, they highlight the need to decompose complex phenotypes and integrate spatial context when testing macroevolutionary coupling.
ER -