DOI: 10.5061/dryad.008b59c
title: Data from: Does divergent selection predict the evolution of mate preference and reproductive isolation in the tropical butterfly genus Melinaea (Nymphalidae: Ithomiini)?

description: Many studies have shown that speciation can be facilitated when a trait
 under divergent selection also causes assortative mating. In Müllerian
 mimetic butterflies, a change in wing colour pattern can cause
 reproductive isolation. However, colour pattern divergence does not always
 lead to reproductive isolation. Understanding how divergent selection
 affects speciation requires identifying the mechanisms that promote mate
 preference and/or choosiness. This study addresses whether shifts in wing
 colour pattern drives mate preference and reproductive isolation in the
 tropical butterfly genus Melinaea (Nymphalidae: Ithomiini), and focuses on
 five taxa that form a speciation continuum, from subspecies to fully
 recognized species. Using genetic markers, wing colour pattern
 quantification, male pheromone characterization and behavioural assays of
 mating preference, we characterize the extent of genetic and phenotypic
 differentiation between taxa and compare it to the level of reproductive
 isolation. We show strong premating isolation between the closely related
 species M. satevis and M. marsaeus, in addition to genetic and phenotypic
 (colour pattern and pheromones) differentiation. By contrast, M.
 menophilus and M. marsaeus consist of pairs of subspecies that differ for
 colour pattern but that cannot be differentiated genetically. Pheromonal
 differentiation of subspecies was significant only for M. marsaeus,
 although most individuals were indistinguishable. Melinaea menophilus and
 M. marsaeus also differ in the strength of assortative mating, suggesting
 that mate preference has evolved only in M. marsaeus, consistent with
 selection against maladaptive offspring, as subspecific “hybrids” of M.
 marsaeus have intermediate, non‐mimetic colour patterns, unlike those of
 M. menophilus which display either parental phenotypes. We conclude that a
 shift in colour pattern per se is not sufficient for reproductive
 isolation, but rather, the evolution of assortative mating may be caused
 by selection against maladaptive intermediate phenotypes. This study
 suggests that mate preference and assortative mating evolve when adaptive,
 and that even in the early stages of divergence, reproductive isolation
 can be nearly complete due to mating preferences.
description: Datasets for microsats,
 pheromone composition, and colour patternData for five Melinaea
 taxa of north-eastern Peru, and putative hybrids between subspecies. The
 first spreadsheet contains the allele size for the 12 microsatellite loci
 used in the study, the second spreadsheet contains quantification of the
 different compounds present in the chemical profile of extracted male hair
 pencils (ie. androconial scales) obtained by GC-MS, and the third
 spreadsheet contains the quantification of colour pattern by Colour
 Pattern Modelling (CPM).Datasets for
 microsats_pheromones_colourpattern.xlsxVision model for the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippusVision modelling of four effective photoreceptors of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, based on sensitivity peaks reported by Stalleicke et al. (2006) and Blackiston et al. (2011), and of a dark orange filter reported by Blackiston et al. (2011) and extrapolated from the spectrum presented for Heliconius erato in McCulloch et al. (2016). Relative proportions of photoreceptors are 1:1:3:3.Danaus plexippus vision model.txt