Scientific Reports (Feb 2018)

Phylogeny and evolution of Müllerian mimicry in aposematic Dilophotes: evidence for advergence and size-constraints in evolution of mimetic sexual dimorphism

  • Michal Motyka,
  • Lucie Kampova,
  • Ladislav Bocak

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22155-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract Multiple patterns and intraspecific polymorphism should not persist in mutualistic Müllerian systems due to purifying and frequency-dependent selection, but they are commonly identified in nature. We analysed molecular phylogeny and reconstructed dispersal history of 58 species of Dilophotes (Coleoptera: Lycidae) in Asia. Dilophotes colonized the Great Sundas and Malay Peninsula where they joined extensive mimetic communities of net-winged beetles. We identified the brightly bi-coloured males and females which adverged on five occasions to different autochthonous models. This is the first described case of Müllerian sexual dimorphism based on sex-specific body size. We propose that the constraint, i.e. the conservative sexual size dimorphism, forced the unprofitable prey to such complex adaptation in a multi-pattern environment. Although mimetic sexual dimorphism has frequently evolved in Dilophotes, a single pattern has been maintained by both sexes in multiple closely related, sympatrically occurring species. Some patterns may be suboptimal because they are rare, crudely resemble co-mimics, or are newly evolved, but they persist in Müllerian communities for a long time. We assume that failure to closely resemble the most common model can increase the diversity of large Müllerian communities and produce mimetic dimorphism.