Phenotypic Response to Photoperiod and Temperature in a Tropical Pierid Butterfly.

Abstract

Photoperiod and temperature during development were shown to control the phenotype of adults of Catopsilia pomona pomona in a population in Queensland. These environmental cues controlled pattern and colour elements of the phenotype to different extents, and the responses of males and females differed. Weather experienced in the 5th larval instar and pupal stage determined the adult phenotype. Differences in the responses of the progeny of February and July adults may have reflected differential survival of different genotypes over the dry season, through selection for the seasonally appropriate phenotype. The adaptive significance of the 2 seasonal forms is not known.