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Insect communication

Polarized light as a butterfly mating signal

Nature volume 423, pages 31–32 (2003)Cite this article

This optical feature of some iridescent wings catches a suitor's eye in the deep forest.

Abstract

Iridescent butterfly scales are visually stunning structures that reflect highly saturated colour. They also create an array of non-chromatic optical phenomena, such as polarization, polarization mixing and highly directional flashes1,2, but the ecological purpose of these effects is unclear3,4. Here we show that polarized light is used in mate recognition by Heliconius butterflies, a genus that is known to rely on visual cues in sexual selection and speciation5. This terrestrial example of exploitation of polarized light may have adaptive value in dense forest, where illumination varies greatly in spectrum and intensity.

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Figure 1: Polarized iridescent patterning of the butterfly Heliconius cydno (top) compared with H. melpomene malleti (bottom), whose wings do not show polarized iridescence.
Figure 2: Response of male Heliconius cydno and H. melpomene malleti butterflies to polarized and depolarized views of female butterfly wings.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, 27708, North Carolina, USA

    Alison Sweeney & Sönke Johnsen

  2. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 2072, Balboa, Panama

    Alison Sweeney & Christopher Jiggins

  3. Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK

    Christopher Jiggins

Authors
  1. Alison Sweeney
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  2. Christopher Jiggins
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  3. Sönke Johnsen
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Correspondence to Alison Sweeney.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Sweeney, A., Jiggins, C. & Johnsen, S. Polarized light as a butterfly mating signal. Nature 423, 31–32 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/423031a

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