Comparison of diurnal hawkmoths with nocturnal ones

We collected 10 hawkmoths including 5 nocturnal and 5 diurnal species, performed RNA sequencing, and identified the opsin genes by molecular experiment. From molecular evolutionary approach, we reconstructed the phylogeny of the nocturnal and diurnal hawkmoth species, inferred the genealogy of opsins, and then conducted the statistical tests of neutrality and parallel evolution for the opsin sequences. We also compared the opsin transcript levels by RNA-seq analysis. Moreover, we measured the spectral sensitivity of both of the nocturnal and diurnal hawkmoth eyes and estimated the absorption spectra of the visual pigments by electrophysiological and histological experiments. Thus, we revealed the parallel evolutionary patterns of the opsin genes and spectral sensitivity functions determined by adaptive selection through the transitions from nocturnal to diurnal hawkmoth visions.