Data from: Vertical and temporal specialisation in Amazonian butterflies and evolution of their thermal traits

Closely-related species living in sympatry are often partitioned into
divergent ecological niches. Such specialization can be enabled by the
evolution of divergent traits enhancing adaptation to different niches. In
this study, we investigate the partitioning of closely-related butterfly
species into different forest strata and daily activity time and test the
effects of such spatio-temporal niches on the evolution of thermal traits.
First, using experiments in the field in Amazonia, we precisely
characterized the daily activity patterns of nine species of Morpho
butterflies, therefore documenting extensive temporal segregation among
species and observing significant variations in temperature between their
respective niches. Using controlled experiments in the lab, we then tested
the thermal tolerance of wild individuals to both hot and cold conditions.
The vertical distribution of species (understory vs. canopy
micro-habitats) had a significant effect on several thermal traits, even
when controlling for the phylogenetic distances between species,
suggesting that forest stratification may shaped thermal adaptation in
these tropical butterflies. However, butterfly activity time did not
correlate with any thermal traits measured. The extensive temporal
segregation observed between these sympatric species might thus stem from
ecological interactions observed between species rather than thermal
factors.