Data from: Ultraviolet signaling in a butterfly is preferred by females and conveys male genetic quality

Indicator models of sexual selection posit that females chose males on the
basis of traits that reveal male genetic quality and thereby enjoy
increased offspring production. Here we report that females of the
butterfly Eurema hecabe receive indirect benefits from choosing males
based on their UV wing colouration, a heritable and condition-dependent
trait in this species. We first used a large laboratory-bred pedigree to
demonstrate a per-family association between inbreeding and male UV trait
value. Females exerted choice for UV-bright males within this protocol,
and average male UV trait value increased over six consecutive generations
presumably due to such selection and despite an increasing rate of
pedigree-wide inbreeding. We then experimentally imposed a standard
strength of inbreeding upon lines of divergent male UV trait value.
Inbreeding depressed the siring performance of low-UV treatment males more
severely and resulted in a marginal reduction of their UV brightness,
which rebounded sharply following subsequent outcrossing. These findings
are consistent with the ornament-based signaling of genetic quality as a
function of underlying individual-level mutational load.