Coevolution between flight morphology, vertical stratification and sexual dimorphism: what can we learn from tropical butterflies?

Occurrence patterns are partly shaped by the affinity of species with habitat conditions. For winged organisms, flight-related attributes are vital for ecological performance. However, due to the different reproductive roles of each sex, we expect divergence in flight energy budget, and consequently different selection responses between sexes. We used tropical frugivorous butterflies as models to investigate coevolution between flight morphology, sex dimorphism and vertical stratification. We studied 94 species of Amazonian fruit-feeing butterflies sampled in seven sites across 3341 ha. We used wing-thorax ratio as a proxy for flight capacity and hierarchical Bayesian modeling to estimate stratum preference. We detected a strong phylogenetic signal in wing-thorax ratio in both sexes. Stouter fast-flying species preferred the canopy, while more slender slow-flying species preferred the understorey. However, this relationship was stronger in females than in males, suggesting that female p...