Contribution of genetic versus plastic responses to adaptive patterns in a widespread butterfly along a latitudinal cline

Understanding how organisms adapt to complex environments is a central goal of evolutionary biology and ecology. This issue is of special interest in the current era of rapidly changing climatic conditions. Here, we investigate clinal variation and plastic responses in life history, morphology, and physiology in the butterfly Pieris napi along a pan-European gradient by exposing butterflies raised in captivity to different temperatures. We found clinal variation in body size, growth rates and concomitant development time, wing aspect ratio, wing melanisation, and heat tolerance. Individuals from warmer environments were more heat-tolerant, had less melanised wings and a shorter development but still they were larger than individuals from cooler environments. These findings suggest selection for rapid growth in the warmth and for wing melanisation in the cold, and thus fine-tuned genetic adaptation to local climates. Irrespective of the origin of butterflies, the effects of higher develo...解析生物如何适应复杂环境，是进化生物学与生态学的核心研究目标之一。在当前气候条件快速变化的时代，这一议题受到学界的格外关注。本研究以沿泛欧洲地理梯度分布的暗脉菜粉蝶（Pieris napi）为研究对象，通过将人工饲养的个体暴露于不同温度环境中，探究其生活史、形态及生理特征的渐变变异（clinal variation）与可塑性响应（plastic responses）。研究结果显示，暗脉菜粉蝶的体型大小、生长速率与伴随的发育时长、翅长宽比、翅黑化程度以及耐热性均存在显著的渐变变异。来自温暖环境的个体耐热性更强，翅黑化程度更低，发育时长更短，但体型仍大于来自寒冷环境的个体。上述发现表明，温暖环境下存在对快速生长的定向选择，寒冷环境下存在对翅黑化的定向选择，由此实现对本地气候的精细遗传适应。无论供试暗脉菜粉蝶的种群起源如何，较高发育温度对……