Data from: Facultative pupal mating in Heliconius erato: implications for mate choice, female preference, and speciation

Mating systems have broad impacts on how sexual selection and mate choice operate within a species, but studies of mating behavior in the laboratory may not reflect how these processes occur in the wild. Here, we examined the mating behavior of the neotropical butterfly Heliconius erato in the field by releasing larvae and virgin females and observing how they mated. H. erato is considered a pupal-mating species (i.e., males mate with females as they emerge from the pupal case). However, we observed only two teneral mating events, and experimentally released virgins were almost all mated upon recapture. Our study confirms the presence of some pupal-mating behavior in H. erato, but suggests that adult mating is likely the prevalent mating strategy in this species. These findings have important implications for the role of color pattern and female mate choice in the generation of reproductive isolation in this diverse genus.婚配系统对物种内性选择与配偶选择的运作机制具有广泛且深远的影响，但实验室环境下的交配行为研究，往往难以反映这些过程在自然野外中的真实发生模式。本研究通过释放幼虫与处女雌蝶，并实地观测其交配行为，对新热带区蝴蝶红带袖蝶（Heliconius erato）的野外交配行为展开了探究。红带袖蝶此前被归类为蛹交物种，即雄性在雌性破蛹羽化的瞬间与之完成交配。但本次研究仅观测到2次初羽化交配事件，且实验释放的处女雌蝶在重捕时几乎均已完成交配。本研究证实红带袖蝶确实存在部分蛹交行为，但同时表明成虫交配或许才是该物种的主流交配策略。上述发现对于理解该多样属中，色彩图案与雌性配偶选择在生殖隔离形成过程中的作用，具有重要的学术意义。