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Flavonoid wing pigments increase attractiveness of female common blue (Polyommatus icarus) butterflies to mate-searching males

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Abstract

 Common blue butterflies (Polyommatus icarus) sequester flavonoids from their larval host plants and allocate these UV-absorbing pigments to the wings. In field experiments using dummies constructed from female butterflies, mate-searching males inspected flavonoid-rich dummies more intensively than those with little or no flavonoids. Flavonoid content as signalled by UV-wing pattern may indicate ontogenetically determined female quality or enhance detectability to males.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl Tierökologie I, Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany e-mail: konrad.fiedler@uni-bayreuth.de, , , , , , DE

    Helge Knüttel & K. Fiedler

  2. Lehrstuhl für Pharmazeutische Biologie, Julius-von-Sachs-Institut für Biowissenschaften, Universität Würzburg, Julius-von-Sachs-Platz 2, 97082 Würzburg, Germany, , , , , , DE

    Frank Burghardt & Mechthild Becker

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  1. Frank Burghardt
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  2. Helge Knüttel
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  3. Mechthild Becker
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  4. K. Fiedler
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Received: 21 March 2000 / Accepted in revised form: 17 May 2000

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Burghardt, F., Knüttel, H., Becker, M. et al. Flavonoid wing pigments increase attractiveness of female common blue (Polyommatus icarus) butterflies to mate-searching males. Naturwissenschaften 87, 304–307 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001140050726

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001140050726

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