Polymorphism of the tropical butterfly, Danaus chrysippus L., in Africa

Abstract

The polymorphism of Danaus chrysippus is anomalous since it is a distasteful butterfly. In a field study of the B locus polymorphism in Ghana, significant changes in the morph frequencies were recorded over eighteen months at Cape Coast. There were also significant differences between localities. There was some evidence that brown morphs are favoured by wet conditions, and that orange forms have higher survival rates as caterpillars. There were no differences between forms in larval foodplants, sex ratio, body size, wing damage, mating success, or in the effects of weather on adult activity. There was however, strong assortative mating between forms. Crosses with Kenyan females gave aberrant segregations for the sex chromosomes and the C locus. The results are discussed with regard to the hypothesis that polymorphism arose as a result of the overlapping of previously isolated geographical races.