A paper by Freerk Molleman and Urszula Walczak from the Department of Systematic Zoology and published in Proceedings B (https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2986) and collaborators, shows that two species of tropical butterfly both respond to humidity, but using different mechanisms. Experiments in which humidity during rearing was varied show that adult eyespot size in one species (Mycalesis mineus) responded directly to humidity, while the other (Melanitis leda) responded to plant quality, which was affected by humidity. A contemporaneous experiment, published in Scientific Reports (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40471-0), showed that common evening brown populations from different climates differ in their responses to temperature and humidity, consistent with locally adapted cue use. These experiments were funded by Polish National Science Centre grant 2021/43/B/NZ8/00966.

An article on how enviroments shapes butterfly wing patterns

Publications

A paper by Freerk Molleman and Urszula Walczak from the Department of Systematic Zoology and published in Proceedings B and collaborators, shows that two species of tropical butterfly both respond to humidity, but using different mechanisms. Experiments in which humidity during rearing was varied show that adult eyespot size in one species (Mycalesis mineus) responded directly to humidity, while the other (Melanitis leda) responded to plant quality, which was affected by humidity. A contemporaneous experiment, published in Scientific Reports, showed that common evening brown populations from different climates differ in their responses to temperature and humidity, consistent with locally adapted cue use. These experiments were funded by Polish National Science Centre grant 2021/43/B/NZ8/00966.