Genetic Variants for Convergent Color Pattern Evolution in Neotropical Lepidoptera

Convergent evolution of wing color patterns across butterfly and moth lineages that diverged up to 120 million years ago is investigated. The dataset likely contains details of balancing selection tests and genetic associations for species including Ithomiini and Heliconius butterflies and a Chetone moth. It was authored by Yacine Ben Chehida and last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Identify genetic variants associated with convergent color pattern switches based on noncoding regions near the genes ivory and optix.
• Analyze the role of a ~1 Mb inversion in color pattern variation in a distantly related moth species.
• Investigate the evidence for allele sharing via hybridization in closely related Ithomiini species.
• Study the predictability of evolution by examining repeated parallel evolution of regulatory switches.

Strengths

• Data covers a wide evolutionary timescale, with lineages diverging between ~1 and 120 million years ago.
• Includes genetic data from multiple mimetic lineages, including seven Ithomiini species, Heliconius butterflies, and a Chetone moth.
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license, facilitating reuse.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small at 13.5 KB, indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Likely contains results from genetic association studies and balancing selection tests.

Time Range

Evolutionary timescale of ~1 to 120 million years for the studied lineages.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 17:24:23; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Neotropical region (implied by the study of neotropical lepidopteran lineages).