Female choice and sexual selection of male wing melanin pattern in Pieris occidentalis (Lepidoptera)

Abstract

Males that mated successfully differed significantly from unsuccessful males in the extent of marginal forewing melanization but not on the basis of the entire forewing pattern. Deletion of the marginal forewing melanin characters significantly reduced the mating success of manipulated males. Female choice in P. occidentalis may act to maximize divergence of male color pattern from that of its close relative Pieris protodice. -from Author