Yuqian Huang

Profile

Project Title: Genetic basis and selection maintaining wing polymorphism in the evening brown butterfly, Melanitis leda

Summary: The evening brown butterfly, Melanitis leda, exhibits extensive wing polymorphism in their dry-season forms. Ruiter and Brakefield (1994) identified 17 distinct morphs within a population in Malawi, Africa, characterised by wing colour and pattern variations. A more recent study revealed even greater morph diversity in Indian populations than in African ones (Granados Tello 2021). Although efforts have been made to classify these seemingly continuous wing pattern variations into discrete morphs, there is a standardised, objective method for quantifying individual morphs. Additionally, the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms underlying these dry-season morphs remain poorly understood, which hinders our comprehension of their maintenance and development within populations.

My PhD project aims to:

(1) employ image analysis to subjectively quantify the different dry season morphs of M. leda,

(2) investigate the genetic heritability and architecture underlying the polymorphism,

(3) assess the repeatability of these findings across different populations,

(4) screen the genome for regions of balancing selection and check it against the QTL/GWAS results,

(5) examine the selection pressures that maintain the variation, and

(6) explore the development of these morphs throughout various life stages.

Supervisor:

• Dr Vicencio Oostra

Research