GELIFES Seminars - Darrell Kemp

Darrell Kemp (Macquarie University)

The visual significance of limited-view structural colouration in butterflies

Dynamic visual displays such as flashing colours are used by humans to alert, attract and advertise. In the animal world, analogous displays can be generated by the iridescent and/or limited-view features of structural colours. These produce changes in hue (colour) and/or intensity (brightness) depending upon viewing geometry. Relatively little is known about why and when these displays have evolved; that is, whether there are unique adaptive drivers of signal dynamism per-se. In this talk I will outline select findings that stem from 20+ years of research into this question in tropical butterflies. This will canvas behavioural studies into the role of structural colouration during courtship, efforts to quantify the genetic basis of colour variation, and a recent effort to test signal detectability. Evidence supports a significant role for limited-view structural colour in mate choice, where it may serve as a signal of male genetic quality.

Biosketch:
Darrell Kemp completed his PhD at James Cook University (Australia) in 2002, prior to embarking on several postdoctoral positions in Sweden and the USA. He is presently an Associate Professor at Macquarie University in Sydney. He has worked extensively on sexually-selected behaviours and traits, including territoriality, male-male contests and sexual display, including over a decade of work on the significance of structural colouration in these contexts.