Sexual dimorphism is typically thought to result from sexual selection for elaborated male traits, as proposed by Darwin. However, natural selection could reduce expression of elaborated traits in females, as proposed by Wallace. Darwin and Wallace debated the origins of dichromatism in birds and butterflies, and although evidence in birds is roughly equal, if not in favor of Wallace's model, butterflies lack a similar scale of study. Here, we present a large‐scale comparative phylogenetic analysis of the evolution of butterfly coloration, using all European non‐hesperiid butterfly species (n = 369). We modeled evolutionary changes in coloration for each species and sex along their phylogeny, thereby estimating the rate and direction of evolution in three‐dimensional color space using a novel implementation of phylogenetic ridge regression. We show that male coloration evolved faster than female coloration, especially in strongly dichromatic clades, with male contribution to changes in dichromatism roughly twice that of females. These patterns are consistent with a classic Darwinian model of dichromatism via sexual selection on male coloration, suggesting this model was the dominant driver of dichromatism in European butterflies.

中文翻译：

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蝴蝶二色性现象主要是通过达尔文模型而非华莱士模型发展而来的

正如达尔文所提出的那样，通常认为性二态性是由于对男性特质的精心选择而导致的。然而，正如华莱士所提出的那样，自然选择可能会减少女性精细特征的表达。达尔文和华莱士对鸟类和蝴蝶的双色性的起源进行了辩论，尽管鸟类中的证据大致相同，但即使不支持华莱士的模型，蝴蝶也缺乏类似的研究规模。在这里，我们使用所有欧洲非非perperiid蝴蝶物种（n= 369）。我们对每个物种和性别沿着其系统进化的颜色演变演变建模，从而使用系统发育岭回归的新实现方式估算三维颜色空间中的进化速率和方向。我们显示，男性色素的进化要快于女性色素，特别是在强二色性进化枝中，男性对重色性变化的贡献大约是女性的两倍。这些模式与经典的达尔文主义重色症模型（通过雄性着色的性别选择）相一致，表明该模型是欧洲蝴蝶重色症的主要驱动因素。