Many species cope with heterogeneous environments through adaptive phenotypic plasticity, and plasticity of body colour is a widely used means of minimizing predation risk. Pupal colour in many butterflies is a plastic trait sensitive to pupation substrate, with green and brown pupae primarily formed on leaf and off-leaf substrates respectively. This is thought to be an example of adaptive phenotypic plasticity because the green and brown pupae are better camouflaged against their respective backgrounds. We tested whether pupal ‘spots’—paired circular markings on the anterior abdominal pupal segments of many butterflies—are also phenotypically plastic. Using experiments on the tropical satyrine butterfly Mycalesis mineus, we confirm that pupal spot size is plastic. Because it is known that pupation substrate influences pupal colour in this species, we tested whether substrate also influences pupal spot size. Further, we explored whether there was a correlation between pupal colour and spot size. We tested the effects of pupation substrate and pupal colour on both absolute spot size and spot size relative to body size. Pupal spot size (absolute and relative) was correlated with both pupal colour and pupation substrate. Brown pupae had larger spots, and green pupae formed off-leaf had intermediate sized spots compared to green pupae formed on leaves and brown pupae, the latter of which always formed off-leaf. Thus, the reaction norm of pupal spot size is partially coupled with both pupal colour and pupation substrate in this species. Since pupation substrate in turn influences pupal colour, the correlated traits of pupal colour and pupal spot could comprise a single functional suite, suggesting a developmental link. We speculate that pupal spots may function against predation, but further studies are needed to understand their possible adaptive significance.

许多物种通过适应性表型可塑性来应对异构环境，而体色的可塑性是使捕食风险最小化的一种广泛使用的手段。许多蝴蝶的颜色是对化ation基质敏感的塑性特征，绿色和棕色的p分别主要形成在叶片和离叶基质上。这被认为是适应性表型可塑性的一个例子，因为绿色和棕色的better在它们各自的背景下更好地被伪装。我们测试了p的“斑点”（在许多蝴蝶的前腹segments节上成对的圆形标记）是否也是表型可塑性的。利用热带稻草蝴蝶Mycalesis mineus进行实验，我们确认p点的大小是可塑的。因为已知化up基质会影响该物种的p颜色，所以我们测试了底物是否也影响p斑点的大小。此外，我们探索了p的颜色和斑点大小之间是否存在相关性。我们测试了化up基质和p颜色对绝对斑点大小和相对于体型的斑点大小的影响。pal斑点大小（绝对和相对）与p颜色和up基质有关。与在叶子和棕色spots上形成的绿色p相比，棕色p具有较大的斑点，而离开叶片形成的绿色p具有中等大小的斑点，而后者通常总是在叶子上形成。因此，在该物种中，spot斑点大小的反应范数与with颜色和substrate基质同时存在。由于p化基质反过来影响p的颜色，因此color颜色和p斑点的相关性状可能包含一个单一的功能套件，表明存在发育联系。我们推测p斑点可能对捕食起作用，但是需要进一步的研究来了解它们可能的适应性意义。