Does the adaptive landscape of mimicry conform to the theory?
Butterfly wing patterns and mimicry in particular are an example of an adaptation that might lead to a quantitative test of the theory. Our current understanding of butterfly wing development suggests that wing patterns involve co-option of signalling pathway modules from earlier development (Brunetti et al., 2001). Therefore, it is a reasonable hypothesis that most evolution in wing patterns occurs at wing-specific cis-regulatory elements of these genes, with minimal pleiotropic effects on other developmental functions of the same loci (Carroll et al., 2001). This hypothesis should become testable as a better understanding of wing development is reached, but if true then developmental pleiotropic constraints on wing pattern evolution may be minimal. Furthermore, mimetic butterfly colour patterns are known to contribute to speciation through pleiotropic effects on reproductive isolation. Divergent populations use colour patterns in choosing mates, and intermediate hybrid patterns are n
