Name: Shaheer Qureshi
Mentor: Johannes Familton
Abstract:
The geometrical complexity in the wings of various, taxonomically different butterflies can help us to understand the possible evolutionary relationship by analyzing their fractal dimensions. The fractal dimension of the wing patterns of the Monarch and its mimicry species Viceroy has been well documented before however the fractal dimension of wing patterns of the Black Swallowtail and Pipevine Swallowtail remains unknown. Here, we investigate the wing patterns of local butterfly and their mimic species: The Monarch and it’s mimic the Viceroy, and the Black Swallowtail and it’s mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail. Using MatLab, the complexity of their wing patterns is quantified by their fractional dimension and then calculated through the box-counting method. Preliminary results indicate the fractal dimension of the wing patterns of the Monarch and its mimicry species Viceroy are closely related. This can give us some insight into the evolutionary relationship of the Monarch and its mimicry species Viceroy and can help us to determine the phylogenetic relationship with the less investigated specie Black Swallowtail and its mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail by comparing their fractal dimensions.
