Seminar Preview: The annual migration of the monarch butterfly spans over 4,000 km and facilitates the aggregation of millions of individual butterflies in south-central Mexico each winter. The monarch migratory syndrome is complex, integrating behavior, morphology, and physiology in an environmentally sensitive manner. Underlying this syndrome is an expansive genetic suite encompassing over 500 genes, as well as a significant capacity for seasonally-sensitive phenotypic plasticity. The evolutionary histories of this genetic suite and capacity for seasonal plasticity remain largely unknown beyond within-monarch assessments.
Monarch migration is an emerging model for testing broader hypotheses about the evolution of animal migration, complex traits, and the role of plasticity in adaptive evolution. A clearer understanding of how this spectacular phenomenon has emerged within just the past 20,000 years is necessary to better contextualize evolutionary inferences drawn from this model. My dissertation research will focus on characterizing patterns of seasonal plasticity as well as migratory genetic and phenotypic variation within the butterfly genus Danaus. This work integrates comparative approaches in phylogenomics and developmental genetics to generate insights into how key features of the monarch migratory syndrome have evolved within the genus.