Darwin, Darwinism and Butterflies

Canterbury Christ Church University's Public Lecture Series

The event is part of the 2009 celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's 'Origin of Species' and his 200th birthday. The lecture will focus on Darwin, Darwinism and butterflies (Darwin, himself, did not say or do much with butterflies, although what he did say was very interesting). The lecture will touch on Henry Walter Bates on mimicry (a key debate in history of Darwinism), and Alfred Russel Wallace versus Darwin on sexual selection; two examples of where Darwinian 'transference' (proposed by Darwin for birds) appears to have affected butterfly evolution (one, Papilio dardanus, in concert with Batesian mimicry, the other, Appias nero, not). The lecture will conclude with an assessment of the role of behaviour versus genes in evolution.