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33 results for “aposematic signal”
Predator selection on multicomponent warning signals in an aposematic moth
<p>Aposematic prey advertise their unprofitability with conspicuous warning signals that are often composed of multiple color patterns. Many species show intraspecific variation in these patterns even though selection is expected to favor invariable warning signals that enhance predator learning. However, if predators acquire avoidance to specific signal components, this might relax selection on other aposematic traits and explain variability. Here we investigated this idea in the aposematic moth <em>Amata</em> <em>nigriceps</em> that has conspicuous black and orange coloration. The size of the orange spots in the wings is highly variable between individuals, whereas the number and width of orange abdominal stripes remain consistent. We produced artificial moths that varied in the proportion of orange in the wings or the presence of abdominal stripes. We presented these to a natural avian predator, the noisy miner (<em>Manorina</em> <em>melanocephala</em>), and recorded how different warning signal components influenced their attack decisions. When moth models had orange stripes on the abdomen, birds did not discriminate between different wing signals. However, when the stripes on the abdomen were removed, birds chose the model with smaller wing spots. In addition, we found that birds were more likely to attack moths with a smaller number of abdominal stripes. Together, our results suggest that bird predators primarily pay attention to the abdominal stripes of <em>A. nigriceps,</em> and this could relax selection on wing coloration. Our study highlights the importance of considering individual warning signal components if we are to understand how predation shapes selection on prey warning coloration.</p>
Data for: Investigating signal modalities of aposematism in a poison frog
<p>Aposematic species combine a conspicuous signal with a secondary defense, the majority of which are studied in the context of a visual signal. While multimodality of the aposematic signal appears to be common in invertebrate species, we know very little about the presence or absence of multimodality in vertebrates. Here we examine the possibility of multimodality of aposematism in the green and black poison frog, <em>Dendrobates auratus. </em>Using a non-visual predator (the cat-eyed snake, <em>Leptodeira annulata</em>) and extractions of chemicals in frog skins, we test whether there is sufficient non-visual information for predators to avoid this aposematic species without using visual cues. We found that experienced predators avoid chemicals in this poison frog's skin by olfactory cues alone in trials with live frogs and extracts from captive poison frogs, whereas extracts from wild poison frogs did not lead to avoidance behaviors in predators. Further, in our limited sampling, naïve predators demonstrate no avoidance. This not only indicates that predators can make informed decisions from the frog's odor but also indicates that avoidance based on olfactory cue is a learned response.</p>
Fig. 1 in Fluorescence in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): using sentinel prey to investigate a possible aposematic signal
Fig. 1. Seasonal changes in the number of recorded attacks on artificial prey having fluorescent (short-dashed line) and non-fluorescent (long-dashed line) markings between Oct 2017 and Feb 2018. For each trial, 36 observations were made for each treatment; in the fifh and sixth trials there were only 34 observations due to sampling difficulties. Total number of models attacked is also shown.
Fig. 2 in Fluorescence in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): using sentinel prey to investigate a possible aposematic signal
Fig. 2. Relationship between climatic variables and the total number of attacks recorded on artificial prey (both treatments combined) during each wk-long assay conducted from Oct 2017 through May 2018 (n = 11 wk): (a) photoperiod (d length in h), (b) average temperature per wk.
Fig. 3 in Fluorescence in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): using sentinel prey to investigate a possible aposematic signal
Fig. 3. Dorsal and ventral aspects of the head area of an Ellychnia corrusca adult illuminated with (a, b) Nightsea BlueStar light emitting 440 to 460 nm, and photographed with a longpass yellow filter (500 nm cutoff), and (c, d) the same individual under white light illumination.
Data for: Investigating signal modalities of aposematism in a poison frog
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Predator selection on multicomponent warning signals in an aposematic moth
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The signal detection problem of aposematic prey revisited: integrating prior social and personal experience
<p>Data collected during three separate experiments using the "novel world" (Alatalo & Mappes, Nature 1996) approach to test how social information changes predator discrimination of novel aposematic prey from a cryptic palatable alternative. Experiments were conducted with great tits (<em>Parus major</em>), captured from the wild and released afterwards, at the University of Jyväskylä Research Station, Konnevesi, Finland (62.6° N, 26.3° E) during three winters (2013-2014, 2016-2017, 2017-2018). Social information was provided by video playback of a demonstrator (adult male) showing an aversive behavioural response to a novel prey signal before observers (juveniles, adults, males, females) searched for prey signals against a background in either an aviary or in a "miniature novel world" in an experimental holding box.</p>
Data from: A ketocarotenoid-based color polymorphism in the Sira poison frog Ranitomeya sirensis indicates novel gene interactions underlying aposematic signal variation
<p>The accumulation of red ketocarotenoids is an important component of coloration in many organisms, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In some organisms, ketocarotenoids are sequestered from the diet and can accumulate when enzymes responsible for carotenoid breakdown are disrupted. In other organisms, ketocarotenoids are formed endogenously from dietary precursors via oxidation reactions carried out by carotenoid ketolase enzymes. Here, we study the genetic basis of carotenoid coloration in an amphibian. We demonstrate that a red/yellow polymorphism in the dendrobatid poison frog <em>Ranitomeya sirensis</em> is due to the presence/absence of ketocarotenoids. Using whole-transcriptome sequencing of skins and livers, we found that a transcript encoding a cytochrome P450 enzyme (CYP3A80) is expressed 3.4-fold higher in livers of red frogs versus yellow. As CYP3A enzymes are known carotenoid ketolases in other organisms, our results point to CYP3A80 as a strong candidate for a carotenoid ketolase in amphibians. Furthermore, in red frogs, the transcript encoding the carotenoid cleavage enzyme BCO2 is expressed at a low level or as a splice variant lacking key catalytic amino acids. This suggests that BCO2 function may be disrupted in red frogs, providing a mechanism whereby the accumulation of ketocarotenoids and their dietary precursors may be enhanced.</p>
The signal detection problem of aposematic prey revisited: integrating prior social and personal experience
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Sexual selection's role in the persistence of polymorphism in an aposematic signal
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Data from: A ketocarotenoid-based color polymorphism in the Sira poison frog Ranitomeya sirensis indicates novel gene interactions underlying aposematic signal variation
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Data from: Multi-trait aposematic signal in Batesian mimicry
Batesian mimics can parasitize Müllerian mimicry rings mimicking the warning color signal. The evolutionary success of Batesian mimics can increase adding complexity to the signal by behavioral and locomotor mimicry. We investigated three fundamental morphological and locomotor traits in a Neotropical mimicry ring based on Ithomiini butterflies and parasitized by Polythoridae damselflies: wing color, wing shape, and flight style. The study species have wings with a subapical white patch, considered the aposematic signal, and a more apical black patch. The main predators are VS-birds, visually more sensitive to violet than to ultraviolet wavelengths (UVS-birds). The white patches, compared to the black patches, were closer in the bird color space, with higher overlap for VS-birds than for UVS-birds. Using a discriminability index for bird vision, the white patches were more similar between the mimics and the model than the black patches. The wing shape of the mimics was closer to the model in the morphospace, compared to other outgroup damselflies. The wing-beat frequency was similar among mimics and the model, and different from another outgroup damselfly. Multitrait aposematic signals involving morphology and locomotion may favor the evolution of mimicry rings and the success of Batesian mimics by improving signal effectiveness toward predators.
Data from: Appearance before performance? Nutritional constraints on life-history traits, but not warning signal expression in aposematic moths
1. Trade-offs have been shown to play an important role in the divergence of mating strategies and sexual ornamentation, but their importance in explaining warning signal diversity has received less attention. In aposematic organisms, allocation costs of producing the conspicuous warning signal pigmentation under nutritional stress could potentially trade-off with life-history traits and maintain variation in warning colouration. 2. We studied this with an aposematic herbivore Arctia plantaginis (Arctiidae), whose larvae and adults show extensive variation in aposematic colouration. In larvae, less melanic colouration (i.e. larger orange patterns) produces a more efficient warning signal against predators, whereas high amounts of melanism (smaller orange pattern) enhance thermoregulation, correlate with better immunity and make individuals harder to detect for naïve predators. 3. We conducted a factorial rearing experiment with larvae originating from lines selected for either small or large orange signal size, which were reared on an artificial diet that had either low or high protein content. Protein content of the diet is critical for melanin production. We measured the effects of diet on individual colouration, life-history traits, immune defence and reproductive output. We also compared the responses to dietary conditions between the small and large larval signal genotypes. 4. Protein content of the diet did not affect warning colouration in the larval stage, but larval signal sizes differed significantly among selection lines, confirming that its variation is mainly genetically determined. In adults, signal line or diet did not affect colouration in hindwings, but males' forewings had more melanin on the high than on low protein diet. Contrary to colouration, diet quality had a stronger impact on life-history traits: individuals developed for longer, had smaller hindwing sizes in females and lower immune defence on the low protein content diet compared to the high. These costs were higher for more melanic larval signal genotypes in terms of development time and female hindwing size. 5. We conclude that low plasticity in warning signal characteristics makes signal expression robust under varying dietary conditions. Therefore, variation in diet quality is not likely to constrain signal expression, but can have a bigger impact on performance.
Data from: The role of predators in maintaining the geographic organization of aposematic signals
Selective predation of aposematic signals is expected to promote phenotypic uniformity. But while uniform within a population, numerous species display impressive variations in warning signals among adjacent populations. Predators from different localities learning to avoid distinct signals while performing intense selection on others are thus expected to maintain such a geographic organization. We tested this assumption by placing clay frog models, representing distinct color morphs of the Peruvian poison-dart frog Ranitomeya imitator and a non conspicuous frog, reciprocally between adjacent localities. In each locality, avian predators were able to discriminate between warning signals; the adjacent exotic morph suffered up to four times more attacks than the local one and two times more than the non conspicuous phenotype. Moreover, predation attempts on the exotic morph quickly decreased to almost nil, suggesting rapid learning. This experiment offers direct evidence for the existence of different predator communities performing localized homogenizing selection on distinct aposematic signals.
Data from: No evidence of quantitative signal honesty across species of aposematic burnet moths (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae)
Many defended species use conspicuous visual warning signals to deter potential predators from attacking. Traditional theory holds that these signals should converge on similar forms, yet variation in visual traits and the levels of defensive chemicals is common, both within and between species. It is currently unclear how the strength of signals and potency of defences might be related: conflicting theories suggest that aposematic signals should be quantitatively honest, or, in contrast, that investment in one component should be prioritised over the other, while empirical tests have yielded contrasting results. Here, we advance this debate by examining the relationship between defensive chemicals and signal properties in a family of aposematic Lepidoptera, accounting for phylogenetic relationships and quantifying coloration from the perspective of relevant predators. We test for correlations between toxin levels and measures of wing colour across 14 species of day-flying burnet and forester moths (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae), protected by highly aversive cyanogenic glucosides, and find no clear evidence of quantitative signal honesty. Significant relationships between toxin levels and coloration vary between sexes and sampling years, and several trends run contrary to expectations for signal honesty. Although toxin concentration is positively correlated with increasing luminance contrast in forewing pattern in one year, higher toxin levels are also associated with paler and less chromatically salient markings, at least in females, in another year. Our study also serves to highlight important factors, including sex-specific trends and seasonal variation, that should be accounted for in future work on signal honesty in aposematic species.
Data from: Wright's shifting balance theory and the diversification of aposematic signals
Despite accumulating evidence for selection within natural systems, the importance of random genetic drift opposing Wright's and Fisher's views of evolution continue to be a subject of controversy. The geographical diversification of aposematic signals appears to be a suitable system to assess the factors involved in the process of adaptation since both theories were independently proposed to explain this phenomenon. In the present study, the effects of drift and selection were assessed from population genetics and predation experiments on poison-dart frogs, Ranitomaya imitator, of Northern Peru. We specifically focus on the transient zone between two distinct aposematic signals. In contrast to regions where high predation maintains a monomorphic aposematic signal, the transient zones are characterized by lowered selection and a high phenotypic diversity. As a result, the diversification of phenotypes may occur via genetic drift without a significant loss of fitness. These new phenotypes may then colonize alternative habitats if successfully recognized and avoided by predators. This study highlights the interplay between drift and selection as determinant processes in the adaptive diversification of aposematic signals. Results are consistent with the expectations of the Wright's shifting balance theory and represent, to our knowledge, the first empirical demonstration of this highly contested theory in a natural system.
The influence of ultraviolet reflectance differs between conspicuous aposematic signals in neotropical butterflies and poison frogs
<p>Warning signals are often characterized by highly contrasting, distinctive and memorable colors. Both chromatic (hue) and achromatic (brightness) contrast contribute to signal efficacy, making longwave colored signals (red and yellow) that generate both chromatic and achromatic contrast common. Shortwave colors (blue and ultraviolet) do not contribute to luminance perception, yet are also common in warning signals. The presence of UV aposematic signals is paradoxical as UV perception is not universal, and evidence for its utility is at best mixed. We used visual modeling to quantify how UV affects signal contrast in aposematic butterflies and frogs. We found that UV only appreciably affected visual contrast in the butterflies. As the butterflies, but not the frogs, have UV-sensitive vision these results support the notion that UV reflectance is associated with intraspecific communication, but appears to be non-functional in frogs. Consequently, we should be careful when assigning a selection-based benefit from UV reflectance.</p>
The influence of ultraviolet reflectance differs between conspicuous aposematic signals in neotropical butterflies and poison frogs
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Data from: Multi-trait aposematic signal in Batesian mimicry
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