Distance-dependent aposematism and camouflage in the cinnabar moth caterpillar (<i>Tyria jacobaeae</i>, Erebidae)

Barnett, James B.; Cuthill, Innes C.; Scott‐Samuel, Nicholas E.

doi:10.1098/rsos.171396

Cited by 36 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…For instance, it has been shown that patterns with strong internal contrast can increase conspicuousness (Aronsson & Gamberale-Stille, 2012b) but can also generate a disruptive effect (Stevens & Cuthill, 2006; Schaefer & Stobbe, 2006). Warning colourations can also be distance dependent, providing camouflage at greater distances while being conspicuous at close proximity (Tullberg, Merilaita & Wiklund, 2005; Barnett, Cuthill & Scott-Samuel, 2018). For instance, the contrasting bands of coral snake mimics and the zig-zag pattern of many vipers act as warning signals to predators (Pfennig, Harcombe & Pfennig, 2001; Wüster et al, 2004; Niskanen & Mappes, 2005) but these bands can also function in camouflage during motion through the flicker-fusion effect (Lindell & Forsman, 1996; Titcomb, Kikuchi & Pfennig, 2014).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conspicuous colours reduce predation rates in fossorial uropeltid snakes

Cyriac

Kodandaramaiah

2019

PeerJ

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Uropeltid snakes (Family Uropeltidae) are non-venomous, fossorial snakes that are found above ground occasionally, during which time they are exposed to predation. Many species are brightly coloured, mostly on the ventral surface, but these colours are expected to have no function below the ground. Observations have shown that the cephalic resemblance (resemblance to heads) of uropeltid tails may direct attacks of predators towards the hardened tails, thereby potentially increasing handling times for predators. Experiments have also shown that predators learn to avoid prey that are non-toxic and palatable but are difficult to capture, hard to process or require long handling time when such prey advertise their unprofitability through conspicuous colours. We here postulate that uropeltid snakes use their bright colours to signal long handling times associated with attack deflection to the tails, thereby securing reduced predation from predators that can learn to associate colour with handling time. Captive chicken experiments with dough models mimicking uropeltids indicate that attacks were more common on the tail than on the head. Field experiments with uropeltid clay models show that the conspicuous colours of these snakes decrease predation rates compared to cryptic models, but a novel conspicuous colour did not confer such a benefit. Overall, our experiments provide support for our hypothesis that the conspicuous colours of these snakes reduce predation, possibly because these colours advertise unprofitability due to long handling times.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conspicuous colours reduce predation rates in fossorial uropeltid snakes

Cyriac

Kodandaramaiah

2019

PeerJ

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“…Naturally, not all contrasting patterns are warning signals, and some warning signals can also be cryptic depending on receiver distance (Barnett et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From cryptic to colorful: Evolutionary decoupling of larval and adult color in butterflies

et al. 2020

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Many animals undergo complete metamorphosis, where larval forms change abruptly in adulthood. Color change during ontogeny is common, but there is little understanding of evolutionary patterns in these changes. Here, we use data on larval and adult color for 246 butterfly species (61% of all species in Australia) to test whether the evolution of color is coupled between life stages. We show that adults are more variable in color across species than caterpillars and that male adult color has lower phylogenetic signal.These results suggest that sexual selection is driving color diversity in male adult butterflies at a broad scale. Moreover, color similarities between species at the larval stage do not predict color similarities at the adult stage, indicating that color evolution is decoupled between young and adult forms. Most species transition from cryptic coloration as caterpillars to conspicuous coloration as adults, but even species with conspicuous caterpillars change to different conspicuous colors as adults. The use of high-contrast coloration is correlated with body size in caterpillars but not adults. Taken together, our results suggest a change in the relative importance of different selective pressures at different life stages, resulting in the evolutionary decoupling of coloration through ontogeny.

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“…Furthermore, that match need only be accurate at the spatial frequency the viewer is sampling at; in other words, as limited by their visual acuity (Caves, Brandley & Johnsen, ). This allows the same pattern to function as camouflage at a distance, but a signal when the intended viewer is close (Endler, , ; Merilaita & Tullberg, ; Bohlin, Tullberg & Merilaita, ; Barnett & Cuthill, ; Barnett, Scott‐Samuel & Cuthill, ; Barnett et al ., ,b, ,b; Barnett, Cuthill & Scott‐Samuel, , ).…”

Section: Exploiting Receiver Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the background has an oriented texture, such as the vertical grain of bark on trees such as oak, then a background‐matching animal has to orient such that its texture matches (Sargent, ; Kang et al ., , ; Barnett et al ., ,b, ,b). This demands the ability to detect the background texture, not necessarily visually because tactile cues may suffice, and orient appropriately.…”

Section: Constraints On Camouflagementioning

confidence: 99%

Camouflage

2019

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Animal camouflage has long been used to illustrate the power of natural selection, and provides an excellent testbed for investigating the trade‐offs affecting the adaptive value of colour. However, the contemporary study of camouflage extends beyond evolutionary biology, co‐opting knowledge, theory and methods from sensory biology, perceptual and cognitive psychology, computational neuroscience and engineering. This is because camouflage is an adaptation to the perception and cognition of the species (one or more) from which concealment is sought. I review the different ways in which camouflage manipulates and deceives perceptual and cognitive mechanisms, identifying how, and where in the sequence of signal processing, strategies such as transparency, background matching, disruptive coloration, distraction marks, countershading and masquerade have their effects. As such, understanding how camouflage evolves and functions not only requires an understanding of animal sensation and cognition, it sheds light on perception in other species.

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Distance-dependent aposematism and camouflage in the cinnabar moth caterpillar (Tyria jacobaeae, Erebidae)

Cited by 36 publications

References 40 publications

Conspicuous colours reduce predation rates in fossorial uropeltid snakes

Conspicuous colours reduce predation rates in fossorial uropeltid snakes

From cryptic to colorful: Evolutionary decoupling of larval and adult color in butterflies

Camouflage

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