Effects of prey colour on bird predation: an experiment in Mediterranean woodlands

Hernández‐Agüero, Juan Antonio; Polo, Vicente; García, María Begoña Villar; Simon, Dawn M.; Ruiz-Tapiador, Ildefonso; Cayuela, Luis

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.10.017

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The scratch impressions were relatively lower on light-colored shades such as white- and yellow-colored models than on dark-shaded models, perhaps an issue of reduced detectability because of poor light contrast under the lighted stereomicroscope. These results are consistent with a recent study conducted in Mediterranean woodlands, where lower levels of predatory interactions were observed with lighter-shaded clay models (yellow models) than with the darker-shaded (brown- and black-colored models) ( Hernández-Agüero et al 2020 ). Similarly, Ferrante et al (2017) also showed that a greater interaction events from predators on red clay models than on green clay models.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In contrast, higher predatory activity was observed on the clay models during the daytime than during the nighttime in a rainforest habitat in another study ( Seifert et al 2016 ). Cheng et al (2018) showed that lower levels of predation on dark-shaded lepidopteran models than on those models placed in open habitats, suggesting that the timing of model deployment can vary by ecosystem-specific characteristics and activity behavior of prevalent prey and predator species ( Ferrante et al 2017 , Hernández-Agüero et al 2020 ). Noctuid pests, such as S. frugiperda larvae, have a nocturnal habit, and it is possible that predators in turfgrass systems have also evolved with the nocturnal habits of prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of the Color, Shape, and Size of the Clay Model on Arthropod Interactions in Turfgrass

Khan

Joseph

2021

Journal of Insect Science

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Many predatory arthropods occur naturally in turfgrass, and they provide adequate control of lepidopteran pests, such as fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Recording predation is challenging under field conditions because predators rarely leave any evidence. Clay models were successfully employed for studying predation, and this technique is underutilized in turfgrass. Little is known about whether the characteristics of clay models, such as color, shape, and size, influence arthropod interactions in turfgrass. To improve the utility of clay models in turfgrass, the influence of the color, shape, and size of clay models on arthropod interactions was studied by exposing clay models during daytime and nighttime in a turfgrass field. The results showed that arthropods interacted with clay models, and various types of impressions were recorded, including paired marks, scratches, cuts, and pricks. Although the color of the clay model had no significant effects on arthropod interactions during the night, significantly greater numbers of impressions were noticed on the blue and green models than on the yellow models during the daytime. The caterpillar-shaped models captured significantly greater densities of impressions than the beetle-shaped models. Additionally, the number of impressions significantly increased with an increase in the size of the model regardless of shape.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the Color, Shape, and Size of the Clay Model on Arthropod Interactions in Turfgrass

Khan

Joseph

2021

Journal of Insect Science

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“…Exploration of the seasonal changes in predation pressure necessarily involves exposures of artificial prey at the same site over several months. In the case of inedible plasticine models, this can potentially result in a decrease in bird attacks with time as, e.g., observed by Hernández-Agüero et al ( 2020 ), because the birds might learn to avoid items which provide no nutritional reward. Nevertheless, many studies employing long-lasting exposure of models revealed no decreases in bird predation rates on plasticine prey over time (Lemessa et al 2015 ; Mappes et al 2014 ; Kozlov et al 2017 ; Zvereva et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…These differences in the behaviour of adult and juvenile birds, together with the increase in bird numbers, could explain the observed higher rate of predation on artificial caterpillars in mid-summer than in early summer. The slight decrease in predation rates observed in late summer might be attributed to the mortality of birds (predominantly juveniles) from predation and/or to learning by juveniles to avoid non-rewarding items (Hernández-Agüero et al 2020 ). Furthermore, in September, some migratory species (e.g., Ficedula hypoleuca , Fringilla coelebs, and Erithacus rubecula ) already started departing to their wintering grounds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies with this focus will supplement the knowledge obtained in previous laboratory experiments and thus improve our understanding of the dynamics and overall direction of bird selection pressure on insect prey occurring in nature. Only a few studies have explicitly addressed this question (Mappes et al 2014 ; Hernández-Agüero et al 2020 ). In particular, Mappes et al ( 2014 ) reported that an aposematic signal improves prey survival only in the early and late summer periods, when educated birds dominate the community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal variations in bird selection pressure on prey colouration

Zvereva

Kozlov

2021

Oecologia

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The direction and strength of selection for prey colouration by predators vary in space and time and depend on the composition of the predator community. We tested the hypothesis that bird selection pressure on prey colouration changes through the season due to changes in the proportion of naïve juvenile individuals in the bird community, because naïve and educated birds differ in their responses to prey colours. Bird predation on caterpillar-shaped plasticine models in two boreal forest sites increased sevenfold from early summer to mid-summer, and the time of this increase coincides with the fledging of juvenile birds. In early summer, cryptic (black and green) models were attacked at fivefold higher rates compared with conspicuous (red and yellow) models. By contrast, starting from fledging time, cryptic and conspicuous models were attacked at similar rates, hinting at a lower selectivity by naïve juvenile birds compared with educated adult birds. Cryptic models exposed in a group together with conspicuous models were attacked by birds at a threefold lower rate than cryptic models exposed singly, thus supporting the aposematic commensalism hypothesis. However, this effect was not observed in mid- and late summer, presumably due to the lack of avoidance of conspicuous prey by the juvenile birds. We conclude that selection pressure on prey colouration weakens considerably when naïve birds dominate in the community, because the survival advantages of aposematic colouration are temporarily lost for both the conspicuous and their neighbouring cryptic prey.

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Sphingid caterpillars conspicuous patches do not function as distractive marks or warning against predators

Barrone

Vidal

Stevenson

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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To avoid predation by visual predators, caterpillars can be cryptic to decrease detectability or aposematic to warn predators of potential unpalatability. However, for some species, it is not clear if conspicuous patches are selected to avoid predation. For example, Pandora sphinx (Eumorpha pandorus, Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) caterpillars are assumed to be palatable and have both cryptic (green, brown) and conspicuous (orange, red) color morphs. Five lateral, off-white to yellow patches on either side may serve as a warning for predators or to draw attention away from the caterpillar's form to function as distractive marks. We conducted a field study in three temperate fragmented forests in Massachusetts to investigate the potential utility of E. pandorus coloration and conspicuous patches. Using four plasticine caterpillar prey model treatments, green and red with and without lateral conspicuous patches, we tested the effects of color, patch patterning, and seasonality on attack rates by a variety of taxa. We found that 43% of the prey models (n = 964) had bite marks by an array of predators including arthropods (67.5%), birds (18.2%), rodents (11.5%), and large mammals (2.8%). Arthropods as dominant predators align with conclusions from previous studies of prey models placed near ground level. Attack rates peaked for arthropods in late August and early September but were more constant across trials for vertebrates. Arthropods, a heterogeneous group, as indicated by the variety of bite marks, showed significantly higher attack rates on green colored prey models and a tendency of higher attack on solid (non-patch patterned) prey models. Vertebrates, more visually oriented predators, had significantly higher attack rates on red colored prey models and patch patterned prey models. Thus, our results did not suggest that conspicuous patch patterning reduced predation and therefore, we did not find support for the distractive mark hypothesis or warning hypothesis. Further, our study shows clear contrasting interpretations by different predators regarding visual defensive strategies.

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Effects of prey colour on bird predation: an experiment in Mediterranean woodlands

Cited by 18 publications

References 39 publications

Influence of the Color, Shape, and Size of the Clay Model on Arthropod Interactions in Turfgrass

Influence of the Color, Shape, and Size of the Clay Model on Arthropod Interactions in Turfgrass

Seasonal variations in bird selection pressure on prey colouration

Sphingid caterpillars conspicuous patches do not function as distractive marks or warning against predators

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