Role of different colours of aposematic insects in learning, memory and generalization of naïve bird predators

Svádová, Kateřina Hotová; Exnerová, Alice; Štys, Pavel; Landová, Eva; Valenta, J; Fučíková, Anna; Socha, Radomı́r

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.09.034

Cited by 103 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…In wild-caught birds, the variation may have resulted from different individual experience. However, similar differences exist also among naive birds (Sillén-Tullberg 1985;Exnerová et al 2007;Svádová et al 2009) and among wild birds presented with novel food (Marples et al 1998(Marples et al , 2005.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Personality matters: individual variation in reactions of naive bird predators to aposematic prey

et al. 2009

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Variation in reactions to aposematic prey is common among conspecific individuals of bird predators. It may result from different individual experience but it also exists among naive birds. This variation may possibly be explained by the effect of personality-a complex of correlated, heritable behavioural traits consistent across contexts. In the great tit (Parus major), two extreme personality types have been defined. 'Fast' explorers are bold, aggressive and routine-forming; 'slow' explorers are shy, non-aggressive and innovative. Influence of personality type on unlearned reaction to aposematic prey, rate of avoidance learning and memory were tested in naive, hand-reared great tits from two opposite lines selected for exploration (slow against fast). The birds were subjected to a sequence of trials in which they were offered aposematic adult firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus). Slow birds showed a greater degree of unlearned wariness and learned to avoid the firebugs faster than fast birds. Although birds of both personality types remembered their experience, slow birds were more cautious in the memory test. We conclude that not only different species but also populations of predators that differ in proportions of personality types may have different impacts on survival of aposematic insects under natural conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Personality matters: individual variation in reactions of naive bird predators to aposematic prey

et al. 2009

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“…Birds can have behavioural biases for signals, whether artificial symbols, colours or real prey [16,22,38,39]. When focusing on the effect of the surrounding prey community, signal efficacy of the models and mimic continuums is important: mimics that are all exceptionally efficient or poor warning signals might result in flat generalization curves irrespective of the prey community.…”

Section: (C) Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey community structure affects how predators select for Müllerian mimicry

et al. 2012

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Müllerian mimicry describes the close resemblance between aposematic prey species; it is thought to be beneficial because sharing a warning signal decreases the mortality caused by sampling by inexperienced predators learning to avoid the signal. It has been hypothesized that selection for mimicry is strongest in multi-species prey communities where predators are more prone to misidentify the prey than in simple communities. In this study, wild great tits (Parus major) foraged from either simple (few prey appearances) or complex (several prey appearances) artificial prey communities where a specific model prey was always present. Owing to slower learning, the model did suffer higher mortality in complex communities when the birds were inexperienced. However, in a subsequent generalization test to potential mimics of the model prey (a continuum of signal accuracy), only birds that had foraged from simple communities selected against inaccurate mimics. Therefore, accurate mimicry is more likely to evolve in simple communities even though predator avoidance learning is slower in complex communities. For mimicry to evolve, prey species must have a common predator; the effective community consists of the predator's diet. In diverse environments, the limited diets of specialist predators could create 'simple community pockets' where accurate mimicry is selected for.

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“…Previous experiments with naive, hand-reared birds demonstrated that great tits do not have any innate bias against red-and-black prey (Exnerová et al, 2007;Svádová et al, 2009) and that strong neophobia occurs only in some individuals depending on their personality (Exnerová et al, 2010). The avoidance of wild-caught birds is based on the individual learning, and could result either from experience with all the bug species used in the experiments, or, more likely, from experience with any unpalatable red-and-black species from the mimetic complex followed by subsequent wide generalization.…”

Section: Great Titsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator dependent mimetic complexes: Do passerine birds avoid Central European red-and-black Heteroptera?

Svádová¹,

Exnerová²,

Kopečková³

et al. 2010

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. True bugs are generally considered to be well protected against bird predation. Sympatric species that have similar warning coloration are supposed to form a functional Müllerian mimetic complex avoided by visually oriented avian predators. We have tested whether these assumptions hold true for four species of European red-and-black heteropterans, viz. Pyrrhocoris apterus, Lygaeus equestris, Spilostethus saxatilis, and Graphosoma lineatum. We found that individual species of passerine birds differ in their responses towards particular bug species. Great tits (Parus major) avoided all of them on sight, robins (Erithacus rubecula) and yellowhammers (Emberiza citrinella) discriminated among them and attacked bugs of some species with higher probability than others, and blackbirds (Turdus merula) frequently attacked bugs of all the tested species. Different predators thus perceive aposematic prey differently, and the extent of Batesian-Müllerian mimetic complexes and relations among the species involved is predator dependent.

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Role of different colours of aposematic insects in learning, memory and generalization of naïve bird predators

Cited by 103 publications

References 65 publications

Personality matters: individual variation in reactions of naive bird predators to aposematic prey

Personality matters: individual variation in reactions of naive bird predators to aposematic prey

Prey community structure affects how predators select for Müllerian mimicry

Predator dependent mimetic complexes: Do passerine birds avoid Central European red-and-black Heteroptera?

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