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Matsubara S, Sugiura S. Effects of host plant growth form on dropping behaviour in leaf beetles. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Many leaf-eating insects drop from their host plants to escape predators. However, they must return to the leaves of the host plant after dropping, which represents a cost associated with this behaviour. In woody plants, the positioning of leaves is generally higher than that of herbaceous plants, which suggests that dropping from woody plants might be costlier for leaf-eating insects than dropping from herbaceous plants. Therefore, we predicted that dropping behaviour would be observed less frequently in insects that feed on woody plant leaves than in those that feed on herbaceous plant leaves. To test this prediction, we investigated dropping behaviour experimentally in larvae (23 species) and adults (112 species) of leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on their host plants (86 species of 44 families) in field conditions. Larvae on woody plants exhibited dropping behaviour less frequently than those on herbaceous plants. However, this pattern was not detected in adults. Thus, host plant growth form might affect the evolution of dropping behaviour in leaf beetle larvae, but not in winged adults, perhaps owing to their higher mobility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoru Matsubara
- Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, Japan
| | - Shinji Sugiura
- Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, Japan
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2
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Rowland HM, Burriss RP, Skelhorn J. The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21654. [PMID: 33303853 PMCID: PMC7728781 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78686-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Camouflage is the most common form of antipredator defense, and is a textbook example of natural selection. How animals’ appearances prevent detection or recognition is well studied, but the role of prey behavior has received much less attention. Here we report a series of experiments with twig-mimicking larvae of the American peppered moth Biston betularia that test the long-held view that prey have evolved postures that enhance their camouflage, and establish how food availability and ambient temperature affect these postures. We found that predators took longer to attack larvae that were resting in a twig-like posture than larvae resting flat against a branch. Larvae that were chilled or food restricted (manipulations intended to energetically stress larvae) adopted a less twig-like posture than larvae that were fed ad libitum. Our findings provide clear evidence that animals gain antipredator benefits from postural camouflage, and suggest that benefits may come at an energetic cost that animals are unwilling or unable to pay under some conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah M Rowland
- Max Planck Research Group Predators and Toxic Prey, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans Knӧll Straβe 8, 07745, Jena, Germany. .,Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.
| | - Robert P Burriss
- Department of Psychology, The University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 62, 4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - John Skelhorn
- Biosciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
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3
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Gontijo LM. Female treehoppers camouflage behaviour is evidenced during oviposition on wild shrubs. J NAT HIST 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2019.1629660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lessando M. Gontijo
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Federal University of Viçosa, Campus Florestal, MG, Brazil
- Department of Management and Conservation of Natural and Agricultural Ecosystems, Federal University of Viçosa, Campus Florestal, MG, Brazil
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Stevens M, Ruxton GD. The key role of behaviour in animal camouflage. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:116-134. [PMID: 29927061 PMCID: PMC6378595 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Revised: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 05/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Animal camouflage represents one of the most important ways of preventing (or facilitating) predation. It attracted the attention of the earliest evolutionary biologists, and today remains a focus of investigation in areas ranging from evolutionary ecology, animal decision-making, optimal strategies, visual psychology, computer science, to materials science. Most work focuses on the role of animal morphology per se, and its interactions with the background in affecting detection and recognition. However, the behaviour of organisms is likely to be crucial in affecting camouflage too, through background choice, body orientation and positioning; and strategies of camouflage that require movement. A wealth of potential mechanisms may affect such behaviours, from imprinting and self-assessment to genetics, and operate at several levels (species, morph, and individual). Over many years there have been numerous studies investigating the role of behaviour in camouflage, but to date, no effort to synthesise these studies and ideas into a coherent framework. Here, we review key work on behaviour and camouflage, highlight the mechanisms involved and implications of behaviour, discuss the importance of this in a changing world, and offer suggestions for addressing the many important gaps in our understanding of this subject.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Stevens
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of Exeter, Penryn CampusPenryn, TR10 9FEU.K.
| | - Graeme D. Ruxton
- School of BiologyUniversity of St AndrewsSt Andrews, KY16 9THU.K.
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Benedek K, Mara G, Mehrparvar M, Bálint J, Loxdale HD, Balog A. Near-regular distribution of adult crimson tansy aphids,Uroleucon tanaceti(L.), increases aposematic signal honesty on different tansy plant chemotypes. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Klára Benedek
- Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Technical and Human Science, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Tirgu-Mures, Romania
| | - Gyöngyvér Mara
- Department of Biological Engineering, Faculty of Economics, Socio-Human Sciences and Engineering, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Miercurea Ciuc, Romania
| | - Mohsen Mehrparvar
- Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran
| | - János Bálint
- Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Technical and Human Science, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Tirgu-Mures, Romania
| | - Hugh D Loxdale
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff, UK
| | - Adalbert Balog
- Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Technical and Human Science, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Tirgu-Mures, Romania
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Yamazaki K. The Picture of Dorian Gray: shell corrosion allows freshwater and brackish-water gastropods to masquerade as empty shells. J NAT HIST 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2018.1537408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Ren J, Gunten ND, Konstantinov AS, Vencl FV, Ge S, Hu DL. Chewing Holes for Camouflage. Zoolog Sci 2018; 35:199-207. [PMID: 29882497 DOI: 10.2108/zs170136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Camouflaged objects are harder to detect if the background itself is more heterogeneous, and search becomes increasingly inefficient when the scene contains multiple items resembling the target. Some adult leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with highly specialized habits make holes on host plant leaves while feeding. We propose that leaf beetles camouflage themselves with their feeding holes. The presence of holes makes predators' visual search harder, thus giving beetles more time to escape from the leaf surface either by jumping (Galerucinae: Alticini) or rolling (rest of Chrysomelidae). Based on behavioral observations and analysis of 25 photographs of feeding leaf beetles (15 species), we demonstrate that adult leaf beetles camouflage themselves by creating holes of uniform size, approximately half of the beetle body size. Observation of the feeding behavior and anatomy of a typical hole-feeding beetle (Altica cirsicola) showed that the foregut volume and head-prothorax mobility of beetles are the two major factors that constrain the hole size. A computer-simulated visual search test showed that the greater the number of holes, and the more each hole approached beetle body size, the longer it took humans (as models) to locate a beetle on a leaf. This study reports a newly discovered kind of camouflage, hole-feeding camouflage, in leaf beetles, which makes visual detection or recognition more difficult by changing the environmental background. This type of camouflage may open up a range of new possibilities for studies in animal cognition analysis and evolution of anti-predation defenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Ren
- 1 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Natasha de Gunten
- 2 Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia 30332, USA
| | - Alexander S Konstantinov
- 3 Systematic Entomology Laboratory, ARS, USDA, c/o Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC 20013, USA
| | - Fredric V Vencl
- 4 Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA
| | - Siqin Ge
- 1 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - David L Hu
- 2 Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia 30332, USA.,5 School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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