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Raška J, Chalušová K, Krajiček J, Čabala R, Bosáková Z, Štys P, Exnerová A. Ontogenetic change in effectiveness of chemical defence against different predators in Oxycarenus true bugs. J Evol Biol 2023; 36:1050-1064. [PMID: 37428808 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Many prey species change their antipredator defence during ontogeny, which may be connected to different potential predators over the life cycle of the prey. To test this hypothesis, we compared reactions of two predator taxa - spiders and birds - to larvae and adults of two invasive true bug species, Oxycarenus hyalinipennis and Oxycarenus lavaterae (Heteroptera: Oxycarenidae) with life-stage-specific chemical defence mechanisms. The reactions to larvae and adults of both true bug species strikingly differed between the two predator taxa. The spiders were deterred by the defences of adult bugs, but the larval defences were ineffective against them. By contrast, birds attacked the larvae considerably less often than the adult bugs. The results indicate a predator-specific ontogenetic change in defence effectiveness of both Oxycarenus species. The change in defence is likely linked to the life-stage-specific composition of secretions in both species: whereas secretions of larvae are dominated by unsaturated aldehydes, secretions of adults are rich in terpenoids, which probably serve dual function of defensive chemicals and pheromones. Our results highlight the variation in defence between different life stages and the importance of testing responses of different types of predators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Raška
- Department of Zoology, Charles University Faculty of Science, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Kateřina Chalušová
- Department of Zoology, Charles University Faculty of Science, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Krajiček
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Charles University Faculty of Science, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Radomír Čabala
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Charles University Faculty of Science, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Zuzana Bosáková
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Charles University Faculty of Science, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Štys
- Department of Zoology, Charles University Faculty of Science, Praha, Czech Republic
| | - Alice Exnerová
- Department of Zoology, Charles University Faculty of Science, Praha, Czech Republic
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2
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Segovia JMG, Pekár S. Aversive reactions of two invertebrate predators to European red–black insects. Ethology 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Stano Pekár
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
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3
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Petschenka G, Halitschke R, Züst T, Roth A, Stiehler S, Tenbusch L, Hartwig C, Gámez JFM, Trusch R, Deckert J, Chalušová K, Vilcinskas A, Exnerová A. Sequestration of defenses against predators drives specialized host plant associations in preadapted milkweed bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae). Am Nat 2022; 199:E211-E228. [DOI: 10.1086/719196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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4
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Zvereva EL, Kozlov MV. Seasonal variations in bird selection pressure on prey colouration. Oecologia 2021; 196:1017-1026. [PMID: 34322748 PMCID: PMC8367932 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-04994-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Elena L Zvereva
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.
| | - Mikhail V Kozlov
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland
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5
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Hemala V, Kment P, Tihlaříková E, Neděla V, Malenovský I. External structures of the metathoracic scent gland efferent system in the true bug superfamily Pyrrhocoroidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha). ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT 2021; 63:101058. [PMID: 34034200 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2021.101058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Pyrrhocoroidea represents an important group of true bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera) which includes fire bugs, cotton stainers and other taxa widely used in experimental studies or known as pests. However, the morphology and phylogeny of Pyrrhocoroidea have been only poorly studied so far. Here, structures of the external scent efferent system of the metathoracic scent glands are examined in 64 out of 71 currently valid genera of Pyrrhocoroidea and scanning electron micrographs are provided for most taxa. Several characters are revealed which define each of the three higher taxa within Pyrrhocoroidea: Larginae (small auriculate peritreme lacking manubrium and median furrow; metathoracic spiracle never surrounded by evaporatorium), Physopeltinae (large, widely open ostiole; large peritremal disc with manubrium [new term], lacking median furrow; mace-like mycoid filter processes of equal shape and size on both anterior and posterior margins of metathoracic spiracle), and Pyrrhocoridae (elongate auriculate peritreme with deep median furrow). Within Pyrrhocoridae, three main types (A, B and C) of the external scent efferent system are distinguished, differring in the amount of reductions. The findings are interpreted in the context of phylogenetic hypotheses available for Pyrrhocoroidea and their close relatives, Coreoidea and Lygaeoidea. An updated identification key to the families and subfamilies of Pyrrhocoroidea applicable for both sexes is provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimír Hemala
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Petr Kment
- Department of Entomology, National Museum, Cirkusová 1740, 193 00, Prague, Horní Počernice, Czech Republic.
| | - Eva Tihlaříková
- Institute of Scientific Instruments, Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 147, 612 64, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Vilém Neděla
- Institute of Scientific Instruments, Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 147, 612 64, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Igor Malenovský
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic.
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6
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Brejcha J, Tureček P, Kleisner K. Perception-driven dynamics of mimicry based on attractor field model. Interface Focus 2021; 11:20200052. [PMID: 34055303 PMCID: PMC8086919 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2020.0052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
We provide a formal account of an interface that bridges two different levels of dynamic processes manifested by mimicry: prey-prey interactions and predators' perception. Mimicry is a coevolutionary process between an animate selective agent and at least two similar organisms selected by agent's perception-driven actions. Attractor field model explains perceived similarity of forms by noting that in both human and animal cognition, morphologically intermediate forms are more likely to be perceived as belonging to rare rather than abundant forms. We formalize this model in terms of predators' perception space deformation using numerical simulations and argue that the probability of confusion between similar species creates pressure on the perception space, which in turn leads to inflation of regions of perception space with high density of species representations. Such inflation causes increased discrimination between species by a predator, which implies that adaptive mimicry could initially emerge more easily among atypical species because they do not need the same level of similarity to the model. We provide a theoretical instrument to conceptualize interdependence between objective measurable matrices and perceived matrices of the same external reality. We believe that our framework leads to a more precise understanding of the evolution of mimicry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jindřich Brejcha
- Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, Praha 2 128 00, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Tureček
- Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, Praha 2 128 00, Czech Republic
- Center for Theoretical Study, Charles University and Czech Academy of Sciences, Jilská 1, Prague 1 110 00, Czech Republic
| | - Karel Kleisner
- Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, Praha 2 128 00, Czech Republic
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Havlikova M, Bosakova T, Petschenka G, Cabala R, Exnerova A, Bosakova Z. Analysis of defensive secretion of a milkweed bug Lygaeus equestris by 1D GC-MS and GC×GC-MS: sex differences and host-plant effect. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3092. [PMID: 32080314 PMCID: PMC7033152 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60056-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The composition of defensive secretion produced by metathoracic scent glands was analysed in males and females of the milkweed bug Lygaeus equestris (Heteroptera) using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS). The bugs were raised either on cardenolide-containing Adonis vernalis or on control sunflower seeds in order to determine whether the possibility to sequester cardenolides from their host plants would affect the composition of defensive scent-gland secretion. Profiles of the composition of defensive secretions of males and females raised on sunflower were closely similar, with predominant presence of (E)-2-octenal, (E)-2-octen-1-ol, decanal and 3-octen-1-ol acetate. The secretion of bugs raised on A. vernalis was more sexually dimorphic, and some chemicals e.g. (E,E)-2,4-hexadienyl acetate and 2-phenylethyl acetate were dominant in males, but absent in females. Compared to bugs from sunflower, the scent-gland secretion of bugs raised on A. vernalis was characterized by lower overall intensity of the peaks obtained for detected chemicals and by absence of some chemicals that have supposedly antipredatory function ((E)-2-hexenal, (E)-4-oxo-hex-2-enal, 2,4-octadienal). The results suggest that there might be a trade-off between the sequestration of defensive chemicals from host plants and their synthesis in metathoracic scent-glands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Havlikova
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Tereza Bosakova
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Georg Petschenka
- Department of Insect Biotechnology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Radomir Cabala
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.,Toxicology Department, Institute of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Alice Exnerova
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
| | - Zuzana Bosakova
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
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8
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Doktorovová L, Exnerová A, Hotová Svádová K, Štys P, Adamová-Ježová D, Zverev V, Kozlov MV, Zvereva EL. Differential Bird Responses to Colour Morphs of an Aposematic Leaf Beetle may Affect Variation in Morph Frequencies in Polymorphic Prey Populations. Evol Biol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-018-9465-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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9
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Bosque RJ, Lawrence JP, Buchholz R, Colli GR, Heppard J, Noonan B. Diversity of warning signal and social interaction influences the evolution of imperfect mimicry. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:7490-7499. [PMID: 30151165 PMCID: PMC6106177 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2018] [Revised: 05/10/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Mimicry, the resemblance of one species by another, is a complex phenomenon where the mimic (Batesian mimicry) or the model and the mimic (Mullerian mimicry) gain an advantage from this phenotypic convergence. Despite the expectation that mimics should closely resemble their models, many mimetic species appear to be poor mimics. This is particularly apparent in some systems in which there are multiple available models. However, the influence of model pattern diversity on the evolution of mimetic systems remains poorly understood. We tested whether the number of model patterns a predator learns to associate with a negative consequence affects their willingness to try imperfect, novel patterns. We exposed week-old chickens to coral snake (Micrurus) color patterns representative of three South American areas that differ in model pattern richness, and then tested their response to the putative imperfect mimetic pattern of a widespread species of harmless colubrid snake (Oxyrhopus rhombifer) in different social contexts. Our results indicate that chicks have a great hesitation to attack when individually exposed to high model pattern diversity and a greater hesitation to attack when exposed as a group to low model pattern diversity. Individuals with a fast growth trajectory (measured by morphological traits) were also less reluctant to attack. We suggest that the evolution of new patterns could be favored by social learning in areas of low pattern diversity, while individual learning can reduce predation pressure on recently evolved mimics in areas of high model diversity. Our results could aid the development of ecological predictions about the evolution of imperfect mimicry and mimicry in general.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Brice Noonan
- The University of MississippiUniversityMississippi
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10
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Rojas B, Burdfield-Steel E, De Pasqual C, Gordon S, Hernández L, Mappes J, Nokelainen O, Rönkä K, Lindstedt C. Multimodal Aposematic Signals and Their Emerging Role in Mate Attraction. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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11
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Zvereva EL, Doktorovová L, Hotová Svádová K, Zverev V, Štys P, Adamová-Ježová D, Kozlov MV, Exnerová A. Defence strategies of Chrysomela lapponica (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larvae: relative efficacy of secreted and stored defences against insect and avian predators. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Vitali Zverev
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Pavel Štys
- Department of Zoology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | | | - Alice Exnerová
- Department of Zoology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
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12
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Landová E, Hotová Svádová K, Fuchs R, Štys P, Exnerová A. The effect of social learning on avoidance of aposematic prey in juvenile great tits (Parus major). Anim Cogn 2017. [PMID: 28639012 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1106-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Social learning plays an important role in acquiring new foraging skills and food preferences in many bird species but its potential role in learning to avoid aposematic prey has never been studied. We tested the effect of social learning on the acquisition of avoidance of aposematic insect prey (firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus; Heteroptera) in juvenile, hand-reared great tits (Parus major). Behaviour towards aposematic prey was compared between two groups of birds: (1) the observers that were, prior to encounter with firebugs, allowed to watch the experienced conspecific demonstrator repeatedly refuse to attack the prey, and (2) the control birds that lacked this opportunity. Observing an experienced demonstrator was not sufficient for learning complete avoidance, because birds from both groups attacked at least the first firebug they had encountered in avoidance training. However, the opportunity to observe the avoidance behaviour of another bird significantly increased the rate of subsequent individual learning of observers in comparison with control birds. Social learning also decreased mortality of firebugs killed by the birds during the avoidance learning. Socially enhanced learning to avoid aposematic prey might be a mechanism important especially for naive juvenile birds learning from their parents, but it could also enhance learning in adults from their more experienced flock mates. Because social learning of avoidance may also lead to decreased mortality of aposematic prey, its effect should be taken into account in scenarios considering evolution and maintenance of prey warning signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Landová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Kateřina Hotová Svádová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Roman Fuchs
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Štys
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Alice Exnerová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
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13
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Pekár S, Petráková L, Bulbert MW, Whiting MJ, Herberstein ME. The golden mimicry complex uses a wide spectrum of defence to deter a community of predators. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28170317 PMCID: PMC5295815 DOI: 10.7554/elife.22089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2016] [Accepted: 12/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mimicry complexes typically consist of multiple species that deter predators using similar anti-predatory signals. Mimics in these complexes are assumed to vary in their level of defence from highly defended through to moderately defended, or not defended at all. Here, we report a new multi-order mimicry complex that includes at least 140 different putative mimics from four arthropod orders including ants, wasps, bugs, tree hoppers and spiders. All members of this mimicry complex are characterised by a conspicuous golden body and an ant Gestalt, but vary substantially in their defensive traits. However, they were similarly effective at deterring predators - even mildly defended mimics were rarely eaten by a community of invertebrate and vertebrate predators both in the wild and during staged trials. We propose that despite the predominance of less defended mimics the three predatory guilds avoid the mimics because of the additive influence of the various defensive traits. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22089.001 Many animals use bright colours to warn a potential predator that they can defend themselves. Wasps, for instance, are armed with a harmful sting and advertise this fact via their distinctive yellow and black stripes. Predators often learn to heed such warnings and avoid these unpalatable animals in future. As a result, animals that mimic another animal’s warning signals can reap the benefit of being left alone by predators even if they are otherwise undefended. Textbooks on evolution are typically full of different examples of mimicry. However, the specifics of these examples are often poorly understood. Ninety years ago a famous Australian entomologist, Alexander Nicholson, suggested the existence of large groups of mimics in the Australian wildlife. More of these so-called “mimetic complexes” have recently been recognized among several species of insect, but not previously in ants. Now, Pekár et al. have looked at all known ants and ant-like mimics in Australia and discovered over 140 species that use gold and black colours as a warning signal. Most of the species were ants, but the collection of mimics also includes wasps, spiders, true bugs and insects called treehoppers. Some of the mimics were less palatable than others, and they possessed a range of defences, including spines and foul-tasting chemicals. Pekár et al. then looked in the guts of 12 species of predators in the wild, and found that very few of them ate the mimics. When mimics were offered to three different predators (specifically a lizard and two species of spider), most avoided the mimics regardless of whether they were palatable or unpalatable. Instead, the predators preferred to eat a spider that was not a member of the group of mimics because it lacked the gold colouration. Further studies are now needed to continue to document the details of this and other mimetic complexes. For example, this includes revealing how the different defences protect the members of the complex from predators do not use vision to recognize their prey and so cannot see the warning colouration. All this is needed to understand evolutionary processes that have fascinated biologists for decades, and explain how such large mimetic complexes evolved and persisted in spite of the influence of the community of predators. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22089.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Stano Pekár
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Lenka Petráková
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Matthew W Bulbert
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
| | - Martin J Whiting
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
| | - Marie E Herberstein
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
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14
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Krajicek J, Havlikova M, Bursova M, Ston M, Cabala R, Exnerova A, Stys P, Bosakova Z. Comparative Analysis of Volatile Defensive Secretions of Three Species of Pyrrhocoridae (Insecta: Heteroptera) by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric Method. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0168827. [PMID: 27997627 PMCID: PMC5173376 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2016] [Accepted: 12/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) have evolved a system of well-developed scent glands that produce diverse and frequently strongly odorous compounds that act mainly as chemical protection against predators. A new method of non-lethal sampling with subsequent separation using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection was proposed for analysis of these volatile defensive secretions. Separation was performed on Rtx-200 column containing fluorinated polysiloxane stationary phase. Various mechanical irritation methods (ultrasonics, shaking, pressing bugs with plunger of syringe) were tested for secretion sampling with a special focus on non-lethal irritation. The preconcentration step was performed by sorption on solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers with different polarity. For optimization of sampling procedure, Pyrrhocoris apterus was selected. The entire multi-parameter optimization procedure of secretion sampling was performed using response surface methodology. The irritation of bugs by pressing them with a plunger of syringe was shown to be the most suitable. The developed method was applied to analysis of secretions produced by adult males and females of Pyrrhocoris apterus, Pyrrhocoris tibialis and Scantius aegyptius (all Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae). The chemical composition of secretion, particularly that of alcohols, aldehydes and esters, is species-specific in all three pyrrhocorid species studied. The sexual dimorphism in occurrence of particular compounds is largely limited to alcohols and suggests their epigamic intraspecific function. The phenetic overall similarities in composition of secretion do not reflect either relationship of species or similarities in antipredatory color pattern. The similarities of secretions may be linked with antipredatory strategies. The proposed method requires only a few individuals which remain alive after the procedure. Thus secretions of a number of species including even the rare ones can be analyzed and broadly conceived comparative studies can be carried out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Krajicek
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Martina Havlikova
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Miroslava Bursova
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Toxicology Department, Institute of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Ston
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Radomir Cabala
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Toxicology Department, Institute of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Alice Exnerova
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Stys
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- * E-mail: (ZB); (PS)
| | - Zuzana Bosakova
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- * E-mail: (ZB); (PS)
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15
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Adamová-Ježová D, Hospodková E, Fuchsová L, Štys P, Exnerová A. Through experience to boldness? Deactivation of neophobia towards novel and aposematic prey in three European species of tits (Paridae). Behav Processes 2016; 131:24-31. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2015] [Revised: 07/23/2016] [Accepted: 07/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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16
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Taylor LA, Amin Z, Maier EB, Byrne KJ, Morehouse NI. Flexible color learning in an invertebrate predator:Habronattusjumping spiders can learn to prefer or avoid red during foraging. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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17
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Exnerová A, Ježová D, Štys P, Doktorovová L, Rojas B, Mappes J. Different reactions to aposematic prey in 2 geographically distant populations of great tits. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
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Long EC, Hahn TP, Shapiro AM. Variation in wing pattern and palatability in a female-limited polymorphic mimicry system. Ecol Evol 2014; 4:4543-52. [PMID: 25512850 PMCID: PMC4264903 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2014] [Revised: 10/08/2014] [Accepted: 10/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Checkerspot butterflies in the genera Euphydryas and Chlosyne exhibit phenotypic polymorphisms along a well-defined latitudinal and elevational gradient in California. The patterns of phenotypic variation in Euphydryas chalcedona, Chlosyne palla, and Chlosyne hoffmanni suggest a mimetic relationship; in addition, the specific patterns of variation in C. palla suggest a female-limited polymorphic mimicry system (FPM). However, the existence of polymorphic models runs counter to predictions of mimicry theory. Palatability trials were undertaken to assess whether or not the different color morphs of each species were distasteful or toxic to a generalized avian predator, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Results indicate that the black morph of E. chalcedona is distasteful, but not toxic, to predators, while the red morph is palatable. C . hoffmanni and both color morphs of C. palla are palatable to predators. Predators that learn to reject black E. chalcedona also reject black C. palla, suggesting that the latter is a FPM of the former. C. hoffmanni does not appear to be involved in this mimetic relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Long
- Center for Population Biology, University of California Davis Davis, California ; Entomology Section, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Los Angeles, California ; UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California Los Angeles, California
| | - Thomas P Hahn
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California Davis Davis, California
| | - Arthur M Shapiro
- Center for Population Biology, University of California Davis Davis, California ; Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis Davis, California
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Cookson LJ. A desire for parsimony. Behav Sci (Basel) 2014; 3:576-586. [PMID: 25379257 PMCID: PMC4217607 DOI: 10.3390/bs3040576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2013] [Revised: 10/16/2013] [Accepted: 10/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
An understanding of wildness is being developed as a quality of interactive processing that increases survival opportunities in nature. A link is made between the need to improve interactive quality for wildness, and cognitive desires and interests in art, music, religion and philosophy as these can also be seen as attempts to improve interactive quality internally and externally. Interactive quality can be improved through gains in parsimony, that is, simplifications in the organisation of skills. The importance of parsimony in evolution is discussed, along with indicators of an internal parsimony desire that experiences joy if achieved through processes such as insight and understanding. A mechanism for the production and measurement of the parsimony desire is proposed, based on the number of subcortical pleasure hotspots that can be stimulated at once within the ‘archipelago’ available in the limbic system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lawrence J Cookson
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Vic. 3800, Australia
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Fabricant SA, Exnerová A, Ježová D, Štys P. Scared by shiny? The value of iridescence in aposematic signalling of the hibiscus harlequin bug. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Fabricant SA, Smith CL. Is the hibiscus harlequin bug aposematic? The importance of testing multiple predators. Ecol Evol 2013; 4:113-20. [PMID: 24558567 PMCID: PMC3925375 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2013] [Revised: 11/10/2013] [Accepted: 11/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Aposematism involves predators learning conspicuous signals of defended prey. However, prey species utilize a wide range of chemical (or physical) defenses, which are not likely to be equally aversive to all predators. Aposematism may therefore only be effective against a physiologically sensitive subset of potential predators, and this can only be identified through behavioral testing. We studied the emerging model organism Tectocoris diophthalmus (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae), an aposematically colored but weakly defended shieldback stinkbug, to test the efficacy of its defenses against a suite of predator types. We predicted the bugs' defenses would be ineffectual against both experienced and naïve birds but aversive to predaceous insects. Surprisingly, the opposite pattern was found. Both habituated wild passerines and naïve chickens avoided the bugs, the chickens after only one or two encounters. To avian predators, T. diophthalmus is aposematic. However, praying mantids showed no repellency, aversion, or toxicity associated with adult or juvenile bugs after multiple trials. Comparison with prior studies on mantids using bugs with chemically similar but more concentrated defenses underscores the importance of dose in addition to chemical identity in the efficacy of chemical defenses. Our results also emphasize the importance of behavioral testing with multiple ecologically relevant predators to understand selective pressures shaping aposematic signals and chemical defenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott A Fabricant
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Carolynn L Smith
- Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie University North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
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