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Ottocento C, Rojas B, Burdfield-Steel E, Furlanetto M, Nokelainen O, Winters S, Mappes J. Diet influences resource allocation in chemical defence but not melanin synthesis in an aposematic moth. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb245946. [PMID: 38179687 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245946] [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: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
For animals that synthesise their chemical compounds de novo, resources, particularly proteins, can influence investment in chemical defences and nitrogen-based wing colouration such as melanin. Competing for the same resources often leads to trade-offs in resource allocation. We manipulated protein availability in the larval diet of the wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, to test how early life resource availability influences relevant life history traits, melanin production and chemical defences. We expected higher dietary protein to result in more effective chemical defences in adult moths and a higher amount of melanin in the wings. According to the resource allocation hypothesis, we also expected individuals with less melanin to have more resources to allocate to chemical defences. We found that protein-deprived moths had a slower larval development, and their chemical defences were less unpalatable for bird predators, but the expression of melanin in their wings did not differ from that of moths raised on a high-protein diet. The amount of melanin in the wings, however, unexpectedly correlated positively with chemical defences. Our findings demonstrate that the resources available in early life have an important role in the efficacy of chemical defences, but melanin-based warning colours are less sensitive to resource variability than other fitness-related traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Ottocento
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Viikinkaari 1, PO Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Bibiana Rojas
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
- Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstraße 1, 1160 Vienna, Austria
| | - Emily Burdfield-Steel
- University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Miriam Furlanetto
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Ossi Nokelainen
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
- Open Science Centre, PO Box 35, 40014University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Sandra Winters
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Viikinkaari 1, PO Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Johanna Mappes
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Viikinkaari 1, PO Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
- University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, PO Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
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Justyn NM, Heine KB, Hood WR, Peteya JA, Vanthournout B, Debruyn G, Shawkey MD, Weaver RJ, Hill GE. A combination of red structural and pigmentary coloration in the eyespot of a copepod. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20220169. [PMID: 35611618 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
While the specific mechanisms of colour production in biological systems are diverse, the mechanics of colour production are straightforward and universal. Colour is produced through the selective absorption of light by pigments, the scattering of light by nanostructures or a combination of both. When Tigriopus californicus copepods were fed a carotenoid-limited diet of yeast, their orange-red body coloration became faint, but their eyespots remained unexpectedly bright red. Raman spectroscopy indicated a clear signature of the red carotenoid pigment astaxanthin in eyespots; however, refractive index matching experiments showed that eyespot colour disappeared when placed in ethyl cinnamate, suggesting a structural origin for the red coloration. We used transmission electron microscopy to identify consecutive nanolayers of spherical air pockets that, when modelled as a single thin film layer, possess the correct periodicity to coherently scatter red light. We then performed microspectrophotometry to quantify eyespot coloration and confirmed a distinct colour difference between the eyespot and the body. The observed spectral reflectance from the eyespot matched the reflectance predicted from our models when considering the additional absorption by astaxanthin. Together, this evidence suggests the persistence of red eyespots in copepods is the result of a combination of structural and pigmentary coloration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas M Justyn
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Kyle B Heine
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Wendy R Hood
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Jennifer A Peteya
- Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Bram Vanthournout
- Department of Biology, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Gerben Debruyn
- Department of Biology, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Matthew D Shawkey
- Department of Biology, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ryan J Weaver
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
| | - Geoffrey E Hill
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
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Burdfield-Steel E, Kemp DJ. Negative intersexual genetic correlation for colour pattern in a variable aposematic insect. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Despite the fact their coloration functions as an aposematic signal, and is thus expected to be under stabilizing selection, hibiscus harlequin bugs (Tectocoris diophthalmus) show an impressive level of variation in their iridescent coloration both within and between populations. To date the heritability of coloration in this species remains unknown. Here we focus on a single population in New South Wales (the southern part of this species’ Australian range), with the greatest colour variation. We reared full-sib families of known pedigree in the laboratory and analysed the extent of iridescent coloration at adulthood. We then looked for evidence of heritability, condition dependence and antagonistic sexual selection acting on colour in this species. We found significant heritability in the extent of iridescent coloration for both sexes, as well as in development time and body size, but no evidence that condition dependence played a role in the determination of adult coloration. There was, however, a sex by genotype interaction for iridescent cover, in the form of a negative intersexual genetic correlation: in families where sons had high iridescent cover the daughters had low, and vice versa. Our results suggest that different selective pressures may act on coloration in males and females of this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Burdfield-Steel
- Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
| | - Darrell J Kemp
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
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Cooption of the pteridine biosynthesis pathway underlies the diversification of embryonic colors in water striders. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:19046-19054. [PMID: 31484764 PMCID: PMC6754612 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1908316116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how existing genomic content can be reused to generate new phenotypes is important for understanding how species diversify. Here, we address this question by studying the origin of a phenotype consisting of bright coloration in the embryos of water striders. We found that the pteridine biosynthesis pathway, originally active in the eyes, has been coopted in the embryo to produce various colors in the antennae and legs. The coopted pathway remained stable for over 200 million years, yet resulted in a striking diversification of colors and color patterns during the evolution of water striders. This work demonstrates how the activation of a complete pathway in new developmental contexts can drive the evolution of novelty and fuel species diversification. Naturalists have been fascinated for centuries by animal colors and color patterns. While widely studied at the adult stage, we know little about color patterns in the embryo. Here, we study a trait consisting of coloration that is specific to the embryo and absent from postembryonic stages in water striders (Gerromorpha). By combining developmental genetics with chemical and phylogenetic analyses across a broad sample of species, we uncovered the mechanisms underlying the emergence and diversification of embryonic colors in this group of insects. We show that the pteridine biosynthesis pathway, which ancestrally produces red pigment in the eyes, has been recruited during embryogenesis in various extraocular tissues including antennae and legs. In addition, we discovered that this cooption is common to all water striders and initially resulted in the production of yellow extraocular color. Subsequently, 6 lineages evolved bright red color and 2 lineages lost the color independently. Despite the high diversity in colors and color patterns, we show that the underlying biosynthesis pathway remained stable throughout the 200 million years of Gerromorpha evolutionary time. Finally, we identified erythropterin and xanthopterin as the pigments responsible for these colors in the embryo of various species. These findings demonstrate how traits can emerge through the activation of a biosynthesis pathway in new developmental contexts.
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Briolat ES, Burdfield‐Steel ER, Paul SC, Rönkä KH, Seymoure BM, Stankowich T, Stuckert AMM. Diversity in warning coloration: selective paradox or the norm? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:388-414. [PMID: 30152037 PMCID: PMC6446817 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Aposematic theory has historically predicted that predators should select for warning signals to converge on a single form, as a result of frequency-dependent learning. However, widespread variation in warning signals is observed across closely related species, populations and, most problematically for evolutionary biologists, among individuals in the same population. Recent research has yielded an increased awareness of this diversity, challenging the paradigm of signal monomorphy in aposematic animals. Here we provide a comprehensive synthesis of these disparate lines of investigation, identifying within them three broad classes of explanation for variation in aposematic warning signals: genetic mechanisms, differences among predators and predator behaviour, and alternative selection pressures upon the signal. The mechanisms producing warning coloration are also important. Detailed studies of the genetic basis of warning signals in some species, most notably Heliconius butterflies, are beginning to shed light on the genetic architecture facilitating or limiting key processes such as the evolution and maintenance of polymorphisms, hybridisation, and speciation. Work on predator behaviour is changing our perception of the predator community as a single homogenous selective agent, emphasising the dynamic nature of predator-prey interactions. Predator variability in a range of factors (e.g. perceptual abilities, tolerance to chemical defences, and individual motivation), suggests that the role of predators is more complicated than previously appreciated. With complex selection regimes at work, polytypisms and polymorphisms may even occur in Müllerian mimicry systems. Meanwhile, phenotypes are often multifunctional, and thus subject to additional biotic and abiotic selection pressures. Some of these selective pressures, primarily sexual selection and thermoregulation, have received considerable attention, while others, such as disease risk and parental effects, offer promising avenues to explore. As well as reviewing the existing evidence from both empirical studies and theoretical modelling, we highlight hypotheses that could benefit from further investigation in aposematic species. Finally by collating known instances of variation in warning signals, we provide a valuable resource for understanding the taxonomic spread of diversity in aposematic signalling and with which to direct future research. A greater appreciation of the extent of variation in aposematic species, and of the selective pressures and constraints which contribute to this once-paradoxical phenomenon, yields a new perspective for the field of aposematic signalling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuelle S. Briolat
- Centre for Ecology & Conservation, College of Life & Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterPenryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FEU.K.
| | - Emily R. Burdfield‐Steel
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biological and Environmental ScienceUniversity of JyväskyläJyväskylä, 40014Finland
| | - Sarah C. Paul
- Centre for Ecology & Conservation, College of Life & Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterPenryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FEU.K.
- Department of Chemical EcologyBielefeld UniversityUniversitätsstraße 25, 33615, BielefeldGermany
| | - Katja H. Rönkä
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biological and Environmental ScienceUniversity of JyväskyläJyväskylä, 40014Finland
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinki, 00014Finland
| | - Brett M. Seymoure
- Department of BiologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsCO 80525U.S.A.
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation BiologyColorado State UniversityFort CollinsCO 80525U.S.A.
| | - Theodore Stankowich
- Department of Biological SciencesCalifornia State UniversityLong BeachCA 90840U.S.A.
| | - Adam M. M. Stuckert
- Department of BiologyEast Carolina University1000 E Fifth St, GreenvilleNC 27858U.S.A.
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Determination of Urinary Pterins by Capillary Electrophoresis Coupled with LED-Induced Fluorescence Detector. Molecules 2019; 24:molecules24061166. [PMID: 30909656 PMCID: PMC6470587 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24061166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2019] [Revised: 03/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Urinary pterins have been found as potential biomarkers in many pathophysiological conditions including inflammation, viral infections, and cancer. However, pterins determination in biological samples is difficult due to their degradation under exposure to air, light, and heat. Besides, they occur at shallow concentration levels, and thus, standard UV detectors cannot be used without additional sample preconcentration. On the other hand, ultra-sensitive laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection can be used since pterins exhibit native fluorescence. The main factor that limits an everyday use of LIF detectors is its high price. Here, an alternative detector, i.e., light-emitted diode induced fluorescence (LEDIF) detector, was evaluated for the determination of pterins in urine samples after capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation. An optimized method was validated in terms of linearity range, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), intra- and interday precision and accuracy, sample stability in the autosampler, and sample stability during the freezing/thawing cycle. The obtained LOD (0.1 µM) and LOQ (0.3 µM) values were three-order of magnitude lower compared to UV detector, and two orders of magnitude higher compared to previously reported house-built LIF detector. The applicability of the validated method was demonstrated in the analysis of urine samples from healthy individuals and cancer patients.
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8
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Fabricant SA, Burdfield-Steel ER, Umbers K, Lowe EC, Herberstein ME. Warning signal plasticity in hibiscus harlequin bugs. Evol Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-018-9946-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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9
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Sibilia CD, Brosko KA, Hickling CJ, Thompson LM, Grayson KL, Olson JR. Thermal Physiology and Developmental Plasticity of Pigmentation in the Harlequin Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE (ONLINE) 2018; 18:5051929. [PMID: 30010926 PMCID: PMC6044328 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iey066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Traits that promote the maintenance of body temperatures within an optimal range provide advantages to ectothermic species. Pigmentation plasticity is found in many insects and enhances thermoregulatory potential as increased melanization can result in greater heat retention. The thermal melanism hypothesis predicts that species with developmental plasticity will have darker pigmentation in colder environments, which can be an important adaptation for temperate species experiencing seasonal variation in climate. The harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica, Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, Hahn 1834) is a widespread invasive crop pest with variable patterning where developmental plasticity in melanization could affect performance. To investigate the impact of temperature and photoperiod on melanization and size, nymphs were reared under two temperatures and two photoperiods simulating summer and fall seasons. The size and degree of melanization of adults were quantified using digital imagery. To assess the effect of coloration on the amount of heat absorption, we monitored the temperature of adults in a heating experiment. Overall, our results supported the thermal melanism hypothesis and temperature had a comparatively larger effect on coloration and size than photoperiod. When heated, the body temperature of individuals with darker pigmentation increased more relative to the ambient air temperature than individuals with lighter pigmentation. These results suggest that colder temperatures experienced late in the season can induce developmental plasticity for a phenotype that improves thermoregulation in this species. Our work highlights environmental signals and consequences for individual performance due to thermal melanism in a common invasive species, where capacity to respond to changing environments is likely contributing to its spread.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kelly A Brosko
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
| | | | | | | | - Jennifer R Olson
- Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
- Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
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10
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Truong VK, Vongsvivut J, Geeganagamage NM, Tobin MJ, Luque P, Baulin V, Werner M, Maclaughlin S, Crawford RJ, Ivanova EP. Study of melanin localization in the mature male Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis damselfly wings. JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION 2018; 25:874-877. [PMID: 29714199 DOI: 10.1107/s1600577518004460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 03/16/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Damselflies Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis exhibiting black wings are found in the western Mediterranean, Algeria, France, Italy, Spain and Monaco. Wing pigmentation is caused by the presence of melanin, which is involved in physiological processes including defence reactions, wound healing and sclerotization of the insect. Despite the important physiological roles of melanin, the presence and colour variation among males and females of the C. haemorrhoidalis species and the localization of the pigment within the wing membrane remain poorly understood. In this study, infrared (IR) microspectroscopy, coupled with the highly collimated synchrotron IR beam, was employed in order to identify the distribution of the pigments in the wings at a high spatial resolution. It was found that the melanin is localized in the procuticle of the C. haemorrhoidalis damselfly wings, distributed homogeneously within this layer, and not associated with the lipids of the epicuticle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vi Khanh Truong
- Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
| | | | | | - Mark J Tobin
- Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
| | - Pere Luque
- Museu de les Terres de l'Ebre, 34 Gran Capità, 43870 Amposta, Spain
| | - Vladimir Baulin
- Departament d'Enginyeria Quimica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 26 Avinguda dels Paisos Catalans, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Marco Werner
- Departament d'Enginyeria Quimica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 26 Avinguda dels Paisos Catalans, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
| | | | - Russell J Crawford
- College of Science, Engineering and Health, RMIT University, Melbourne 3001, Victoria, Australia
| | - Elena P Ivanova
- Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
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Sun J, Wu W, Ling M, Bhushan B, Tong J. A dynamic nanoindentation technique to investigate the nanomechanical properties of a colored beetle. RSC Adv 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6ra14687b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
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12
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Roulin A. Condition-dependence, pleiotropy and the handicap principle of sexual selection in melanin-based colouration. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2015; 91:328-48. [PMID: 25631160 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2014] [Revised: 11/30/2014] [Accepted: 12/11/2014] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The signalling function of melanin-based colouration is debated. Sexual selection theory states that ornaments should be costly to produce, maintain, wear or display to signal quality honestly to potential mates or competitors. An increasing number of studies supports the hypothesis that the degree of melanism covaries with aspects of body condition (e.g. body mass or immunity), which has contributed to change the initial perception that melanin-based colour ornaments entail no costs. Indeed, the expression of many (but not all) melanin-based colour traits is weakly sensitive to the environment but strongly heritable suggesting that these colour traits are relatively cheap to produce and maintain, thus raising the question of how such colour traits could signal quality honestly. Here I review the production, maintenance and wearing/displaying costs that can generate a correlation between melanin-based colouration and body condition, and consider other evolutionary mechanisms that can also lead to covariation between colour and body condition. Because genes controlling melanic traits can affect numerous phenotypic traits, pleiotropy could also explain a linkage between body condition and colouration. Pleiotropy may result in differently coloured individuals signalling different aspects of quality that are maintained by frequency-dependent selection or local adaptation. Colouration may therefore not signal absolute quality to potential mates or competitors (e.g. dark males may not achieve a higher fitness than pale males); otherwise genetic variation would be rapidly depleted by directional selection. As a consequence, selection on heritable melanin-based colouration may not always be directional, but mate choice may be conditional to environmental conditions (i.e. context-dependent sexual selection). Despite the interest of evolutionary biologists in the adaptive value of melanin-based colouration, its actual role in sexual selection is still poorly understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Building Biophore, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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Fabricant SA, Herberstein ME. Hidden in plain orange: aposematic coloration is cryptic to a colorblind insect predator. Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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14
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Willink B, García-Rodríguez A, Bolaños F, Pröhl H. The interplay between multiple predators and prey colour divergence. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Willink
- Escuela de Biología; Universidad de Costa Rica; Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio 2060 San José Costa Rica
- Department of Biology; Lund University; SE-223 62 Lund Sweden
| | - Adrián García-Rodríguez
- Museo de Zoología; Universidad de Costa Rica; Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio 2060 San José Costa Rica
- Departamento de Botanica, Ecologia e Zoologia; Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; Natal Rio Grande do Norte Brazil
| | - Federico Bolaños
- Escuela de Biología; Universidad de Costa Rica; Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio 2060 San José Costa Rica
| | - Heike Pröhl
- Institute of Zoology; University of Veterinary Medicine of Hannover; Bünteweg 17 30559 Hannover Germany
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15
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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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16
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Krajíček J, Kozlík P, Exnerová A, Štys P, Bursová M, Čabala R, Bosáková Z. Capillary electrophoresis of pterin derivatives responsible for the warning coloration of Heteroptera. J Chromatogr A 2014; 1336:94-100. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2014.02.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2013] [Revised: 02/04/2014] [Accepted: 02/06/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Giffney RA, Kemp DJ. Does it Pay to Care?: Exploring the Costs and Benefits of Parental Care in the Hibiscus Harlequin BugTectocoris diophthalmus(Heteroptera: Scutelleridae). Ethology 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Raelene A. Giffney
- Department of Biological Sciences; Macquarie University; North Ryde NSW Australia
| | - Darrell J. Kemp
- Department of Biological Sciences; Macquarie University; North Ryde NSW Australia
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18
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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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