Journal
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY
Volume 35, Issue 5, Pages 602-610Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2010.01219.x
Keywords
Antipredatory defence; aposematism; background matching; crypsis; great tit; ontogenetic colour change; Parus major; warning coloration
Categories
Funding
- Czech Science Foundation [206/07/0507]
- Ministry of Education [0021620828]
- Swedish Research Council
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1. Protective coloration in insects may be aposematic or cryptic, and some species change defensive strategy between instars. In Sweden, the adult striated shieldbugs Graphosoma lineatum (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) undergo a seasonal colour change from pale brown and black striation in the pre-hibernating adults, to red and black striation in the same post-hibernating individuals. To the human eye the pre-hibernating adults appear cryptic against the withered late summer vegetation, whereas the red and black post-hibernating adults appear aposematic. This suggests a possibility of a functional colour change. However, what is cryptic to the human eye is not necessarily cryptic to a potential predator. 2. Therefore we tested the effect of coloration in adult G. lineatum on their detectability for avian predators. Great tits (Parus major) were trained to eat sunflower seeds hidden inside the emptied exoskeletons of pale or red G. lineatum. Then the detection time for both colour forms was measured in a dry vegetation environment. 3. The birds required a longer time to find the pale form of G. lineatum than the red one. The pale form appears more cryptic on withered late summer vegetation than the red form, not only to the human eye but also to avian predators. The result supports the idea that the adult individuals of G. lineatum undergo a functional change from a cryptic protective coloration to an aposematic one.
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