期刊
BIOLOGY LETTERS
卷 1, 期 4, 页码 500-503出版社
ROYAL SOCIETY
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0359
关键词
domestic chick; toxin; insect; warning signal; receiver psychology
资金
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/D003245/1] Funding Source: Medline
- Wellcome Trust Funding Source: Medline
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/D003245/1] Funding Source: researchfish
Chemically defended insects advertise their unpalatability to avian predators using conspicuous aposematic coloration that predators learn to avoid. Insects utilize a wide variety of different compounds in their defences, and intraspecific variation in defence chemistry is common. We propose that polymorphisms in insect defence chemicals may be beneficial to insects by increasing survival from avian predators. Birds learn to avoid a colour signal faster when individual prey possesses one of two unpalatable chemicals rather than all prey having the same defence chemical. However, for chemical polymorphisms to evolve within a species, there must be benefits that allow rare chemical morphs to increase in frequency. Using domestic chicks as predators and coloured crumbs for prey, we provide evidence that birds taste and reject proportionally more of the individuals with rare defence chemicals than those with common defence chemicals. This indicates that the way in which birds attack and reject prey could enhance the survival of rare chemical morphs and select for chemical polymorphism in aposematic species. This is the first experiment to demonstrate that predators can directly influence the form taken by prey's chemical defences.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据