Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168243
Title: | Yellow and the novel aposematic signal, red, protect delias butterflies from predators | Authors: | Wee J.L.Q. Monteiro A. |
Keywords: | butterfly dorsal region genus nonhuman phylogeny predator wing adaptation animal bird butterfly color female male physiology predation Adaptation, Biological Animals Birds Butterflies Color Female Male Predatory Behavior Wings, Animal |
Issue Date: | 2017 | Publisher: | Public Library of Science | Citation: | Wee J.L.Q., Monteiro A. (2017). Yellow and the novel aposematic signal, red, protect delias butterflies from predators. PLoS ONE 12 (1) : 168243. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168243 | Abstract: | Butterflies of the South Asian and Australian genus Delias possess striking colours on the ventral wings that are presumed to serve as warning signals to predators. However, this has not been shown empirically. Here we experimentally tested whether the colours of one member of this diverse genus, Delias hyparete, function as aposematic signals. We constructed artificial paper models with either a faithful colour representation of D. hyparete, or with all of its colours converted to grey scale. We also produced models where single colours were left intact, while others were converted to grey-scale or removed entirely. We placed all model types simultaneously in the field, attached to a live mealworm, and measured relative attack rates at three separate field sites. Faithful models of D. hyparete, suffered the least amount of attacks, followed by grey-scale models with unaltered red patches, and by grey-scale models with unaltered yellow patches. We conclude that red and yellow colours function as warning signals. By mapping dorsal and ventral colouration onto a phylogeny of Delias, we observed that yellow and red colours appear almost exclusively on the ventral wing surfaces, and that basal lineages have mostly yellow, white, and black wings, whereas derived lineages contain red colour in addition to the other colours. Red appears to be, thus, a novel adaptive trait in this lineage of butterflies. © 2017 Wee, Monteiro. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | Source Title: | PLoS ONE | URI: | https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/166027 | ISSN: | 19326203 | DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0168243 |
Appears in Collections: | Elements Students Publications Staff Publications |
Show full item record
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | Access Settings | Version | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10_1371_journal_pone_0168243.pdf | 3.01 MB | Adobe PDF | OPEN | None | View/Download |
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.