Variation in defence and its fitness consequences in aposematic animals : interactions among diet, parasites and predators
Authors
Date
2006All animals face a challenge when defending themselves against several different enemies, e.g. predators and parasites. This has resulted in an enormous variation in defence strategies. Individuals have a limited amount of resources to allocate to defence, and thus there can be trade-offs among different strategies. Aposematism is a defence strategy in which an unprofitable animal advertises to predators that it is defended. The most effective warning signals maximize conspicuousness, as this is easier for predators to recognize, learn and remember. The theory of aposematism predicts reduced variation in the warning signal and chemical defence since variation may slow down learning. I have studied causes and consequences of variation in defence strategies against predators and parasites and possible trade-offs among them. My studies with aposematic arctiid moths demonstrate that the size of the signal has a genetic basis, but that it is also affected by diet. Variation in warning signals and chemical defence had surprisingly little effect on predator learning in laboratory experiment with artificial prey items. However, the efficacy of warning colours varied according to changes in the predator community age structure. When there were mainly young, naive predators present, the conspicuousness of a warning signal places the bearer at an increased risk of predation, whereas when most predators are educated about warning signals, the signals protect the bearer. Therefore, the benefit of aposematism as an antipredator strategy varies according to time and place. Genetic and environmental factors, like diet, can constrain the signal expression and defence ability of aposematic animals against predators and parasites partly explaining the large variation in signal design and defence.
...
ISBN
978-951-39-9587-4ISSN Search the Publication Forum
1456-9701Contains publications
- Artikkeli I: Ojala, K., Lindström, L., & Mappes, J. (2007). Life-history constraints and warning signal expression in an arctiid moth. Functional Ecology, 21, 1162-1167. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01322.x
- Artikkeli II: Lindström, L., Lyytinen, A., Mappes, J., & Ojala, K. (2006). Relative importance of taste and visual appearance for predator education in Müllerian mimicry. Animal behaviour, 72(2), 323-333. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.10.015
- Artikkeli III: Mappes, J., Kokko, H., Ojala, K. et al. (2014) Seasonal changes in predator community switch the direction of selection for prey defences. Nature Communications, 5, 5016. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6016
- Artikkeli IV: Ojala, K., Lindström, L. & Mappes, J. The effects of qualitative versus quantitative plant secondary metabolite on growth and defence against predators and parasites in an arctiid moth Diacrisia sannio. Manuscript.
- Artikkeli V: Ojala, K., Julkunen-Tiitto, R., Lindström, L., & Mappes, J. (2005). Diet affects the immune defense and life-history traits of an Archtiid moth Parasemia plantaginis. Evololutionary Ecoogy Research, 7, 1153-1170.
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
- Väitöskirjat [3588]
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Response of bird predators for female wood tiger moth chemical defences
Burdfield-Steel, Emily; Brain, Morgan; Rojas, Bibiana; Mappes, Johanna (University of Jyväskylä; contact details: Open Science Centre, jyx@jyu.fi, 2018)Multiple behavioural responses of blue tit predators to the defence fluids of wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis) females that were either food deprived or fed ad libitum during development. -
Investment in multiple defences protects a nematode-bacterium symbiosis from predation
Jones, R.S.; Fenton, A.; Speed, M.P.; Mappes, Johanna (Elsevier Ltd., 2017)The act of predation often comprises multiple sequential steps whereby prey can employ defences at all or some of these stages to deter predation. However, investment in defences is costly unless they are outweighed by ... -
Breeding near heterospecifics as a defence against brood parasites : can redstarts lower probability of cuckoo parasitism using neighbours?
Moreras, Angela; Tolvanen, Jere; Tornberg, Risto; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Forsman, Jukka T.; Thomson, Robert L. (Springer, 2022)Breeding habitat choice based on the attraction to other species can provide valuable social information and protection benefits. In birds, species with overlapping resources can be a cue of good quality habitats; species ... -
Genetic colour variation visible for predators and conspecifics is concealed from humans in a polymorphic moth
Nokelainen, Ossi; Galarza, Juan A.; Kirvesoja, Jimi; Suisto, Kaisa; Mappes, Johanna (Wiley-Blackwell, 2022)The definition of colour polymorphism is intuitive: genetic variants express discretely coloured phenotypes. This classification is, however, elusive as humans form subjective categories or ignore differences that cannot ... -
The price of safety : food deprivation in early life influences the efficacy of chemical defence in an aposematic moth
Burdfield-Steel, Emily; Brain, Morgan; Rojas Zuluaga, Bibiana; Mappes, Johanna (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2019)Aposematism is the combination of a primary signal with a secondary defence that predators must learn to associate with one another. However, variation in the level of defence, both within and between species, is very ...