10.5061/DRYAD.KM711DM8
Higginson, Andrew D.
University of Bristol
de Wert, Leoni
University of Glasgow
Rowland, Hannah M.
University of Cambridge
Speed, Michael P.
University of Liverpool
Ruxton, Graeme D.
University of Glasgow
Data from: Masquerade is associated with polyphagy and larval
overwintering in the Lepidoptera
Dryad
dataset
2011
butterflies
Geometridae
Drepanidae
crypsis
moths
aposematism
anti-predator colouration
2011-11-28T20:37:22Z
2011-11-28T20:37:22Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01850.x
487510 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Masquerading animals benefit from the difficulty that predators have in
differentiating them from the inedible objects, such as twigs, that they
resemble. The function of masquerade has been demonstrated, but how it
interacts with the life history of organisms has not been studied. Here,
we report the use of comparative analyses to test hypotheses linking
masquerade to life-history parameters. We constructed a phylogenetic tree
of the British species of the lepidoptera families Geometridae and
Drepanidae and compiled life history and colouration data from the
literature. We found that masquerade is associated with the exploitation
of a greater diversity of host plants whether measured by the number of
families or genera. We found a positive relationship between body size and
polyphagy among masquerading species, and no relationship among cryptic
species. Among those species predominantly found on woody host plants,
masquerading species are more likely to overwinter as larvae while cryptic
species mostly overwinter as pupae. Polyphenism was associated with
multivoltinism in masquerading species but not cryptic species. Taken
together, our results show that masquerade must be viewed as a strategy
distinct to crypsis and hence may provide insights into the evolution of
both defensive strategies. Our study further demonstrates the utility of
broad-scale between-species comparisons in studying associations between
diverse life-history parameters and sensory aspects of predator-prey
interactions.
Masquerade Appendix 1Data from Porter (1997) and others on the ecological
traits of the larvae of all of the British Geometridae and Drepanidae,
including body length, and the number of host plant families, genera, and
species.
Britain