scholarly journals Locomotor mimicry in Heliconius butterflies: contrast analyses of flight morphology and kinematics

1999 ◽  
Vol 354 (1380) ◽  
pp. 203-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Srygley
Keyword(s):  
Wing Length ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Warning Signal ◽  
Wing Shape ◽  
The Body ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Müllerian Mimicry ◽  
Flight Morphology ◽  
Mullerian Mimicry ◽  
Colour Patterns

Müllerian mimicry is a mutualism involving the evolutionary convergence of colour patterns of prey on a warning signal to predators. Behavioural mimicry presumably adds complexity to the signal and makes it more difficult for Batesian mimics to parasitize it. To date, no one has quantified behavioural mimicry in Müllerian mimicry groups. However, morphological similarities among members of mimicry groups suggested that pitching oscillations of the body and wing–beat frequency (WBF) might converge with colour pattern. I compared the morphology and kinematics of four Heliconius species, which comprised two mimicry pairs. Because the mimics arose from two distinct lineages, the relative contributions of mimicry and phylogeny to variation in the species' morphologies and kinematics were examined. The positions of the centre of body mass and centre of wing mass and wing shape diverged among species within lineages, and converged among species within mimicry groups. WBF converged within mimicry groups, and it was coupled with body pitching frequency. However, body–pitching frequency was too variable to distinguish mimicry groups. Convergence in WBF may be due, at least in part, to biomechanical consequences of similarities in wing length, wing shape or the centre of wing mass among co–mimics. Nevertheless, convergence in WBF among passion–vine butterflies serves as the first evidence of behavioural mimicry in a mutualistic context.

scholarly journals Unsupervised machine learning reveals mimicry complexes in bumblebees occur along a perceptual continuum

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1910) ◽  
pp. 20191501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Briana D. Ezray ◽  
Drew C. Wham ◽  
Carrie E. Hill ◽  
Heather M. Hines
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Unsupervised Machine Learning ◽  
Transition Zones ◽  
Müllerian Mimicry ◽  
Active Selection ◽  
Mullerian Mimicry ◽  
Colour Patterns ◽  
Patterns And Processes

Müllerian mimicry theory states that frequency-dependent selection should favour geographical convergence of harmful species onto a shared colour pattern. As such, mimetic patterns are commonly circumscribed into discrete mimicry complexes, each containing a predominant phenotype. Outside a few examples in butterflies, the location of transition zones between mimicry complexes and the factors driving mimicry zones has rarely been examined. To infer the patterns and processes of Müllerian mimicry, we integrate large-scale data on the geographical distribution of colour patterns of social bumblebees across the contiguous United States and use these to quantify colour pattern mimicry using an innovative, unsupervised machine-learning approach based on computer vision. Our data suggest that bumblebees exhibit geographically clustered, but sometimes imperfect colour patterns, and that mimicry patterns gradually transition spatially rather than exhibit discrete boundaries. Additionally, examination of colour pattern transition zones of three comimicking, polymorphic species, where active selection is driving phenotype frequencies, revealed that their transition zones differ in location within a broad region of poor mimicry. Potential factors influencing mimicry transition zone dynamics are discussed.

scholarly journals Müllerian mimicry in bumble bees is a transient continuum

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Briana D. Ezray ◽  
Drew C. Wham ◽  
Carrie Hill ◽  
Heather M. Hines
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Transition Zones ◽  
Müllerian Mimicry ◽  
Active Selection ◽  
Mullerian Mimicry ◽  
Colour Patterns

AbstractMüllerian mimicry theory states that frequency dependent selection should favour geographic convergence of harmful species onto a shared colour pattern. As such, mimetic patterns are commonly circumscribed into discrete mimicry complexes each containing a predominant phenotype. Outside a few examples in butterflies, the location of transition zones between mimicry complexes and the factors driving them has rarely been examined. To infer the patterns and processes of Müllerian mimicry, we integrate large-scale data on the geographic distribution of colour patterns of all social bumble bees across the contiguous United States and use these to quantify colour pattern mimicry using an innovative machine learning approach based on computer vision and image recognition. Our data suggests that bumble bees exhibit a manifold of similar, but imperfect colour patterns, that continuously transition across the United States, supporting the idea that mimicry is not discrete. We propose that bumble bees are mimicking a perceptual colour pattern average that is evolutionarily transient. We examine three comimicking polymorphic species,Bombus flavifrons, B. melanopygus,andB. bifarius, where active selection is driving colour pattern frequencies and determine that their colour pattern transition zones differ in location and breadth within a broad region of poor mimicry. Furthermore, we explore factors driving these differences such as mimicry selection dynamics and climate.

scholarly journals Uncovering the effects of Müllerian mimicry on the evolution of conspicuousness in colour patterns

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ombeline Sculfort ◽  
Ludovic Maisonneuve ◽  
Marianne Elias ◽  
Thomas G. Aubier ◽  
Violaine Llaurens
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Warning Coloration ◽  
Local Composition ◽  
Müllerian Mimicry ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Mullerian Mimicry ◽  
Colour Patterns ◽  
Number Of Individuals

AbstractThe conspicuousness of colour pattern in defended species associates with a high detectability by predators, making its evolution puzzling. Müllerian mimicry, the convergence of warning coloration among defended prey species, is pervasive in communities of conspicuous prey, and mimicry switches, with mutant individuals having the same colour pattern as other co-mimetic species, may often associate with changes in conspicuousness. Yet, the implication of mimicry for the evolution of conspicuousness has not been considered. Here, we build a model describing the population dynamics of conspicuous defended prey to explore the invasion conditions of mutants that differ from other individuals by their conspicuousness. We assume that predation risk depends not only on the number of individuals sharing a given colour pattern within the population but also on the presence of co-mimetic species. We compare the evolutionary fates of mutant colour patterns (1) that are similar to the ancestral colour pattern and thus belong to the same mimicry ring (assemblage of co-mimetic species), or (2) that are different from the ancestral colour pattern and thus potentially belong to a distinct mimicry ring. Our analytical derivations show that (1) less conspicuous colour patterns are more likely to be selected within mimicry ring, and that (2) a mimicry switch lowering predation risk can promote the invasion of a more conspicuous colour pattern. We thus highlight that the variation in conspicuousness observed in the wild results not only from the characteristics of the colour pattern (detectability, salience) but also from the local composition of mimetic communities.

scholarly journals Evolution of the wave: aerodynamic and aposematic functions of butterfly wing motion

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1612) ◽  
pp. 913-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B Srygley
Keyword(s):  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Warning Signal ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Butterfly Wing ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Wing Beat Frequency ◽  
Wing Motion ◽  
Heliconius Cydno

Many unpalatable butterfly species use coloration to signal their distastefulness to birds, but motion cues may also be crucial to ward off predatory attacks. In previous research, captive passion-vine butterflies Heliconius mimetic in colour pattern were also mimetic in motion. Here, I investigate whether wing motion changes with the flight demands of different behaviours. If birds select for wing motion as a warning signal, aposematic butterflies should maintain wing motion independently of behavioural context. Members of one mimicry group ( Heliconius cydno and Heliconius sapho ) beat their wings more slowly and their wing strokes were more asymmetric than their sister-species ( Heliconius melpomene and Heliconius erato , respectively), which were members of another mimicry group having a quick and steady wing motion. Within mimicry groups, wing beat frequency declined as its role in generating lift also declined in different behavioural contexts. In contrast, asymmetry of the stroke was not associated with wing beat frequency or behavioural context—strong indication that birds process and store the Fourier motion energy of butterfly wings. Although direct evidence that birds respond to subtle differences in butterfly wing motion is lacking, birds appear to generalize a motion pattern as much as they encounter members of a mimicry group in different behavioural contexts.

scholarly journals Prey community structure affects how predators select for Müllerian mimicry

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1736) ◽  
pp. 2099-2105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eira Ihalainen ◽  
Hannah M. Rowland ◽  
Michael P. Speed ◽  
Graeme D. Ruxton ◽  
Johanna Mappes
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Generalization Test ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Warning Signal ◽  
Specific Model ◽  
Müllerian Mimicry ◽  
Effective Community ◽  
Mullerian Mimicry ◽  
Specialist Predators ◽  
Signal Accuracy

Müllerian mimicry describes the close resemblance between aposematic prey species; it is thought to be beneficial because sharing a warning signal decreases the mortality caused by sampling by inexperienced predators learning to avoid the signal. It has been hypothesized that selection for mimicry is strongest in multi-species prey communities where predators are more prone to misidentify the prey than in simple communities. In this study, wild great tits ( Parus major ) foraged from either simple (few prey appearances) or complex (several prey appearances) artificial prey communities where a specific model prey was always present. Owing to slower learning, the model did suffer higher mortality in complex communities when the birds were inexperienced. However, in a subsequent generalization test to potential mimics of the model prey (a continuum of signal accuracy), only birds that had foraged from simple communities selected against inaccurate mimics. Therefore, accurate mimicry is more likely to evolve in simple communities even though predator avoidance learning is slower in complex communities. For mimicry to evolve, prey species must have a common predator; the effective community consists of the predator's diet. In diverse environments, the limited diets of specialist predators could create ‘simple community pockets’ where accurate mimicry is selected for.

scholarly journals III. Studies in colour changes of fish. - Part II. —An analysis of the colour patterns of the dab. - Part III. —The action of nicotin and adrenalin in the dab. - Part IV. —The action of caffeine in the dab, and a theory of the control of colour changes in fish

1927 ◽  
Vol 215 (421-430) ◽  
pp. 177-200 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Complete Analysis ◽  
Morphological Variations ◽  
Differential Reaction ◽  
Flat Fish ◽  
Colour Changes ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Colour Patterns ◽  
The Many

In the course of investigations on the action of certain drugs on the colour of the dab, it became increasingly evident that not only should a microscopic examination be made of the results, but that apart from a complete analysis of the colour pattern of the fish, such an examination would be unintelligible. I am not aware that any such analysis has been made of so complicated a colour scheme. Abolin (see List of Papers, p. 198) has analysed the colour pattern of the minnow, and in a previous paper I have pointed out that the barring on the minnow is partly due to physiological differences and partly to morphological variations. Sumner has also given a description of the patterns on certain flat-fish, but his observations were purely macroscopic. The main problem which has presented itself in this field is this :—Do all the chromatophores on the skin expand and contract synchronously and to the same degree? In other words: Are the various colour phases and manifestations of markings due to morphological differences alone? Sumner, as the result of researches carried out on flat-fish, has come to the conclusion that the many variations of colour, pattern and shade cannot be altogether explained by the assumption of a synchronous reaction of all the chromatophores, and that there must be some differential reaction of the chromatophores situated on the markings. Hogben is opposed to this view and thinks that, as “the extent of melanophore expansion in response to the intensity of a uniform background displays a very subtle gradation, it is not unlikely that the effect of a variegated background is simply to reproduce throughout the body a state of melanophore response, which renders more or less apparent a pattern dependent wholly on the numerical distribution of the melanophores in different areas.” In the present research this problem has been approached by a study of the reactions of the dab to uniform backgrounds, to ascertain the extent of the “subtle gradation” and to supply the necessary data for the further discussion of this problem.

Reduced antennal segmentation in a new species from Iran of the genus Aeolothrips (Thysanoptera: Aeolothripidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4683 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-450
Author(s):  
KAMBIZ MINAEI ◽  
LAURENCE MOUND
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Wing Length ◽  
Terminal Segment ◽  
The Body ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Insect Order ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Plesiomorphic State

The number of antennal segments in adults of the different families and genera in the insect order Thysanoptera varies between five and nine. The plesiotypic number is considered to be nine (Zhang et al. 2019), and fossil thrips reported to have 10 to 15 segments (Tong et al. 2019) are generally considered to be aberrations in which the terminal segment bears transverse striae. The 9-segmented condition occurs particularly amongst species that exhibit several other characters in a plesiomorphic state, including all Melanthripidae, two genera of Merothripidae, also most species of Fauriellidae, Stenurothripidae, Heterothripidae, and Aeolothripidae (Mound et al. 1980). Curiously, members of a few genera of Thripidae (Palmer & Mound 1985; Minaei 2012) also have nine antennal segments, but this is considered a reversion from the 8-segmented condition that is assumed to be plesiomorphic for that family (Zhang et al. 2019). Variation between eight and nine segments occurs in the genus Anaphothrips, and within that genus a few species exhibit intraspecific variation in antennal segmentation (Mound & Masumoto 2009). Intraspecific variation in various characters, including body size, color and wing length, is well documented for the order Thysanoptera (Mound 2005 a, b). However, amongst the 207 listed species of Aeolothripidae there has never been any report of a species bearing antennae with other than nine segments, although these vary in length and shape amongst the different genera. We here describe from Iran a curious species of the genus Aeolothrips that is unusual in having only seven antennal segments, with the number reduced to six or even five in a few individuals in which the terminal segments are fused. These females with 7-segmented antennae were initially considered to be aberrant individuals of some other species. However, 25 females with such antennae have been collected over two years, all from a group of Tamarix trees. Despite extensive studies on the genus Aeolothrips in Iran (Alavi & Minaei 2018, 2019), with 30 species now being recorded from this country, no other species has been found with the same colour pattern of the body and fore wings. We therefore conclude that the available specimens represent a valid species in which the antennal segmentation is reduced, and with the terminal segments unstable. 

Description of two new Asian Pristaulacus Kieffer 1900 (Hymenoptera: Aulacidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2895 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
GIUSEPPE FABRIZIO TURRISI ◽  
KYOHEI WATANABE
Keyword(s):  
Fore Wing ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Wing Length ◽  
The Body ◽  
Brown Spot ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
The Web ◽  
Male Genital

Two Aulacidae from Asia, Pristaulacus japonicus Turrisi & Watanabe, sp.n. (Japan) and Pristaulacus takakuwai Turrisi & Watanabe, sp.n. (Thailand), are described and illustrated. The former species is very similar to the Palearctic Pristaulacus gibbator (Thunberg 1822) and is recognized by the different sculpturing of the upper part of the mesoand metapleura, slightly longer petiole, longer ovipositor, and several features of the male genital capsule, e.g., the shape of the apex of the paramere, lamina volsellaris and penis valve. The latter species is not obviously allied to any other described Oriental Pristaulacus and is recognized by the combination of the following characters: colour pattern, with setae of the body golden, wings yellowish hyaline, fore wing with a moderately wide substigmal brown spot and apex infuscated, hind leg mostly black to black-brown, shape of the head, with temple well developed, and ovipositor relatively short, 0.9× fore wing length. Images of both treated species are freely available at the web site: http://morphbank.net.

scholarly journals Mimics here and there, but not everywhere: Müllerian mimicry in Ceroglossus ground beetles?

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 20160429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos P. Muñoz-Ramírez ◽  
Pierre-Paul Bitton ◽  
Stéphanie M. Doucet ◽  
Lacey L. Knowles
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Intraspecific Diversity ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Müllerian Mimicry ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Mullerian Mimicry ◽  
Colour Patterns ◽  
Apparent Colour ◽  
Colour Morphs

The ground beetle genus Ceroglossus contains co-distributed species that show pronounced intraspecific diversity in the form of geographical colour morphs. While colour morphs among different species appear to match in some geographical regions, in others, there is little apparent colour matching. Mimicry is a potential explanation for covariation in colour patterns, but it is not clear whether the degree of sympatric colour matching is higher than expected by chance given the obvious mismatches among morphs in some regions. Here, we used reflectance spectrometry to quantify elytral coloration from the perspective of an avian predator to test whether colour similarity between species is, indeed, higher in sympatry. After finding no significant phylogenetic signal in the colour data, analyses showed strong statistical support for sympatric colour similarity between species despite the apparent lack of colour matching in some areas. We hypothesize Müllerian mimicry as the responsible mechanism for sympatric colour similarity in Ceroglossus and discuss potential explanations and future directions to elucidate why mimicry has not developed similar levels of interspecific colour resemblance across space.

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