The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars

Abstract Camouflage is the most common form of antipredator defense, and is a textbook example of natural selection. How animals’ appearances prevent detection or recognition is well studied, but the role of prey behavior has received much less attention. Here we report a series of experiments with...

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Autores principales:	Hannah M. Rowland, Robert P. Burriss, John Skelhorn
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f41d3278cfc449e3911187385d2c8a88
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f41d3278cfc449e3911187385d2c8a882021-12-02T11:43:51ZThe antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars10.1038/s41598-020-78686-42045-2322https://doaj.org/article/f41d3278cfc449e3911187385d2c8a882020-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78686-4https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Camouflage is the most common form of antipredator defense, and is a textbook example of natural selection. How animals’ appearances prevent detection or recognition is well studied, but the role of prey behavior has received much less attention. Here we report a series of experiments with twig-mimicking larvae of the American peppered moth Biston betularia that test the long-held view that prey have evolved postures that enhance their camouflage, and establish how food availability and ambient temperature affect these postures. We found that predators took longer to attack larvae that were resting in a twig-like posture than larvae resting flat against a branch. Larvae that were chilled or food restricted (manipulations intended to energetically stress larvae) adopted a less twig-like posture than larvae that were fed ad libitum. Our findings provide clear evidence that animals gain antipredator benefits from postural camouflage, and suggest that benefits may come at an energetic cost that animals are unwilling or unable to pay under some conditions.Hannah M. RowlandRobert P. BurrissJohn SkelhornNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Hannah M. Rowland Robert P. Burriss John Skelhorn The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars
description	Abstract Camouflage is the most common form of antipredator defense, and is a textbook example of natural selection. How animals’ appearances prevent detection or recognition is well studied, but the role of prey behavior has received much less attention. Here we report a series of experiments with twig-mimicking larvae of the American peppered moth Biston betularia that test the long-held view that prey have evolved postures that enhance their camouflage, and establish how food availability and ambient temperature affect these postures. We found that predators took longer to attack larvae that were resting in a twig-like posture than larvae resting flat against a branch. Larvae that were chilled or food restricted (manipulations intended to energetically stress larvae) adopted a less twig-like posture than larvae that were fed ad libitum. Our findings provide clear evidence that animals gain antipredator benefits from postural camouflage, and suggest that benefits may come at an energetic cost that animals are unwilling or unable to pay under some conditions.
format	article
author	Hannah M. Rowland Robert P. Burriss John Skelhorn
author_facet	Hannah M. Rowland Robert P. Burriss John Skelhorn
author_sort	Hannah M. Rowland
title	The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars
title_short	The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars
title_full	The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars
title_fullStr	The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars
title_full_unstemmed	The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars
title_sort	antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/f41d3278cfc449e3911187385d2c8a88
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The antipredator benefits of postural camouflage in peppered moth caterpillars

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