Abstract:
Prey-predator interactions have resulted in the evolution of many anti-predatory traits. One of them is the ability for prey to listen to predators and avoid them. Although prey anti-predatory behavioural responses to predator auditory cues are well described in a wide range of taxa, studies on whether butterflies change their behaviours in response to their predatory calls are lacking. Heliconius butterflies are unpalatable and form Müllerian mimicry rings as morphological defence strategies against their avian predators. Like many other butterflies in the Nymphalidae family, some Heliconius butterflies possess auditory organs, which are hypothesized to assist with predator detection. Here we test whether Heliconius melpomene change their behaviour in response to their predatory bird calls by observing the behaviour of male and female H. m. plessini exposed to calls of Heliconius avian predators: rufous-tailed jacamar, migratory Eastern kingbird, and resident tropical kingbird. We also exposed them to the calls of the toco toucan, a frugivorous bird as a control bird call, and an amplified greenhouse background noise as a noise control. We found that individuals changed their behaviour in response to jacamar calls only. Males increased their walking and fluttering behaviour, while females did not change their behaviour during the playback of the jacamar call. Intersexual behaviours like courtship, copulation, and abdomen lifting did not change in response to bird calls. Our findings suggest that despite having primary predatory defences like toxicity and being in a mimicry ring, H. m. plessini butterflies changed their behaviour in response to predator calls. Furthermore, this response was predator specific, as H. m. plesseni did not respond to either the Eastern kingbird or the tropical kingbird calls. This suggests that Heliconius butterflies may be able to differentiate predatory calls, and potentially the birds associated with those calls.
摘要:
猎物-捕食者的相互作用导致了许多反捕食性状的进化。其中之一是猎物倾听捕食者并避开它们的能力。尽管猎物对捕食者听觉线索的反掠夺性行为反应在广泛的分类单元中得到了很好的描述,缺乏关于蝴蝶是否会改变其行为以响应其掠夺性叫声的研究。Heliconius蝴蝶令人不快,并形成苗勒式模仿环,作为对其鸟类捕食者的形态防御策略。像许多其他蝶科的蝴蝶一样,一些Heliconius蝴蝶拥有听觉器官,它们被假设为帮助捕食者检测。在这里,我们通过观察雄性和雌性H.m.Plessini的行为来测试Helconiusmelpomene是否会改变其对掠食性鸟叫声的反应。暴露于Helconius禽类捕食者的叫声中的Plessini:长尾的jacamar,迁徙的东方王鸟,和居住的热带王鸟。我们还让他们接触到了巨嘴鸟的叫声,一种节食的鸟作为控制鸟叫,和放大的温室背景噪声作为噪声控制。我们发现,个人改变他们的行为只响应jacamar电话。男性增加了行走和飘动的行为,而女性在播放jacamar电话时没有改变自己的行为。像求爱这样的性交行为,交配,腹部抬起并没有随着鸟叫声而改变。我们的研究结果表明,尽管有主要的掠夺性防御,如毒性和模仿环,普莱西尼蝴蝶响应捕食者的召唤改变了它们的行为。此外,这种反应是捕食者特有的,正如H.m.plesseni没有回应东方王鸟或热带王鸟的叫声。这表明Heliconius蝴蝶可能能够区分掠夺性叫声,以及可能与这些叫声有关的鸟类。