许多动物的活动遵循反复的模式,觅食是其日常活动中最重要的过程之一。因此,确定寻找资源的运动以及理解觅食的时间和空间模式长期以来一直是行为生态学的中心。然而,识别和监测动物的运动往往是具有挑战性的。在这项研究中,我们评估了使用相机陷阱来跟踪非常特定和小规模的相互作用,该相互作用集中在Heliconiini蝴蝶的觅食行为上。使用三种以花粉为食的Heliconius物种的标记个体记录了花卉探视的数据(H。埃拉托,H.melpomene和H.sara),和两个密切相关,大型室外昆虫室中的非花粉摄食物种(Dryasiulia和Dryadulaphaetusa)。我们证明了相机陷阱可以多次和多次捕获单个花朵的访问,并使用我们的实验来描述其时空觅食模式的某些特征。Heliconiini蝴蝶在早晨表现出更高的活动,并具有很强的时间生态位重叠。观察到雄性和雌性之间觅食活动的差异,雌性觅食比雄性早,镜像已发表的实地研究。有些花比其他花更多,这可以解释为蝴蝶觅食同时影响彼此的花朵选择。喂食是在短时间内密集访问同一朵花,我们称之为喂食回合。Heliconius也经常访问同一朵花,与Helconius相比,非Helconius每天访问更多的花朵,并且它们的喂食次数更短。这与Heliconius比外群属具有更稳定的长期空间记忆和觅食偏好是一致的。更广泛地说,我们的研究表明,相机陷阱可以提供一个强大的工具来收集有关蝴蝶等小昆虫觅食行为的信息。©2024作者《生态学与进化》由JohnWiley&SonsLtd.出版。
The activity of many animals follows recurrent patterns and
foraging is one of the most important processes in their daily activity. Determining movement in the search for resources and understanding temporal and spatial patterns in
foraging has therefore long been central in behavioural ecology. However, identifying and monitoring animal movements is often challenging. In this study we assess the use of camera traps to track a very specific and small-scale interactions focused on the
foraging behaviour of Heliconiini butterflies. Data on floral visitation was recorded using marked individuals of three pollen-feeding species of Heliconius (H. erato, H. melpomene and H. sara), and two closely related, non-pollen feeding species (Dryas iulia and Dryadula phaetusa) in a large outdoor insectary. We demonstrate that camera traps efficiently capture individual flower visitation over multiple times and locations and use our experiments to describe some features of their spatial and temporal foraging patterns. Heliconiini butterflies showed higher activity in the morning with strong temporal niche overlap. Differences in
foraging activity between males and females was observed with females
foraging earlier than males, mirroring published field studies. Some flowers were more explored than others, which may be explained by butterflies foraging simultaneously affecting each other\'s flower choices. Feeding was grouped in short periods of intense visits to the same flower, which we refer to as feeding bouts. Heliconius also consistently visits the same flower, while non-Heliconius visited a greater number of flowers per day and their feeding bouts were shorter compared with Heliconius. This is consistent with Heliconius having more stable long-term spatial memory and
foraging preferences than outgroup genera. More broadly, our study demonstrates that camera traps can provide a powerful tool to gather information about foraging behaviour in small insects such as butterflies. © 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.