A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Appearance before performance? : Nutritional constraints on life‐history traits, but not warning signal expression in aposematic moths (2020)


Lindstedt, C., Suisto, K., & Mappes, J. (2020). Appearance before performance? : Nutritional constraints on life‐history traits, but not warning signal expression in aposematic moths. Journal of Animal Ecology, 89(2), 494-505. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13103


JYU-tekijät tai -toimittajat


Julkaisun tiedot

Julkaisun kaikki tekijät tai toimittajat: Lindstedt, Carita; Suisto, Kaisa; Mappes, Johanna

Lehti tai sarja: Journal of Animal Ecology

ISSN: 0021-8790

eISSN: 1365-2656

Julkaisuvuosi: 2020

Volyymi: 89

Lehden numero: 2

Artikkelin sivunumerot: 494-505

Kustantaja: Wiley; British Ecological Society

Julkaisumaa: Britannia

Julkaisun kieli: englanti

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13103

Linkki tutkimusaineistoon: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bj7bg83

Julkaisun avoin saatavuus: Avoimesti saatavilla

Julkaisukanavan avoin saatavuus: Osittain avoin julkaisukanava

Julkaisu on rinnakkaistallennettu (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/65595


Tiivistelmä

1.Trade‐offs have been shown to play an important role in the divergence of mating strategies and sexual ornamentation, but their importance in explaining warning signal diversity has received less attention. In aposematic organisms, allocation costs of producing the conspicuous warning signal pigmentation under nutritional stress could potentially trade‐off with life‐history traits and maintain variation in warning colouration.

2. We studied this with an aposematic herbivore Arctia plantaginis (Arctiidae), whose larvae and adults show extensive variation in aposematic colouration. In larvae, less melanic colouration (i.e. larger orange patterns) produces a more efficient warning signal against predators, whereas high amounts of melanism (smaller orange pattern) enhance thermoregulation, correlate with better immunity and make individuals harder to detect for naïve predators.

3. We conducted a factorial rearing experiment with larvae originating from lines selected for either small or large orange signal size, which were reared on an artificial diet that had either low or high protein content. Protein content of the diet is critical for melanin production. We measured the effects of diet on individual colouration, life‐history traits, immune defence and reproductive output. We also compared the responses to dietary conditions between the small and large larval signal genotypes.

4. Protein content of the diet did not affect warning colouration in the larval stage, but larval signal sizes differed significantly among selection lines, confirming that its variation is mainly genetically determined. In adults, signal line or diet did not affect colouration in hindwings, but males’ forewings had more melanin on the high than on low protein diet. Contrary to colouration, diet quality had a stronger impact on life‐history traits: individuals developed for longer, had smaller hindwing sizes in females and lower immune defence on the low protein content diet compared to the high. These costs were higher for more melanic larval signal genotypes in terms of development time and female hindwing size.

5. We conclude that low plasticity in warning signal characteristics makes signal expression robust under varying dietary conditions. Therefore, variation in diet quality is not likely to constrain signal expression, but can have a bigger impact on performance.


YSO-asiasanat: varoitusväri; genotyyppi; ravinto; pariutuminen; plastisuus

Vapaat asiasanat: phenotypic plasticity; diet; signal evolution; melanin; genotype-by-environment interaction


Liittyvät organisaatiot


Hankkeet, joissa julkaisu on tehty


OKM-raportointi: Kyllä

Raportointivuosi: 2020

JUFO-taso: 2


Viimeisin päivitys 2024-22-04 klo 12:04