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Reduced palatability, fast flight, and tails: decoding the defence arsenal of Eudaminae skipper butterflies in a Neotropical locality.
Linke, Daniel; Hernandez Mejia, Jacqueline; Eche Navarro, Valery N P; Salinas Sánchez, Letty; de Gusmão Ribeiro, Pedro; Elias, Marianne; Matos-Maraví, Pável.
Afiliação
  • Linke D; Biology Centre CAS (Czech Academy of Sciences), Institute of Entomology, Ceské Budejovice, Czechia.
  • Hernandez Mejia J; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceské Budejovice, Czechia.
  • Eche Navarro VNP; Departamento de Ornitología, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
  • de Gusmão Ribeiro P; Departamento de Ornitología, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
  • Elias M; Biology Centre CAS (Czech Academy of Sciences), Institute of Entomology, Ceské Budejovice, Czechia.
  • Matos-Maraví P; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceské Budejovice, Czechia.
J Evol Biol ; 37(9): 1064-1075, 2024 Aug 27.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39044333
ABSTRACT
Prey often rely on multiple defences against predators, such as flight speed, attack deflection from vital body parts, or unpleasant taste, but our understanding on how often and why they are co-exhibited remains limited. Eudaminae skipper butterflies use fast flight and mechanical defences (hindwing tails), but whether they use other defences like unpalatability (consumption deterrence) and how these defences interact have not been assessed. We tested the palatability of 12 abundant Eudaminae species in Peru, using training and feeding experiments with domestic chicks. Further, we approximated the difficulty of capture based on flight speed and quantified it by wing loading. We performed phylogenetic regressions to find any association between multiple defences, body size, and habitat preference. We found a broad range of palatability in Eudaminae, within and among species. Contrary to current understanding, palatability was negatively correlated with wing loading, suggesting that faster butterflies tend to have lower palatability. The relative length of hindwing tails did not explain the level of butterfly palatability, showing that attack deflection and consumption deterrence are not mutually exclusive. Habitat preference (open or forested environments) did not explain the level of palatability either, although butterflies with high wing loading tended to occupy semi-closed or closed habitats. Finally, the level of unpalatability in Eudaminae is size dependent. Larger butterflies are less palatable, perhaps because of higher detectability/preference by predators. Altogether, our findings shed light on the contexts favouring the prevalence of single versus multiple defensive strategies in prey.
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Comportamento Predatório / Borboletas / Voo Animal Limite: Animals País/Região como assunto: America do sul / Peru Idioma: En Revista: J Evol Biol Assunto da revista: BIOLOGIA Ano de publicação: 2024 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Comportamento Predatório / Borboletas / Voo Animal Limite: Animals País/Região como assunto: America do sul / Peru Idioma: En Revista: J Evol Biol Assunto da revista: BIOLOGIA Ano de publicação: 2024 Tipo de documento: Article