Animal body colours can be shaped by many factors, including the need to attract mates, avoid predators and lure prey. In some contexts, these needs might compete. A number of studies have recently demonstrated that the silver, white, yellow or red bodies of spiders attract mates, lure prey or startle predators. Nevertheless, when spider bodies display different colours, little is known about the multifunctionality of the colours and whether they interact. The Australasian coin spider, Herrenia multipuncta, displays unconventional body coloration, with orange, black and grey regions across its body. We hypothesized that its coloration serves a multifunctional role, with the dorsal orange bands on its prosoma attracting prey and its orange ventrum deterring predators. We tested our hypothesis with field and laboratory experiments using dummies and real spiders, and modelling the visibility of the various colours to different predators and prey. Our field experiment showed significant prey attraction towards the orange‐grey dorsal pattern during the day and night, while our laboratory experiment showed that the lizard Japalura swinhonis stared at spiders and hesitated before attacking spiders when the orange abdominal region was uncovered. Our various visual models confirmed our experimental results by showing that the orange and grey body parts were always visible when contrasted against their natural backgrounds. Combined, our analyses provide evidence to conclude that the orange body colour of H. multipuncta is multifunctional, serving in both prey attraction and predator avoidance. A plain language summary is available for this article.
The genus Sorghum consists of 25 species, including Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, one of the top five cereal crops cultivated globally, and S. halepense, one of the most noxious weeds. Weedy Sorghum possesses outstanding adaptability and drought tolerance thrives in diverse environments and becomes an invasive plant worldwide. Taiwan is a unique place possessing suitable habitats for four Sorghum taxa, S. bicolor ssp. bicolor, var. technicum, ssp. verticilliflorum and S. halepense, which were identified by key morphological features. The four Sorghum taxa showed distinct geographic distributions, revealing that invasiveness was influenced by their own characteristics and human activities. The sporadic distributions of cultivated S. bicolor ssp. bicolor and var. technicum may be attributed to human disturbance and agricultural activities. The rhizomatous S. halepense was widely distributed and showed the highest genetic diversity (He > 0.776) among the four taxa, with its strong adaptation to various environments threatening the agricultural practices and ecosystem in Taiwan. In contrast, the newly naturalised S. bicolor ssp. verticilliflorum was confined to and dominant in southern Taiwan, with the lowest genetic diversity (He < 0.272). Significant genetic differentiation (FST = 0.5207) between the two ssp. verticilliflorum subpopulations was associated with natural geographic isolation. This study concretely elucidated the geographic distributions, genetic diversity and relatedness of invasive and escaped Sorghum taxa, indicating the potential aggressiveness and hazard of weedy Sorghum in Taiwan.
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