Different reactions to aposematic prey in 2 geographically distant populations of great tits

Abstract

Variation in predator behavior toward aposematic prey was frequently studied at interspecific and individual levels, but interpopulation differences have been neglected. Geographic differences in prey fauna offer an opportunity to test their implications for predator behavior. It can be expected that 1) predator populations inhabiting environments with high diversity of aposematic prey are more neophobic than those living in areas where aposematic prey are scarce, and 2) different levels of neophobia jointly with avoidance learning affect selection on aposematic prey. We compared the behavior of wild-caught great tits (Parus major) from Bohemia and Central Finland toward aposematic firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus), nonaposematic firebugs, novel objects and novel palatable nonaposematic prey. Finnish and Bohemian birds did not differ in their novel-object exploration, but Finnish birds hesitated longer than Bohemian birds before resuming feeding next to a novel object. Latencies to attack novel palatable prey did not differ and were not correlated with the attitude toward novel objects. Tits from the Bohemian population mostly avoided aposematic firebugs and attacked nonaposematic ones. Finnish birds were more likely to attack both firebug color forms, and their attack latencies were correlated with latencies of attacking novel palatable prey. Thus, Bohemian birds avoided the aposematic prey, but were not more neophobic than Finnish birds. These results suggest that differences between Finnish and Bohemian birds in behavior to aposematic prey do not follow differences in exploration strategy and neophobia. The observed differences can be explained by a different experience with local aposematic prey communities.

Prey colour biases in jumping spiders (Habronattus brunneus) differ across populations

“…The chemical defences of these two groups are poorly understood (Lin, ; Wood, , ), but at least some species such as Umbonia crassicornis (oak treehopper) and Platycotis viltata (thorn bug) have striking aposematic colouration and are rejected by lizards as prey on the basis of taste (Wood, , ). Indeed, there is extensive evidence for aposematism in many related families of larger and better studied hemipterans (e.g., frog hoppers/spittle bugs (Peck, ; Thompson & Carvalho, ), stink bugs (Gamberale‐Stille, Johansen, & Tullberg, ; Krall, Bartelt, Lewis, & Whitman, ), milkweed bugs (Skow & Jakob, ), harlequin bugs (Fabricant, Exnerova, Jezova, & Stys, ), and firebugs (Exnerova et al, )). While we have evidence of Habronattus frequently feeding on green leafhoppers in the field, we have never observed them feeding on species with bright colour patterns (pers.…”

“…Prey colour biases could also be shaped by factors other than learning. If a habitat lacks any red prey types, neophobia rather than experience may still drive biases against red (Exnerova et al, ). Similarly, innate biases could explain avoidance of red by naïve predators (Mastrota & Mench, ; Schuler & Hesse, ).…”

“…Surprisingly, very little is known about how different populations of conspecific predators differ in their responses to aposematic prey. A single recent study has shown that great tits, Parus major , from two separate populations differ in their interactions with aposematic heteropteran prey and these differences are likely driven by experience (Exnerova, Jezova, Stys, Doktorovova, & Rojas, B., & Mappes, ). While the aforementioned study evaluated how heteropteran fauna may differ across habitats using species records in the literature, studies have yet to examine such relationships by directly surveying prey.…”

“…Foraging Habronattus pyrrithrix show colour biases in prey choice that are likely a result of both innate and learned components (Taylor et al, ); as such, these biases are flexible and modified with experience (Taylor et al, ). Unlike birds, jumping spiders do not migrate long distances during their adult lives and thus may be easier models in which to study predator interactions within distinct prey communities (see Exnerova et al, ).…”

Testing the adaptive hypothesis of Batesian mimicry among hybridizing North American admiral butterflies

“…warning coloration (Brower 1958a, b;Huheey 1980;Ruxton et al 2004;Exnerová et al 2015), and therefore avoid palatable mimics, field-based tests of Batesian mimicry theory are far less common (but see: Jeffords et al 1979;Hetz and Slobodchikoff 1988;Winand et al 1993;Pfennig et al 2001Pfennig et al , 2007Howarth et al 2004;Rashed and Sherratt 2007;Finkbeiner et al 2017Finkbeiner et al , 2018.…”