Context-dependent crypsis: a prey's perspective of a color polymorphic predator

Die Naturwissenschaften
D Rodríguez-MoralesD Rao

Abstract

Many animals use body coloration as a strategy to communicate with conspecifics, prey, and predators. Color is a trade-off for some species, since they should be visible to conspecifics but cryptic to predators and prey. Some flower-dwelling predators, such as crab spiders, are capable of choosing the color of flowers where they ambush flower visitors and pollinators. In order to avoid being captured, visitors evaluate flowers visually before landing. The crab spider Mecaphesa dubia is a polymorphic species (white/purple color morphs), which inhabits the flower heads of a dune plant, Palafoxia lindenii. Using full-spectrum photography of spiders and flowers, we evaluated how honeybees perceived the spiders at different distances. Using visual modeling, we obtained the chromatic and achromatic contrasts of the spiders on flower heads as perceived by honeybees. Purple morphs were found mainly on the receptacle area and white morphs were equally likely to be found in the flowers and receptacle. According to theoretical modeling, white morphs were visible to honeybees from a distance of 10 cm in receptacle area but appeared to be cryptic in the flower area. Purple morphs were cryptic on the receptacle and less so when they were on ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 31, 2021·Scientific Reports·Dulce Rodríguez-MoralesDinesh Rao

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Software Mentioned

Multispectral Image Calibration and Analysis ( MICA ) Toolbox
MICA Toolbox
ImageJ
MICA
JMP
R package AcuityView

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