Trade-offs in female signal apparency to males offer alternative anti-harassment strategies for colour polymorphic females

Journal of Evolutionary Biology
O M Fincke

Abstract

Colour polymorphisms are known to influence receiver behaviour, but how they affect a receiver's ability to detect and recognize individuals in nature is usually unknown. I hypothesized that polymorphic female damselflies represent an evolutionary stable strategy, maintained by trade-offs between the relative apparency of morphs to male receivers. Using field experiments on Enallagma hageni and focal studies of E. hageni and Enallagma boreale, I tested for the first time the predictions that (i) green heteromorphs and blue andromorphs gain differential protection from sexual harassment via background crypsis and sexual mimicry, respectively, and (ii) female morphs behaviourally optimize their signal apparency to mate-searching males. First, based on male reactions elicited by females, against a high-contrast background, the two morphs did not differ in being detected by males, and once detected, they did not differ in being recognized (eliciting sexual reactions). However, on green ferns, heteromorphs were less likely to be detected (elicited only fly-bys) than andromorphs, but once detected, the morphs did not differ in being recognized. In contrast, when perched on a dowel with two male signal distractors, andromorphs were de...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 26, 2015·PloS One·Francesca FratiGianandrea Salerno
Oct 11, 2016·Current Opinion in Insect Science·Ryo Futahashi
Mar 20, 2018·PloS One·Kandace M Flanary, Jerald B Johnson
Jul 13, 2016·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Michael J DomingueThomas C Baker
Jun 24, 2020·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Md Kawsar Khan
Jul 27, 2017·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Alexandra A BarnardJohn P Masly
May 13, 2021·Ecology and Evolution·Silvana PiersantiOla M Fincke

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