Source: Uppsala Universitet
In the animal kingdom colorful
traits can be both a blessing and a curse. A new study from a group of
researchers at Uppsala University has studied the conspicuous wing coloration
of two species of damselflies. Their results imply that males, but not females,
pay a high cost when using color to communicate with other damselflies, both in
terms of predation risk and visibility to prey.
Many animals, such as parrots,
tropical fish or butterflies, are very colorful. Such colorful displays are
favoured in sexual selection as they make the animal stand out, and color may
therefore enhance mating success. However, color can also be costly, as it
makes the animal more conspicuous to both predators and prey. colorful traits
are therefore subject to opposing selection pressures: positive sexual
selection by conspecifics (increased mating success) and negative natural
selection by predators (higher predation risk) and prey (lowered hunting
success).
In the new paper the researchers
studied the conspicuous wing coloration of two species of damselflies, which
are predated by birds and prey on small flies. The conspicuous wing coloration
is used in color communication between the sexes and between different species
of damselflies.
Using electrophysiology, they
first determined the color vision of the damselflies and found that they see
well in UV as well as in the human visible range. Second, the researchers
measured the wing coloration using spectrophotometry and confirmed that males
are more colorful than females.
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