To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth
Melanin production is often considered costly, yet beneficial for thermoregulation. Studies of variation in melanization and the opposing selective forces that underlie its variability contribute greatly to understanding natural selection. We investigated whether melanization benefits are traded off...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574392 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23363631 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2812 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3574392 2023-05-15T17:39:14+02:00 To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth Hegna, Robert H. Nokelainen, Ossi Hegna, Jonathan R. Mappes, Johanna 2013-03-22 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574392 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23363631 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2812 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574392 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23363631 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2812 © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Research Articles Text 2013 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2812 2014-03-23T01:27:52Z Melanin production is often considered costly, yet beneficial for thermoregulation. Studies of variation in melanization and the opposing selective forces that underlie its variability contribute greatly to understanding natural selection. We investigated whether melanization benefits are traded off with predation risk to promote observed local and geographical variation in the warning signal of adult male wood tiger moths (Parasemia plantaginis). Warning signal variation is predicted to reduce survival in aposematic species. However, in P. plantaginis, male hindwings are either yellow or white in Europe, and show continuous variation in melanized markings that cover 20 to 90 per cent of the hindwing. We found that the amount of melanization increased from 40 to 59 per cent between Estonia (58° N) and north Finland (67° N), suggesting melanization carries thermoregulatory benefits. Our thermal measurements showed that more melanic individuals warmed up more quickly on average than less melanic individuals, which probably benefits flight in cold temperatures. With extensive field experiments in central Finland and the Alpine region, we found that more melanic individuals suffered increased predation. Together, our data suggest that warning signal efficiency is constrained by thermoregulatory benefits. Differences in relative costs and benefits of melanin probably help to maintain the geographical warning signal differences. Text North Finland PubMed Central (PMC) Shiver ENVELOPE(-61.417,-61.417,-65.050,-65.050) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280 1755 20122812 |
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Research Articles |
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Research Articles Hegna, Robert H. Nokelainen, Ossi Hegna, Jonathan R. Mappes, Johanna To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth |
topic_facet |
Research Articles |
description |
Melanin production is often considered costly, yet beneficial for thermoregulation. Studies of variation in melanization and the opposing selective forces that underlie its variability contribute greatly to understanding natural selection. We investigated whether melanization benefits are traded off with predation risk to promote observed local and geographical variation in the warning signal of adult male wood tiger moths (Parasemia plantaginis). Warning signal variation is predicted to reduce survival in aposematic species. However, in P. plantaginis, male hindwings are either yellow or white in Europe, and show continuous variation in melanized markings that cover 20 to 90 per cent of the hindwing. We found that the amount of melanization increased from 40 to 59 per cent between Estonia (58° N) and north Finland (67° N), suggesting melanization carries thermoregulatory benefits. Our thermal measurements showed that more melanic individuals warmed up more quickly on average than less melanic individuals, which probably benefits flight in cold temperatures. With extensive field experiments in central Finland and the Alpine region, we found that more melanic individuals suffered increased predation. Together, our data suggest that warning signal efficiency is constrained by thermoregulatory benefits. Differences in relative costs and benefits of melanin probably help to maintain the geographical warning signal differences. |
format |
Text |
author |
Hegna, Robert H. Nokelainen, Ossi Hegna, Jonathan R. Mappes, Johanna |
author_facet |
Hegna, Robert H. Nokelainen, Ossi Hegna, Jonathan R. Mappes, Johanna |
author_sort |
Hegna, Robert H. |
title |
To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth |
title_short |
To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth |
title_full |
To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth |
title_fullStr |
To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth |
title_full_unstemmed |
To quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth |
title_sort |
to quiver or to shiver: increased melanization benefits thermoregulation, but reduces warning signal efficacy in the wood tiger moth |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574392 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23363631 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2812 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.417,-61.417,-65.050,-65.050) |
geographic |
Shiver |
geographic_facet |
Shiver |
genre |
North Finland |
genre_facet |
North Finland |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574392 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23363631 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2812 |
op_rights |
© 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2812 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
280 |
container_issue |
1755 |
container_start_page |
20122812 |
_version_ |
1766139996602892288 |