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Disruptive coloration provides camouflage independent of background matching - PubMed

  • ️Sun Jan 01 2006

Disruptive coloration provides camouflage independent of background matching

H Martin Schaefer et al. Proc Biol Sci. 2006.

Abstract

Natural selection shapes the evolution of anti-predator defences, such as camouflage. It is currently contentious whether crypsis and disruptive coloration are alternative mechanisms of camouflage or whether they are interrelated anti-predator defences. Disruptively coloured prey is characterized by highly contrasting patterns to conceal the body shape, whereas cryptic prey minimizes the contrasts to background. Determining bird predation of artificial moths, we found that moths which were dissimilar from the background but sported disruptive patterns on the edge of their wings survived better in heterogeneous habitats than did moths with the same patterns inside of the wings and better than cryptic moths. Despite lower contrasts to background, crypsis did not provide fitness benefits over disruptive coloration on the body outline. We conclude that disruptive coloration on the edge camouflages its bearer independent of background matching. We suggest that this result is explainable because disruptive coloration is effective by exploiting predators' cognitive mechanisms of prey recognition and not their sensory mechanisms of signal detection. Relative to disruptive patterns on the body outline, disruptive markings on the body interior are less effective. Camouflage owing to disruptive coloration on the body interior is background-specific and is as effective as crypsis in heterogeneous habitats. Hence, we hypothesize that two proximate mechanisms explain the diversity of visual anti-predator defences. First, disruptive coloration on the body outline provides camouflage independent of the background. Second, background matching and disruptive coloration on the body interior provide camouflage, but their protection is background-specific.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

The survival probabilities of artificial moths on (a) birch trunks and (b) moss. Solid lines indicate the disruptively coloured ‘edge’ moths with marginal spots, whereas dashed lines indicate the ‘inside’ moth types with spots inside the wings. Black lines represent the edge form with pink marginal markings and its corresponding inside form with pink spots on the wing interior. Grey lines represent the edge form with marginal brown spots and its corresponding form with brown spots inside the wing. The grey spotted line represents the cryptic moth type.

Figure 2
Figure 2

Survival probabilities of blue artificial moths with pink spots on birch trunks (grey lines) and on moss (black lines). Solid lines indicate edge forms, whereas dashed lines indicate inside forms.

Comment in

  • Disruptive and cryptic coloration.

    Endler JA. Endler JA. Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Oct 7;273(1600):2425-6. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3650. Proc Biol Sci. 2006. PMID: 16959630 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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