Eyespot peek-a-boo: Leaf rolls enhance the antipredator effect of insect eyespots.

ABSTRACT: Animal colour patterns are often accompanied by specific, synergistic behaviours to most effectively defend prey against visual predators. Given the inherent context-dependence of colour perception, understanding how these colour-behaviour synergies function in a species' natural environment is crucial. For example, refuge-building species create a unique visual environment where most (or all) of the body is obscured unless closely inspected. How these built environments affect the perception of defensive colour patterns by predators is not well understood. Using artificial caterpillars that resemble a refuge-building species with conspicuous markings (Papilio troilus; Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), I tested the hypothesis that leaf rolls amplify the antipredator effect of this species' eyesp

SUBMITTER: Postema EG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12056355 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature