What triggers colour change? Effects of background colour and temperature on the development of an alpine grasshopper.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Colour polymorphisms are a fascinating facet of many natural populations of plants and animals, and the selective processes that maintain such variation are as relevant as the processes which promote their development. Orthoptera, the insect group that encompasses grasshoppers and bush crickets, includes a particularly large number of species that are colour polymorphic with a marked green-brown polymorphism being particularly widespread. Colour polymorphism has been associated with the need for crypsis and background matching and background-dependent homochromy has been described in a few species. However, when and how different environmental conditions influence variation in colour remains poorly understood. Here we test for effects of background colour and ambient tem

SUBMITTER: Valverde JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4546165 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature