scholarly journals A field test for frequency-dependent selection on mimetic colour patterns inHeliconiusbutterflies

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricio Alejandro Salazar Carrión ◽  
Martin Stevens ◽  
Robert T. Jones ◽  
Imogen Ogilvie ◽  
Chris Jiggins
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Zone ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Large Signal ◽  
Warning Signals ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Frequency Dependent Selection ◽  
Bird Vision ◽  
Signal Diversity ◽  
Colour Patterns ◽  
Colour Morphs

Müllerian mimicry, the similarity among unpalatable species, is thought to evolve by frequency-dependent selection. Accordingly, phenotypes that become established in an area are positively selected because predators have learnt to avoid these forms, while introduced phenotypes are eliminated because predators have not yet learnt to associate these other forms with unprofitability. We tested this prediction in two areas where different colour morphs of the mimetic speciesHeliconius eratoandH. melpomenehave become established, as well as in the hybrid zone between these morphs. In each area we tested for selection on three colour patterns: the two parental and the most common hybrid. We recorded bird predation on butterfly models with paper wings, matching the appearance of each morph to bird vision, and plasticine bodies. We did not detect differences in survival between colour morphs, but all morphs were more highly attacked in the hybrid zone. This finding is consistent with recent evidence from controlled experiments with captive birds, which suggest that the effectiveness of warning signals decreases when a large signal diversity is available to predators. This is likely to occur in the hybrid zone where over twenty hybrid phenotypes coexist.

scholarly journals Warning signals are under positive frequency-dependent selection in nature

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 2164-2169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Chouteau ◽  
Mónica Arias ◽  
Mathieu Joron
Keyword(s):  
Life History Traits ◽  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Warning Signal ◽  
Warning Signals ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Frequency Dependent Selection ◽  
Local Abundance ◽  
Signal Diversity ◽  
Predator Community ◽  
Positive Frequency

Positive frequency-dependent selection (FDS) is a selection regime where the fitness of a phenotype increases with its frequency, and it is thought to underlie important adaptive strategies resting on signaling and communication. However, whether and how positive FDS truly operates in nature remains unknown, which hampers our understanding of signal diversity. Here, we test for positive FDS operating on the warning color patterns of chemically defended butterflies forming multiple coexisting mimicry assemblages in the Amazon. Using malleable prey models placed in localities showing differences in the relative frequencies of warningly colored prey, we demonstrate that the efficiency of a warning signal increases steadily with its local frequency in the natural community, up to a threshold where protection stabilizes. The shape of this relationship is consistent with the direct effect of the local abundance of each warning signal on the corresponding avoidance knowledge of the local predator community. This relationship, which differs from purifying selection acting on each mimetic pattern, indicates that predator knowledge, integrated over the entire community, is saturated only for the most common warning signals. In contrast, among the well-established warning signals present in local prey assemblages, most are incompletely known to local predators and enjoy incomplete protection. This incomplete predator knowledge should generate strong benefits to life history traits that enhance warning efficiency by increasing the effective frequency of prey visible to predators. Strategies such as gregariousness or niche convergence between comimics may therefore readily evolve through their effects on predator knowledge and warning efficiency.

Frequency-dependent predation, crypsis and aposematic coloration

1988 ◽  
Vol 319 (1196) ◽  
pp. 505-523 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Frequency Dependent Selection ◽  
Aposematic Coloration ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Colour Patterns

Frequency-dependent predation may maintain or prevent colour pattern polymorphisms in prey, and can be caused by a variety of biological phenomena, including perceptual processes (search images), optimal foraging and learning. Most species are preyed upon by more than one predator species, which are likely to differ in foraging styles, perceptual and learning abilities. Depending upon the interaction between predator vision, background and colour pattern parameters, certain morphs may be actively maintained in some conditions and not in others, even with the same predators. More than one kind of predator will also affect stability, and only slight changes in conditions can cause a transition between polymorphism and monomorphism. Frequency-dependent selection is not a panacea for the explanation of variation in animal colour patterns, although it may be important in some systems.

Frequency-Dependent Selection at the Payne Inversion in Drosophila melanogaster

Evolution ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 558 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nassar ◽  
H. J. Muhs ◽  
R. D. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Frequency Dependent Selection

scholarly journals A geographic cline induced by negative frequency-dependent selection

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuma Takahashi ◽  
Satoru Morita ◽  
Jin Yoshimura ◽  
Mamoru Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Frequency Dependent Selection ◽  
Negative Frequency Dependent Selection

Mating success of alternative male phenotypes and evidence for frequency-dependent selection in Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (12) ◽  
pp. 1933-1941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry A. Berejikian ◽  
Donald M. Van Doornik ◽  
Rob C. Endicott ◽  
Timothy L. Hoffnagle ◽  
Eugene P. Tezak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Frequency Dependent Selection ◽  
Male Density ◽  
The Family ◽  
Breeding Groups ◽  
One Year

As with other species, frequency-dependent selection during reproduction has long been proposed as an important mechanism in maintaining alternative male reproductive phenotypes in Pacific salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.). Jack salmon mature one year earlier than the youngest females in a population and are much smaller than older “adult” males. We tested the hypothesis that mating success of both phenotypes is consistent with the frequency-dependent selection model. By holding male density constant and varying the frequency of adults and jacks in eight separate breeding groups, we found that adult male access to females, participation in spawning events, and adult-to-fry reproductive success increased with their decreasing frequency in a breeding group. Jacks exhibited the same pattern (increasing success with decreasing frequency), although the relationships were not as strong as for adults. Overall, jack and adult males mated with a similar number of females, but jacks sired only 20% of all offspring. Observational data suggested that adult males benefited from sperm precedence associated with their ability to court females and enter the nest first at the time of spawning. Our work provides the first experimental evidence of frequency-dependent selection during mating in the family Salmonidae.

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