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Learning of salient prey traits explains Batesian mimicry evolution.

Baharan Kazemi1, Gabriella Gamberale-Stille1, Therese Wåtz1

  • 1Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|January 10, 2018
PubMed
Summary

Batesian mimicry evolves through major mutations followed by minor improvements. This study shows that the salience of these changes, or how noticeable they are to predators, aligns with learning psychology, supporting evolutionary theories.

Keywords:
Discrimination learninggeneralizationmimicry evolutionsaliencetwo-step hypothesis

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Learning Psychology

Background:

  • Batesian mimicry involves a palatable species evolving to resemble a harmful model.
  • Evolutionary steps include an initial major mutation and subsequent smaller refinements.
  • Learning psychology offers insights into predator-prey interactions and mimicry perception.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of learning psychology in the evolution of Batesian mimicry.
  • To test predictions about the salience of successive mutations in mimicry development.
  • To examine mimicry in Papilio polyxenes asterius mimicking Battus philenor.

Main Methods:

  • Experiments using wild birds as predators and semi-artificial butterfly prey.
  • Utilized hybrid wings of P. p. asterius and Papilio machaon to simulate early mutations.
  • Assessed predator discrimination based on varying degrees of melanism and appearance differences.

Main Results:

  • Melanism, as a hypothesized initial trait, demonstrated high salience, allowing easy predator discrimination.
  • Intermediate salience was observed between the initial mutant and the model, facilitating further mimicry refinement.
  • Very low salience was found in the final mimic-model difference, indicating evolutionary leveling off.

Conclusions:

  • Results support traditional hypotheses on Batesian mimicry evolution.
  • Findings align with learning psychology principles regarding the impact of salience.
  • Salience plays a crucial role in the step-by-step evolution of mimicry.