| Title |
Deimatic Display in the European Swallowtail Butterfly as a Secondary Defence against Attacks from Great Tits
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
PLOS ONE, October 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0047092 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Martin Olofsson, Stephan Eriksson, Sven Jakobsson, Christer Wiklund |
| Abstract |
Many animals reduce the risk of being attacked by a predator through crypsis, masquerade or, alternatively, by advertising unprofitability by means of aposematic signalling. Behavioural attributes in prey employed after discovery, however, signify the importance of also having an effective secondary defence if a predator uncovers, or is immune to, the prey's primary defence. In butterflies, as in most animals, secondary defence generally consists of escape flights. However, some butterfly species have evolved other means of secondary defence such as deimatic displays/startle displays. The European swallowtail, Papilio machaon, employs what appears to be a startle display by exposing its brightly coloured dorsal wing surface upon disturbance and, if the disturbance continues, by intermittently protracting and relaxing its wing muscles generating a jerky motion of the wings. This display appears directed towards predators but whether it is effective in intimidating predators so that they refrain from attacks has never been tested experimentally. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 50% |
| Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 2 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 65 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| India | 1 | 2% |
| Panama | 1 | 2% |
| Brazil | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 62 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 16 | 25% |
| Student > Bachelor | 13 | 20% |
| Researcher | 11 | 17% |
| Student > Master | 8 | 12% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 4 | 6% |
| Unknown | 10 | 15% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 39 | 60% |
| Environmental Science | 6 | 9% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 6% |
| Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 1 | 2% |
| Psychology | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 13 | 20% |