Predator-prey Interactions Flashcards
What is red queen evolution used?
To describe the evolutionary arms race between predators and prey
Give an example of red queen evolution
AS cheetah become faster they increase their hunting success, in turn it drives the rapid evolution of their prey
Leads to co evolution due to the antagonistic interactions
What are cryptic prey?
Prey that matches its surroundings
What did Luc Tinbergen suggest predators do when they encounter cryptic prey?
Create a search image
What is the underwing moth and what are the two hypotheses for its colouration?
Cryptic fore wings and brightly coloured hind wings
- Forewings decrease detection
- Hindwings may have a ‘startle effect’
Give an example of a study that supports the crypsis hypothesis
Blue jays by Pietrewicz and Kamil (1980)
Made more mistakes identifying moths when they were on a cryptic background
Series of images containing the same species was run accuracy improved- a search image was created
How does search image relate to apostatic selection?
If a predator builds a search image of the most common morph then less common ones will be overlooked even when present
How is polymorphism promoted in apostatic selection?
Rarer morphs will have greater survival rates
What was found in the study by Valin et al. (2007) which looked at the startle effect in peacock butterflies?
By manipulating the eyespots it can startle the predator reducing the likelihood of the butterfly being eaten
The hissing sound however seems to have no effect on the predator
What did Wallace suggest aposematism (bright colours) could be in a letter to Darwin?
A warning to advertise their unpalatability
What are the two ideas for whether conspicuity or distastefulness evolved first?
Conspicuity evolved from mate attraction and this increased the threat from predators, therefore selecting distastefulness
Distastefulness evolved first because plant feeding species sequester toxins making them unpalatable
Who came up with mullerian mimicry?
Fritz muller (1878)
What is mullerian mimicry?
Distasteful organisms living in proximity will look similar to facilitate learning avoidance in predators
Both are distasteful
Who was the first to note batesian mimicry?
Henry Walter Bates (1862)
What is batesian mimicry?
Palatable species can mimic distasteful ones
