Ritland David B
Department of Zoology, University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Oecologia. 1991 Sep;88(1):102-108. doi: 10.1007/BF00328409.
Understanding the dynamics of defensive mimicry requires accurately characterizing the comparative palatability of putative models and mimics. The Florida viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus floridensis) is traditionally considered a palatable Batesian mimic of the purportedly distasteful Florida queen (Danaus gilippus berenice). I re-evaluated this established hypothesis by directly assessing palatability of viceroys and queens to red-winged blackbirds in a laboratory experiment. Representative Florida viceroys were surprisingly unpalatable to red-wings; only 40% of viceroy abdomens were entirely eaten (compared to 98% of control butterfly abdomens), and nearly one-third were immediately tasterejected after a single peck. In fact, the viceroys were significantly more unpalatable than representative Florida queens, of which 65% were eaten and 14% taste-rejected. Thus, viceroys and queens from the sampled populations exemplify Müllerian rather than Batesian mimicry, and the viceroy appears to be the stronger model. These findings prompt a reassessment of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of this classic mimicry relationship.
要理解防御性拟态的动态变化，需要准确描述假定的模型和拟态者的相对适口性。传统上，佛罗里达州的副王蛱蝶（Limenitis archippus floridensis）被认为是一种可口的贝氏拟态，模仿的是据称味道不佳的佛罗里达州君主斑蝶（Danaus gilippus berenice）。我通过在实验室实验中直接评估副王蛱蝶和君主斑蝶对红翅黑鹂的适口性，重新评估了这一既定假设。具有代表性的佛罗里达州副王蛱蝶对红翅黑鹂来说出奇地难吃；只有40%的副王蛱蝶腹部被完全吃掉（相比之下，对照蝴蝶腹部的这一比例为98%），近三分之一在被啄了一口后立即被拒绝食用。事实上，副王蛱蝶比具有代表性的佛罗里达州君主斑蝶难吃得多，后者有65%被吃掉，14%被拒绝食用。因此，来自抽样种群的副王蛱蝶和君主斑蝶体现的是缪勒拟态而非贝氏拟态，而且副王蛱蝶似乎是更强的模型。这些发现促使人们重新评估这种经典拟态关系的生态和进化动态。
