CEFE, CNRS, Univ. Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France.
ISYEB, CNRS, MNHN, Sorbonne Univ, EPHE, Univ. Antilles, 45 rue Buffon CP50, Paris, France.
J Evol Biol. 2021 Nov;34(11):1840-1846. doi: 10.1111/jeb.13943. Epub 2021 Oct 19.
Lepidoptera-a group of insects in which wing transparency has arisen multiple times-exhibits much variation in the size and position of transparent wing zones. However, little is known as to how this variability affects detectability. Here, we test how the size and position of transparent elements affect the predation of artificial moths by wild birds in the field. Morphs with transparent elements touching wing borders showed a reduced predation risk, with the effect being the same regardless of the number of wing borders being touched. By contrast, transparent element size had little to no effect on predation risk. Overall, this experiment shows for the first time that transparency offers higher protection when it disrupts prey contour in terrestrial habitats.
鳞翅目——一个翅膀透明多次出现的昆虫类群——在透明翅膀区域的大小和位置上表现出很大的变化。然而，对于这种可变性如何影响可检测性，我们知之甚少。在这里，我们在野外测试了透明元素的大小和位置如何影响野生鸟类对人工飞蛾的捕食。透明元素接触到翅膀边缘的形态显示出降低的捕食风险，无论接触到的翅膀边缘数量如何，效果都是一样的。相比之下，透明元素的大小对捕食风险几乎没有影响。总的来说，这项实验首次表明，在陆地栖息地，当透明性破坏猎物轮廓时，透明性提供更高的保护。
