When more is less: the fitness consequences of predators attacking more unpalatable prey when more are presented |
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Authors: | Hannah M Rowland Elizabeth Wiley Graeme D Ruxton Johanna Mappes Michael P Speed |
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Institution: | 1.School of Biological Sciences, The University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK;2.Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK;3.Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, Jyväskylä 40014, Finland |
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Abstract: | In 1879, Fritz Müller hypothesized that mimetic resemblance in which defended prey display the same warning signal would share the costs of predator education. Although Müller argued that predators would need to ingest a fixed number of prey with a given visual signal when learning to avoid unpalatable prey, this assumption lacks empirical support. We report an experiment which shows that, as the number of unpalatable prey presented to them increased, avian predators attacked higher numbers of those prey. We calculated that, when predators increase attacks, the fitness costs incurred by unpalatable prey can be substantial. This suggests that the survival benefits of mimicry could be lower than Müller proposed. An important finding is, however, that these costs decline in importance as the total number of available prey increases. |
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Keywords: | Mü llerian mimicry Gallus gallus domesticus fixed n fitness |
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