By: Abby Campbell, Molly Cannon, and Marissa Freitas (Stonehill College, BIO323: Evolution, Spring 2022)
Safety in numbers: How Color Morph Frequency Affects Predation Risk in an Aposematic Moth is an article with the main purpose of understanding polymorphic warning signals in aposematic systems. This article was published by the American Naturalist in July 2021, written by Swanne P. Gordon, Emily Burdfield-Steel, Jimi Kirvesoja and Johanna Mappes. Aposematic is defined as a defense strategy that combines a primary warning signal (aposematic) with a secondary chemical defense. This study evaluated how bird behavior influenced the survival of three morphs of the aposematic wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis) that coexist in the same environment to a predator located from the same area. The three morphs of the moth were white, yellow, and red/ orange coloration. It calls attention to the need to understand predator foraging in natural environments with variable prey defenses to better examine how behavioral interactions between predator and prey affect evolutionary change.
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