Caterpillars that eat multiple plant species are more susceptible to hungry birds

Dietary choices are evolutionary expression of risk vs. reward, UCI-Wesleyan study finds

2014-06-16

(Press-News.org) Irvine, Calif. — For caterpillars, having a well-rounded diet can be fraught with peril.

UC Irvine and Wesleyan University biologists have learned that caterpillars that feed on one or two plant species are better able to hide from predatory birds than caterpillars that consume a wide variety of plants.

This is probably because the color patterns and hiding behaviors of the caterpillar "specialists" have evolved to allow them to blend into the background flora more effectively than caterpillars that eat many different plant species. Moving among these diverse plant types, the nonspecialists are not as camouflaged, making them easier for hungry birds to spot.

"It's a classic example of risk vs. reward," said Kailen Mooney, associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology at UC Irvine. "Evolutionarily speaking, a caterpillar must choose between having a broad array of plants to feed upon but facing increased risk of being nabbed by a bird" and having a very limited menu but being less exposed to predators.

Mooney and Michael Singer, associate professor of biology at Wesleyan, led the study, which appears in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.

Furthermore, the researchers found that all of this matters a lot to the plants. A species consumed by caterpillars more vulnerable to birds (those with varied diets) benefits from birds removing those caterpillars. In contrast, a plant species fed upon by caterpillars better able to hide from birds (those with highly restricted diets) doesn't benefit as much from birds and must instead defend itself.

Mooney noted that this insight into the secret lives of caterpillars reveals not only the processes driving the evolution of insect diets but also the broad significance of caterpillar feeding for associated plants and birds.

INFORMATION:

Isaac Lichter-Marck and Timothy Farkas of Wesleyan, Eric Aaron of Vassar College and Kenneth Whitney of the University of New Mexico contributed to the study, which received support from the National Science Foundation (grants 1146203, 1257965, 1120794 and 0919178).

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hunt for extraterrestrial life gets massive methane boost

2014-06-16

A powerful new model to detect life on planets outside of our solar system, more accurately than ever before, has been developed by UCL (University College London) researchers. The new model focuses on methane, the simplest organic molecule, widely acknowledged to be a sign of potential life. Researchers from UCL and the University of New South Wales have developed a new spectrum for 'hot' methane which can be used to detect the molecule at temperatures above that of Earth, up to 1,500K/1220°C – something which was not possible before. To find out what remote planets ...

Physician anesthesiologists identify 5 tests and procedures to avoid

2014-06-16

Proving that less really is more, five specific tests or procedures commonly performed in anesthesiology that may not be necessary and, in some cases should be avoided, will be published online June 16 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The "Top-five" list was created by the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®) for inclusion in the ABIM Foundation's Choosing Wisely® campaign. "The Top-five list of activities to question in anesthesiology was developed in an effort to reduce unnecessary, costly procedures and improve patient care," said Onyi Onuoha, M.D., M.P.H., lead ...

Your genes affect your betting behavior

2014-06-16

Investors and gamblers take note: your betting decisions and strategy are determined, in part, by your genes. University of California, Berkeley, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) researchers have shown that betting decisions in a simple competitive game are influenced by the specific variants of dopamine-regulating genes in a person's brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter – a chemical released by brain cells to signal other brain cells – that is a key part of the brain's reward and pleasure-seeking system. Dopamine deficiency leads to Parkinson's ...

When genes play games

2014-06-16

Berkeley — What do you get when you mix theorists in computer science with evolutionary biologists? You get an algorithm to explain sex. It turns out that 155 years after Charles Darwin first published "On the Origin of Species," vexing questions remain about key aspects of evolution, such as how sexual recombination and natural selection produced the teeming diversity of life that exists today. The answer could lie in the game that genes play during sexual recombination, and computer theorists at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified an algorithm ...

Quantum biology: Algae evolved to switch quantum coherence on and off

2014-06-16

A UNSW Australia-led team of researchers has discovered how algae that survive in very low levels of light are able to switch on and off a weird quantum phenomenon that occurs during photosynthesis. The function in the algae of this quantum effect, known as coherence, remains a mystery, but it is thought it could help them harvest energy from the sun much more efficiently. Working out its role in a living organism could lead to technological advances, such as better organic solar cells and quantum-based electronic devices. The research is published in the journal Proceedings ...

Quantum theory reveals puzzling pattern in how people respond to some surveys

2014-06-16

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers used quantum theory – usually invoked to describe the actions of subatomic particles – to identify an unexpected and strange pattern in how people respond to survey questions. By conventional standards, the results are surprising: The scientists found the exact same pattern in 70 nationally representative surveys from Gallup and the Pew Research center taken from 2001 to 2011, as well as in two laboratory experiments. Most of the national surveys included more than 1,000 respondents in the United States. "Human behavior is very sensitive ...

Computation leads to better understanding of influenza virus replication

2014-06-16

Treating influenza relies on drugs such as Amantadine that are becoming less and less effective due to viral evolution. But University of Chicago scientists have published computational results that may give drug designers the insight they need to develop the next generation of effective influenza treatment. "It's very hard to design a drug if you don't understand how the disease functions," said Gregory Voth, the Haig P. Papazian Distinguished Service Professor in Chemistry. Voth and three co-authors offer new insights into the disease's functioning in the Proceedings ...

Chemical strategy hints at better drugs for osteoporosis, diabetes

2014-06-16

MADISON, Wis. — By swapping replacement parts into the backbone of a synthetic hormone, UW–Madison graduate student Ross Cheloha and his mentor, Sam Gellman, along with collaborators at Harvard Medical School, have built a version of a parathyroid hormone that resists degradation in laboratory mice. As a result, the altered hormone can stay around longer — and at much higher concentration, says Gellman, professor of chemistry at the UW. Hormones are signaling molecules that are distributed throughout the body, usually in the blood. Hormones elicit responses from only ...

No correlation between baby formulas and development of diabetes-associated autoantibodies

2014-06-16

ATLANTA—There is no correlation between the consumption of a cow's milk-based formula or hydrolyzed protein formula and the development of diabetes-associated autoantibodies in children younger than seven, according to a worldwide research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The Trial to Reduce Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus in the Genetically at Risk (TRIGR) study, which examines possible reduction in autoantibodies associated with type 1 diabetes, tracked children genetically predisposed to type 1 diabetes for seven years. It ...

Controlling ragweed pollen in Detroit: A no-mow solution for Motown?

2014-06-16

ANN ARBOR—When it comes to controlling hay fever-triggering ragweed plants on Detroit vacant lots, occasional mowing is worse than no mowing at all, and promoting reforestation might be the best solution. Those are the findings of a new University of Michigan study that surveyed vacant lots in several Detroit neighborhoods for ragweed, counting the number of ragweed plants and estimating how often each lot was mowed. The researchers found that ragweed was significantly more likely to be present in vacant lots mowed once a year or once every two years—a common practice ...

Caterpillars that eat multiple plant species are more susceptible to hungry birds

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: