Citation

Vidal-Cordero JM, Moreno-Rueda G, López-Orta A, Marfil-Daza C, Ros-Santaella JL, Ortiz-Sánchez FJ. Front. zool. 2012; 9(1): 20.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1742-9994-9-20

PMID

22901602

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Aposematism is a defense system against predators consisting of the toxicity warning using conspicuous coloration. If the toxin production and aposematic coloration is costly, only individuals in good physical condition can simultaneously produce abundant poison and striking coloration. In such cases, the aposematic coloration not only indicates that the animal is toxic, but also the toxicity level of individuals. The costs associated to the production of aposematic coloration would ensure that individuals indicate honestly their toxicity levels. In the present study, we examine the hypothesis that a positive correlation exists between the brightness of warning coloration and toxicity level using as a model the paper wasp (Polistes dominula). RESULTS: We collected wasps from 30 different nests and photographed them to measure the brightness of warning coloration in the abdomen. We also measured the volume of the poison gland, as well as the length, and the width of the abdomen. The results show a positive relationship between brightness and poison-gland size, which remained positive even after controlling the body size and abdomen width. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the coloration pattern of these wasps is a true sign of toxicity level: wasps with brighter colors are more poisonous (they have larger poison glands).

Language: en