National Repository of Grey Literature 1 records found  Search took 0.00 seconds. 
Reactions of avian predators to automimicry in milkweed bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae):
Stránská, Anna ; Exnerová, Alice (advisor) ; Baňař, Petr (referee)
Automimicry, or intraspecific variation in defence mechanisms in aposematic prey, is very common in nature. Especially in chemically protected prey. This study contains two experiments. The first experiment investigated the reaction of naive predators, which were Great tits (Parus major), to automimetic prey. The prey was the black-and-red-bug (Lygaeus equestris). The tits were divided into three experimental groups and each group was presented with three bugs that were fed on an artificial diet with different amounts of cardenolides. The control group was presented with prey that had no cardenolides in the diet. The group tested with the low concentration received bugs that fed on a diet with a low concentration of cardenolides and the group tested with the high concentration received bugs that fed on a diet with a high concentration of cardenolides. In a generalization test, all groups were then offered a single firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus). It was found that the group tested with the high concentration experienced a higher rate of aversive learning. This group also killed and consumed fewer firebugs than the other two groups. The group tested with high concentration generalized most to novel red-and-black prey because they were least likely to attack the firebug. The second experiment tested...

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