Size-dependent misclassification of masquerading prey

John Skelhorn, Hannah M. Rowland, Michael P. Speed, Leoni De Wert, Lucy Quinn, Jon Delf and Graeme D. Ruxton

Behavioral Ecology, 2010, vol. 21, issue 6, 1344-1348

Abstract: Masquerading organisms appear to closely resemble inedible and generally inanimate objects, such as twigs, leaves, stones, and bird droppings. It has recently been demonstrated that masquerading prey gain protection from predation by being misclassified as inedible objects by their predators. Here, we present the first experimental test of the requirements of effective masquerade. Specifically, we explore whether masquerading prey need to be very similar in size to the "model" objects that they appear to resemble. Using domestic chicks as predators of twig-mimicking caterpillars, we find that matching a model object in size increases protection from predation; however, similarity of appearance without size matching still affords some protection. This study helps to explain why masquerading prey often resemble objects that are inherently variable in size (e.g., twigs, leaves, and stones) and has important implications for the evolution of masquerade as an antipredator defense. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2010
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/arq159 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:beheco:v:21:y:2010:i:6:p:1344-1348

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Behavioral Ecology is currently edited by Louise Barrett

More articles in Behavioral Ecology from International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().