Camouflaged insects
Can you find the heliconia bug on this heliconia plant?
High-tech alarm system...A vault found at a bank...an insect’s camouflage body...which of these “security systems” seems to be to most effective? Maybe it is the high-tech alarm system, with all that advanced technology involved, who would dare break into a building? Or it could be a back vault, with the imposing steel-enforced concrete, which looks as if it intended to scary away robbers and bad guys. But what if I suggested that an insect’s camouflaged body could be considered to be the best of these “security systems” Such a suggestion would seem ludicrous, however as the study published by NRC Research Press below slows, such a suggestion may actually be true. More importantly, the study may not only show that such a suggestion, as the one may above, is true, but also serve as a basis for highlight the idea that there may actually be some degree of significance in those annoying little things we call insects.
Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, insects and bugs play a large role in helping to maintain the ecological diversity needed to continue life’s property of renewal of producer to consumer, or in other words, the cycle of nutrients from species to species. It is this process that allows life to continue, and develop as it is today. The importance of all species – including insects – is made obvious. That being said, the particular academic journal being looked at in my blog posting deals with a very specific type of insect that is only located in Costa Rica, called the heliconia bug. The heliconia bug is usually found on the heliconia plant, where the bug spends most of its time eating and hiding from predators. The journal conducted a study in which the camouflage nature of this bug (when in certain environments, i.e. on the heliconia plant) is tested is a mechanism of defense against predators, namely avian species – in order to draw conclusions about prey camouflaging mechanisms in general. The conclusions made from the study are towards the effort of trying to understand exactly what level of protection a camouflaged coat offers an insect. The overall study found that predators choose prey that most different from their background color, and that prey color preferences (predators would avoid brightly colored prey) played a role in determining what type of species a predator tries to get – findings which support the idea that camouflaging techniques do in fact play a strong role in preventing species predation.
The specific research methods used in this academic journal involved an original scientific research study. The study collected groups of heliconia bug nymphs from various heliconia species growing near Panama (Predation on heliconia bugs). When these nymphs reached the fifth instar (a growth stage), the nymphs were frozen in plastic tubes. The reason for doing so was to prevent any potential effects of prey movement on predator behavior. It is, as the journal stated, important to note that freezing the nymphs had no effect on the color of the bugs. In the study, four model chickens were used as the avian predators. The chickens were fed with mealworms placed on heliconia colors, to help these predators get used to the colors of and the shape of heliconia
.
A picture of a heliconia plant, where heliconia bugs are most often found.
The actual study itself was conducted in the form of 13 preference trials over a five week period, within an enclosed area. The heliconia bug nymphs were then separated into “light” and “dark” groups (Predation on heliconia bugs). Each chicken was then given a choice at whether to eat the light or dark heliconia nymph, and results were recorded over the five week period. To draw significant and meaningful conclusions regarding the experiment, the journal researchers engaged in advanced statistical analysis which looked at correlation rates and other intervals of confidence with regards to the amount of each type of heliconia bug nymph eaten (Predation on heliconia bugs). I will not go into the exact details of the statistical procedures used; as such mathematical insight is probably not suitable for both me and the interest of the audience. But to help the audience the basis of the mathematical operations completed in this study, essentially, the main variables that were used in the study were the amount of times the heliconia bugs were eaten, and the environment in which the heliconia bugs were eaten in. These two variables, one quantitative and one categorical, were then looked at together, side by side, to determine what kind of relationship exists, if any, is found in them (Predation on heliconia bugs). It is here were the complex statistical numbers and figures help determine the exact relationship between the variables being looked at, the amount of times heliconia bugs were eaten and also, the environment in which the bugs were eaten. I hope that clears up any confusion regarding how the results from the study were found.
As an overall statement of findings, for the audience at large, this study found that heliconia bug nymphs closely resembling the environment will have a lower risk or predation and that nymph color itself will affect predation risk. So the predictions, the cryptic and color preference hypothesis, presented through the research study of were proven to be both true and supported.
Works Cited -
- Miller, C., & Hollander, S. (2010). Predation on heliconia bugs, Leptoscelis tricolor: examining the influences of crypsis and predator color preferences. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 88(1), 122-128. doi:10.1139/Z09-128.
Pictures used -
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