Colorful wings send messagesWhy are butterfly wings colorful?
Melissa K. Kjelvik
, (Michigan State University/Data Nuggets)
Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
, and (University of California-Irvine)
Susan Finkbeiner
(California State University - Long Beach)
Big wings allow butterflies to fly everywhere with ease. But you may wonder, why are the wings of some species so brightly colored?
The red postman butterfly lives in rainforests in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The color pattern on its wing is usually a mix of red, yellow, and black. These bright colors may warn birds and other predators that they would not make a tasty meal. Another potential reason for butterflies to have bright colors and dramatic patterns is to attract mates. In this case, explore whether color alone or color pattern together deter predators or attract mates.
Learning objectives
- Describe the ecological importance of wing pattern and coloration for tropical butterflies. Explain how these signals may influence interactions within and across species.
- Identify the hypothesis(es) proposed for the importance of wing coloration and pattern and evaluate whether the study supports the hypothesis.
- Assess the benefits and downfalls of the scientific methods of the study.
- Analyze and interpret a dataset to examine whether wing pattern and coloration are signals to predators and potential mates.
- Construct an explanation that answers the proposed scientific question. Provide specific data that support the claim and sound reasoning that ties in ecological concepts.
- Propose potential future directions and scientific questions for the current study and identify potential data that could be collected to answer these new questions.