Susan Finkbeiner
Colorful wings send messages (Adapted)Why are butterfly wings colorful?
Melissa K. Kjelvik
, (Michigan State University/Data Nuggets)
Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
, (University of California-Irvine)
Susan Finkbeiner
, and (California State University, Long Beach)
Arindam Mitra
(RV University, Bangalore, India)
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 are distasteful and unpalatable. 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.
- Understand controls needed to perform field studies using quantitative visual concepts for artificial prey and mates.
- Analyze and interpret a dataset to examine whether wing pattern and coloration are signals to predators and potential mates.
- Propose potential future directions and scientific questions for the current study and identify potential data that could be collected to answer these new questions.
- Integrate experiential learning field activities, including data collection, visualization, analysis, and hypothesis testing, into classroom instruction to help students explore and demonstrate the effects of wing coloration and patterns in butterflies, as well as coloration in caterpillars.