Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Why do Manduca sexta feed from white flowers? Innate and learnt colour preferences in a hawkmoth

Goyret, Joaquin ; Pfaff, Michael ; Raguso, Robert A and Kelber, Almut LU (2008) In Naturwissenschaften 95(6). p.569-576
Abstract
Flower colour is an important signal used by flowering plants to attract pollinators. Many anthophilous insects have an innate colour preference that is displayed during their first foraging bouts and which could help them locate their first nectar reward. Nevertheless, learning capabilities allow insects to switch their colour preferences with experience and thus, to track variation in floral nectar availability. Manduca sexta, a crepuscular hawkmoth widely studied as a model system for sensory physiology and behaviour, visits mostly white, night-blooming flowers lacking UV reflectance throughout its range in the Americas. Nevertheless, the spectral sensitivity of the feeding behaviour of naive moths shows a narrow peak around 450 nm... (More)
Flower colour is an important signal used by flowering plants to attract pollinators. Many anthophilous insects have an innate colour preference that is displayed during their first foraging bouts and which could help them locate their first nectar reward. Nevertheless, learning capabilities allow insects to switch their colour preferences with experience and thus, to track variation in floral nectar availability. Manduca sexta, a crepuscular hawkmoth widely studied as a model system for sensory physiology and behaviour, visits mostly white, night-blooming flowers lacking UV reflectance throughout its range in the Americas. Nevertheless, the spectral sensitivity of the feeding behaviour of naive moths shows a narrow peak around 450 nm wavelengths, suggesting an innate preference for the colour blue. Under more natural conditions (i.e. broader wavelength reflectance) than in previous studies, we used dual choice experiments with blue- and white-coloured feeders to investigate the innate preference of naive moths and trained different groups to each colour to evaluate their learning capabilities. We confirmed the innate preference of M. sexta for blue and found that these moths were able to switch colour preferences after training experience. These results unequivocally demonstrate that M. sexta moths innately prefer blue when presented against white flower models and offer novel experimental evidence supporting the hypothesis that learning capabilities could be involved in their foraging preferences, including their widely observed attraction to white flowers in nature. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sensory ecology, Lepidoptera, innate preference, learning, vision
in
Naturwissenschaften
volume
95
issue
6
pages
569 - 576
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000256010600013
  • scopus:44149095015
  • pmid:18288469
ISSN
1432-1904
DOI
10.1007/s00114-008-0350-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
aefa4377-3537-440a-9a70-872eef1071c4 (old id 1203315)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:13:10
date last changed
2022-03-21 22:55:28
@article{aefa4377-3537-440a-9a70-872eef1071c4,
  abstract     = {{Flower colour is an important signal used by flowering plants to attract pollinators. Many anthophilous insects have an innate colour preference that is displayed during their first foraging bouts and which could help them locate their first nectar reward. Nevertheless, learning capabilities allow insects to switch their colour preferences with experience and thus, to track variation in floral nectar availability. Manduca sexta, a crepuscular hawkmoth widely studied as a model system for sensory physiology and behaviour, visits mostly white, night-blooming flowers lacking UV reflectance throughout its range in the Americas. Nevertheless, the spectral sensitivity of the feeding behaviour of naive moths shows a narrow peak around 450 nm wavelengths, suggesting an innate preference for the colour blue. Under more natural conditions (i.e. broader wavelength reflectance) than in previous studies, we used dual choice experiments with blue- and white-coloured feeders to investigate the innate preference of naive moths and trained different groups to each colour to evaluate their learning capabilities. We confirmed the innate preference of M. sexta for blue and found that these moths were able to switch colour preferences after training experience. These results unequivocally demonstrate that M. sexta moths innately prefer blue when presented against white flower models and offer novel experimental evidence supporting the hypothesis that learning capabilities could be involved in their foraging preferences, including their widely observed attraction to white flowers in nature.}},
  author       = {{Goyret, Joaquin and Pfaff, Michael and Raguso, Robert A and Kelber, Almut}},
  issn         = {{1432-1904}},
  keywords     = {{sensory ecology; Lepidoptera; innate preference; learning; vision}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{569--576}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Naturwissenschaften}},
  title        = {{Why do Manduca sexta feed from white flowers? Innate and learnt colour preferences in a hawkmoth}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0350-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00114-008-0350-7}},
  volume       = {{95}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}