Behaviour towards an unpreferred colour: can green flowers attract foraging hawkmoths?
Naïve hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) learn from a single trial to approach and attempt to feed from an artificial flower of an innately unpreferred green colour even when a distractor flower with a preferred yellow colour is present. In some of the animals, the choice of the innately unpreferred colour during free-flight testing persists for several days despite not being rewarded and eventually leads to starvation. The results show that moths exhibit a very strong flower constancy that is not limited to the colours of nectar flowers.
Balkenius
Anna
A
Chemical Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Chemical Ecology, Box 102, Vaxthusvagen 3, Alnarp 230 53, Sweden. anna.balkenius@ltj.slu.se
Balkenius
Christian
C
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D003116:Color; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D035264:Flowers; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D018402:Manduca / Q000502:physiology*; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000502:physiology; D012201:Reward