title: Red trap colour of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia does not serve a prey attraction or camouflage function.
abstract: The traps of many carnivorous plants are red in colour. This has been widely hypothesized to serve a prey attraction function; colour has also been hypothesized to function as camouflage, preventing prey avoidance. We tested these two hypotheses in situ for the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia. We conducted three separate studies: (i) prey attraction to artificial traps to isolate the influence of colour; (ii) prey attraction to artificial traps on artificial backgrounds to control the degree of contrast and (iii) observation of prey capture by D. rotundifolia to determine the effects of colour on prey capture. Prey were not attracted to green traps and were deterred from red traps. There was no evidence that camouflaged traps caught more prey. For D. rotundifolia, there was a relationship between trap colour and prey capture. However, trap colour may be confounded with other leaf traits. Thus, we conclude that for D. rotundifolia, red trap colour does not serve a prey attraction or camouflage function.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, The University of Warwick, , Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Foot
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Millett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003116:Color; D003463:Cues; D029787:Drosera / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000033:anatomy & histology
keywords: Drosera rotundifolia; carnivorous plants; leaf colour; plant–insect interactions; prey attraction
references.citation: Annu Rev Entomol. 2001;46:471-510
references.pmid: 11112177
references.citation: J Exp Bot. 2009;60(1):19-42
references.pmid: 19213724
references.citation: Biol Lett. 2009 Aug 23;5(4):469-72
references.pmid: 19429649
references.citation: Ann Bot. 2009 Jun;103(8):1219-26
references.pmid: 19307189
references.citation: Biol Lett. 2014 Apr 16;10(4):20131024
references.pmid: 24740904
references.citation: Biol Lett. 2008 Apr 23;4(2):153-5
references.pmid: 18198137
references.citation: Ann Bot. 2014 Jan;113(1):69-78
references.pmid: 24201141