title: Plant scents modify innate colour preference in foraging swallowtail butterflies.
abstract: Flower-visiting insects exhibit innate preferences for particular colours. A previous study demonstrated that naive Papilio xuthus females prefer yellow and red, whereas males are more attracted to blue. Here, we demonstrate that the innate colour preference can be modified by olfactory stimuli in a sexually dimorphic manner. Naive P. xuthus were presented with four coloured discs: blue, green, yellow and red. The innate colour preference (i.e. the colour first landed on) of the majority of individuals was blue. When scent from essential oils of either orange flower or lily was introduced to the room, females' tendency to select the red disc increased. Scents of lavender and flowering potted Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, however, were less effective. Interestingly, the odour of the non-flowering larval host plant, Citrus unshiu, shifted the preference to green in females. In males, however, all plant scents were less effective than in females, such that blue was always the most favoured colour. These observations indicate that interactions between visual and olfactory cues play a more prominent role in females.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroethology, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama 240-0115, Japan.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, 739-8528 Hiroshima, Higashihiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, 739-8528 Hiroshima, Higashihiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ômura
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroethology, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama 240-0115, Japan.
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arikawa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroethology, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama 240-0115, Japan kinoshita_michiyo@soken.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Michiyo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D002080:Butterflies / Q000502:physiology*; D002957:Citrus / Q000737:chemistry; D003116:Color; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Lepidoptera; colour vision; foraging; innate preference; olfaction; sexual dimorphism