1985/01/01 by M. Deane Bowers, Irene Brown, Darryl Wheye · 83 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant and animal studies #Insect-Plant Interactions and Control #Insect and Pesticide Research #Butterfly #Biology #Nymphalidae #Population #Predation #Ecology #Zoology #Demography
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1985.tb04082.x
published in Evolution 39(1), 93-103 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 1985/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
In a population of the checkerspot butterfly, Euphydryas chalcedona, the detached wings of 309 individuals that had been attacked and eaten by birds were collected during a single flight season. During this time period a representative sample of 296 live butterflies in this population was photographed. Comparison of sex ratio and coloration of those butterflies that had been attacked with those that had not showed, first, that birds attacked slightly more females than males; and second, that among males, which are extremely variable in the amount of red on the forewing, birds attacked the less red individuals.