A systematic review and meta-analysis of anti-predator mechanisms of eyespots: conspicuous pattern vs eye mimicry

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.96338.1. This is version 4 of this Preprint.

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Authors

Ayumi Mizuno , Malgorzata Lagisz, Pietro Pollo, Yefeng Yang, Masayo Soma, Shinichi Nakagawa

Abstract

Eyespot patterns have evolved in many prey species. These patterns were traditionally explained by the eye mimicry hypothesis, which proposes that eyespots resembling vertebrate eyes function as predator avoidance. However, it is possible that eyespots do not mimic eyes: according to the conspicuousness hypothesis, eyespots are just one form of vivid signals where only conspicuousness matters. They might work simply through neophobia or unfamiliarity, without necessarily implying aposematism or the unprofitability to potential predators. To test these hypotheses and explore factors influencing predators’ responses, we conducted a meta-analysis with 33 empirical papers that focused on bird responses to both real lepidopterans and artificial targets with conspicuous patterns (i.e. eyespots and non-eyespots). Supporting the latter hypothesis, the results showed no clear difference in predation survival efficacy between eyespots and non-eyespots. When comparing geometric pattern characteristics, bigger pattern sizes and smaller numbers of patterns were more effective in preventing avian predation. This finding indicates that single concentric patterns have stronger deterring effects than paired ones. Taken together, our study supports the conspicuousness hypothesis more than the eye mimicry hypothesis. Due to the number and species coverage of published studies so far, the generalisability of our conclusion may be limited. The findings highlight that pattern conspicuousness is key to eliciting avian avoidance responses, shedding a different light on this classic example of signal evolution.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.32942/X2TW35

Subjects

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Keywords

Aves, butterfly, caterpillar, interspecific communication, predator-prey interaction, warning signal

Dates

Published: 2024-01-22 12:35

Last Updated: 2024-08-01 09:40

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License

CC BY Attribution 4.0 International

Additional Metadata

Language:
English

Conflict of interest statement:
None

Data and Code Availability Statement:
Raw data, analysis script and supplementary materials are available at https://ayumi-495.github.io/eyespot/. Once the paper is published, these will all be uploaded to Zenodo.