Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage Strategies
ABSTRACT Background matching, an important form of camouflage, can be challenging for animals that range across heterogeneously colored habitats. To remain cryptic in such habitats, animals may employ color change, background choice, or generalist coloration, and the efficacy of these strategies may...
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Wiley
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70398 |
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| author | Leah Y. Rosenheim Jay A. Rosenheim Michael R. Maxwell |
| author_facet | Leah Y. Rosenheim Jay A. Rosenheim Michael R. Maxwell |
| author_sort | Leah Y. Rosenheim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Background matching, an important form of camouflage, can be challenging for animals that range across heterogeneously colored habitats. To remain cryptic in such habitats, animals may employ color change, background choice, or generalist coloration, and the efficacy of these strategies may be influenced by an animal's mobility. We examined camouflage strategies in the praying mantis Stagmomantis limbata. We reared mantids in green or brown containers to test whether mantids change color over development to match their background. Additionally, we tested whether adult mantids (i) employ behavioral background choice, (ii) exhibit sexual color dimorphism, and (iii) differ in mobility in the field. Mantids changed color during development in response to their background, but the effect was small and variable. Adult mantids did not show background choice. In the field, adult males moved greater distances than females. Adults exhibited sexual color dimorphism: Males were heterogeneous in coloration (green body with brown pronotum), while females were more homogeneous in color, ranging continuously from green to brown. We suggest a hypothesis that differences in mobility between the sexes have led to the sexual color dimorphism observed and that this dimorphism reflects different camouflage strategies, with highly mobile males showing a generalist coloration and more sedentary females showing a specialist coloration. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e73e7fd4a96449c798c6b3787ceb301e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-e73e7fd4a96449c798c6b3787ceb301e2025-01-29T05:08:41ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-01-01151n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70398Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage StrategiesLeah Y. Rosenheim0Jay A. Rosenheim1Michael R. Maxwell2Department of Biological Sciences Binghamton University Binghamton New York USADepartment of Entomology and Nematology University of California Davis Davis California USADepartment of Mathematics and Natural Sciences National University San Diego California USAABSTRACT Background matching, an important form of camouflage, can be challenging for animals that range across heterogeneously colored habitats. To remain cryptic in such habitats, animals may employ color change, background choice, or generalist coloration, and the efficacy of these strategies may be influenced by an animal's mobility. We examined camouflage strategies in the praying mantis Stagmomantis limbata. We reared mantids in green or brown containers to test whether mantids change color over development to match their background. Additionally, we tested whether adult mantids (i) employ behavioral background choice, (ii) exhibit sexual color dimorphism, and (iii) differ in mobility in the field. Mantids changed color during development in response to their background, but the effect was small and variable. Adult mantids did not show background choice. In the field, adult males moved greater distances than females. Adults exhibited sexual color dimorphism: Males were heterogeneous in coloration (green body with brown pronotum), while females were more homogeneous in color, ranging continuously from green to brown. We suggest a hypothesis that differences in mobility between the sexes have led to the sexual color dimorphism observed and that this dimorphism reflects different camouflage strategies, with highly mobile males showing a generalist coloration and more sedentary females showing a specialist coloration.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70398background choicebackground matchingcrypsisgeneralist colorationmobilitysexual dichromatism |
| spellingShingle | Leah Y. Rosenheim Jay A. Rosenheim Michael R. Maxwell Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage Strategies Ecology and Evolution background choice background matching crypsis generalist coloration mobility sexual dichromatism |
| title | Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage Strategies |
| title_full | Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage Strategies |
| title_fullStr | Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage Strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage Strategies |
| title_short | Coloration in a Praying Mantis: Color Change, Sexual Color Dimorphism, and Possible Camouflage Strategies |
| title_sort | coloration in a praying mantis color change sexual color dimorphism and possible camouflage strategies |
| topic | background choice background matching crypsis generalist coloration mobility sexual dichromatism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70398 |
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