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Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales

Moth wings are densely covered by wing scales that are assumed to specifically function to camouflage nocturnally active species during day time. Generally, moth wing scales are built according to the basic lepidopteran Bauplan, where the upper lamina consists of an array of parallel ridges and the...

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Autores principales: Stavenga, Doekele G., Wallace, Jesse R. A., Warrant, Eric J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7026391/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32116798
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00095
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author Stavenga, Doekele G.
Wallace, Jesse R. A.
Warrant, Eric J.
author_facet Stavenga, Doekele G.
Wallace, Jesse R. A.
Warrant, Eric J.
author_sort Stavenga, Doekele G.
collection PubMed
description Moth wings are densely covered by wing scales that are assumed to specifically function to camouflage nocturnally active species during day time. Generally, moth wing scales are built according to the basic lepidopteran Bauplan, where the upper lamina consists of an array of parallel ridges and the lower lamina is a thin plane. The lower lamina hence acts as a thin film reflector having distinct reflectance spectra that can make the owner colorful and thus conspicuous for predators. Most moth species therefore load the scales’ upper lamina with variable amounts of melanin so that dull, brownish color patterns result. We investigated whether scale pigmentation in this manner indeed provides moths with camouflage by comparing the reflectance spectra of the wings and scales of the Australian Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) with those of objects in their natural environment. The similarity of the spectra underscores the effective camouflaging strategies of this moth species.
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spelling pubmed-70263912020-02-28 Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales Stavenga, Doekele G. Wallace, Jesse R. A. Warrant, Eric J. Front Physiol Physiology Moth wings are densely covered by wing scales that are assumed to specifically function to camouflage nocturnally active species during day time. Generally, moth wing scales are built according to the basic lepidopteran Bauplan, where the upper lamina consists of an array of parallel ridges and the lower lamina is a thin plane. The lower lamina hence acts as a thin film reflector having distinct reflectance spectra that can make the owner colorful and thus conspicuous for predators. Most moth species therefore load the scales’ upper lamina with variable amounts of melanin so that dull, brownish color patterns result. We investigated whether scale pigmentation in this manner indeed provides moths with camouflage by comparing the reflectance spectra of the wings and scales of the Australian Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) with those of objects in their natural environment. The similarity of the spectra underscores the effective camouflaging strategies of this moth species. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-02-11 /pmc/articles/PMC7026391/ /pubmed/32116798 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00095 Text en Copyright © 2020 Stavenga, Wallace and Warrant. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Physiology
Stavenga, Doekele G.
Wallace, Jesse R. A.
Warrant, Eric J.
Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales
title Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales
title_full Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales
title_fullStr Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales
title_full_unstemmed Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales
title_short Bogong Moths Are Well Camouflaged by Effectively Decolourized Wing Scales
title_sort bogong moths are well camouflaged by effectively decolourized wing scales
topic Physiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7026391/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32116798
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00095
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