Predation on heliconia bugs, Leptoscelis tricolor: examining the influences of crypsis and predator color preferences

Individuals in natural populations commonly vary in color, and such color variation can be important for survival under predation pressure. Potential prey may be more likely to survive when they are cryptic against their backgrounds. Alternatively, individual coloration, regardless of background, may itself best predict predation events. Few studies have simultaneously tested the importance of crypsis and predator color preferences in explaining predation events. In this study we used objective measures of coloration to examine whether heliconia bugs, Leptoscelis tricolor Westwood, 1842 (Hemiptera: Coreidae), resembling their background were less likely to be eaten by avian predators (crypsis hypothesis). Next, we evaluated whether insect color, irrespective of background, best explains predation events (color preference hypothesis). We found the strongest evidence for the crypsis hypothesis; predators chose prey that differed most from their background in color saturation. Some evidence was also found fo...