Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies
Abstract The activity of many animals follows recurrent patterns and foraging is one of the most important processes in their daily activity. Determining movement in the search for resources and understanding temporal and spatial patterns in foraging has therefore long been central in behavioural ec...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70032 |
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| author | Denise Dalbosco Dell’Aglio Owen W. McMillan Stephen Montgomery |
| author_facet | Denise Dalbosco Dell’Aglio Owen W. McMillan Stephen Montgomery |
| author_sort | Denise Dalbosco Dell’Aglio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The activity of many animals follows recurrent patterns and foraging is one of the most important processes in their daily activity. Determining movement in the search for resources and understanding temporal and spatial patterns in foraging has therefore long been central in behavioural ecology. However, identifying and monitoring animal movements is often challenging. In this study we assess the use of camera traps to track a very specific and small‐scale interactions focused on the foraging behaviour of Heliconiini butterflies. Data on floral visitation was recorded using marked individuals of three pollen‐feeding species of Heliconius (H. erato, H. melpomene and H. sara), and two closely related, non‐pollen feeding species (Dryas iulia and Dryadula phaetusa) in a large outdoor insectary. We demonstrate that camera traps efficiently capture individual flower visitation over multiple times and locations and use our experiments to describe some features of their spatial and temporal foraging patterns. Heliconiini butterflies showed higher activity in the morning with strong temporal niche overlap. Differences in foraging activity between males and females was observed with females foraging earlier than males, mirroring published field studies. Some flowers were more explored than others, which may be explained by butterflies foraging simultaneously affecting each other's flower choices. Feeding was grouped in short periods of intense visits to the same flower, which we refer to as feeding bouts. Heliconius also consistently visits the same flower, while non‐Heliconius visited a greater number of flowers per day and their feeding bouts were shorter compared with Heliconius. This is consistent with Heliconius having more stable long‐term spatial memory and foraging preferences than outgroup genera. More broadly, our study demonstrates that camera traps can provide a powerful tool to gather information about foraging behaviour in small insects such as butterflies. © 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0edad997fa134fd1bedd3d746abbb0f7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-0edad997fa134fd1bedd3d746abbb0f72025-08-20T02:50:48ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-07-01147n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70032Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterfliesDenise Dalbosco Dell’Aglio0Owen W. McMillan1Stephen Montgomery2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama City PanamaSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama City PanamaSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama City PanamaAbstract The activity of many animals follows recurrent patterns and foraging is one of the most important processes in their daily activity. Determining movement in the search for resources and understanding temporal and spatial patterns in foraging has therefore long been central in behavioural ecology. However, identifying and monitoring animal movements is often challenging. In this study we assess the use of camera traps to track a very specific and small‐scale interactions focused on the foraging behaviour of Heliconiini butterflies. Data on floral visitation was recorded using marked individuals of three pollen‐feeding species of Heliconius (H. erato, H. melpomene and H. sara), and two closely related, non‐pollen feeding species (Dryas iulia and Dryadula phaetusa) in a large outdoor insectary. We demonstrate that camera traps efficiently capture individual flower visitation over multiple times and locations and use our experiments to describe some features of their spatial and temporal foraging patterns. Heliconiini butterflies showed higher activity in the morning with strong temporal niche overlap. Differences in foraging activity between males and females was observed with females foraging earlier than males, mirroring published field studies. Some flowers were more explored than others, which may be explained by butterflies foraging simultaneously affecting each other's flower choices. Feeding was grouped in short periods of intense visits to the same flower, which we refer to as feeding bouts. Heliconius also consistently visits the same flower, while non‐Heliconius visited a greater number of flowers per day and their feeding bouts were shorter compared with Heliconius. This is consistent with Heliconius having more stable long‐term spatial memory and foraging preferences than outgroup genera. More broadly, our study demonstrates that camera traps can provide a powerful tool to gather information about foraging behaviour in small insects such as butterflies. © 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70032camera trapsfeedingforagingHeliconiiniHeliconiusspatial pattern |
| spellingShingle | Denise Dalbosco Dell’Aglio Owen W. McMillan Stephen Montgomery Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies Ecology and Evolution camera traps feeding foraging Heliconiini Heliconius spatial pattern |
| title | Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies |
| title_full | Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies |
| title_fullStr | Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies |
| title_short | Using motion‐detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies |
| title_sort | using motion detection cameras to monitor foraging behaviour of individual butterflies |
| topic | camera traps feeding foraging Heliconiini Heliconius spatial pattern |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70032 |
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