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.2009 Jan 7;276(1654):121-7.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0858.

Autumn leaves seen through herbivore eyes

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Autumn leaves seen through herbivore eyes

Thomas F Döring et al. Proc Biol Sci..

Abstract

Why leaves of some trees turn red in autumn has puzzled biologists for decades, as just before leaf fall the pigments causing red coloration are newly synthesized. One idea to explain this apparently untimely investment is that red colour signals the tree's quality to herbivorous insects, particularly aphids. However, it is unclear whether red leaves are indeed less attractive to aphids than green leaves. Because aphids lack a red photoreceptor, it was conjectured that red leaves could even be indiscernable from green ones for these insects. Here we show, however, that the colour of autumnal tree leaves that appear red to humans are on average much less attractive to aphids than green leaves, whereas yellow leaves are much more attractive. We conclude that, while active avoidance of red leaves by aphids is unlikely, red coloration in autumn could still be a signal of the tree's quality, or alternatively serve to mask the over-attractive yellow that is unveiled when the green chlorophyll is recovered from senescing leaves. Our study shows that in sensory ecology, receiver physiology alone is not sufficient to reveal the whole picture. Instead, the combined analysis of behaviour and a large set of natural stimuli unexpectedly shows that animals lacking a red photoreceptor may be able to differentiate between red and green leaves.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of experimental approach. For an explanation of numbers, see §2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Aphid catch (y) in coloured traps, relative to the maximum catch (N=102), and plotted againstx=G/B, withG andB being the photon catches that a trap will elicit in green and blue photoreceptors, respectively. Symbols indicate colour names of traps (diamonds, green; triangles, brown; squares, red; circles, yellow), while all other traps (e.g. blue) are represented by crosses.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Attractivity of differently coloured tree leaves for aphids as assessed by the colour-choice model from figure 2 and grouped according to an empirical colour-naming model; statistical significance of pairwise (local) comparisons indicated by asterisks over brackets (**p<0.01;***p<0.001); red and brown are not significantly different.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Averaged reflectance spectra of 360 brown, 1103 green, 160 red and 786 yellow leaves; symbols indicate colour names and are the same as given in figure legend 2.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Attractivity of differently coloured bird cherry leaves for aphids. Colours as named by humans according to a colour-naming model. Boxes and whiskers represent the quartiles and the range of the data, but exclude outliers which are depicted by open circles.
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References

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