No honesty in warning signals across life stages in an aposematic bug

Abstract

Theory predicts that warning signals should exhibit low variation to increase learning efficiency in predators. Many species, however, exhibit variation in warning colours within species and even within populations. An understudied example of within species variation is that between life stages, where animals change warning colouration throughout ontogeny. Understanding how warning signals change throughout life can help us identify the different ecological pressures that affect the evolution of warning signals. We used the Australasian cotton harlequin bug (Tectocoris diophthalmus) to explore how adults and nymphs differ in their defensive secretions and colouration. We performed spectropho..