Like many poisonous animals, the African monarch butterfly's orange, white and black pattern warns predators that it is toxic. Warning patterns like this are usually consistent across individuals to help predators learn to avoid them. However, a recent study, published February 27 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, shows how a population of African monarch butterflies (Danaus chrysippus) breaks this rule and has highly variable warning patterns.
Male-killing bacteria linked to butterfly color changes
- EurekAlert
- 28. 2 2020 (06:00)