Mechanisms of Color Production and Animal Visual Signals

PI: Ronald L. rutowski提案题目：颜色产生机制和动物颜色信号[03:16 . 120]动物通过化学色素和物理结构来产生颜色信号。所采用的特定机制预计会对他们如何在行为互动中使用信号产生影响。这个由三部分组成的项目研究了北美常见的橙硫蝴蝶的这些后果。在这一物种中，色素在雄性的上翅表面产生黄橙色和黑色的斑纹，而只在雄性的上翅表面发现的结构修饰产生了彩虹色和高度定向的紫外线反射。项目的第一部分通过描述紫外线信号的物理特性来描述紫外线信号的性质和外观，然后分析相互作用的蝴蝶之间的空间关系，看看信号的传输是否优化。第二部分研究了自然界中雄性在雄性颜色的结构和色素成分上有多少差异，以及这种差异在多大程度上导致雄性交配成功和避免其他雄性骚扰的差异。在第三部分，雄性将在不同的条件下饲养，看看环境对雄性的颜色有多大影响，因此雄性的颜色在多大程度上表明了它的状况或品质。最后两部分共同验证了最近的一些建议，即颜色产生的某些机制可能比其他机制提供更多关于雄性信号者在配偶选择中的质量的信息。本项目为来自不同背景和专业发展水平的学生提供丰富的研究和培训经验，希望鼓励和支持他们追求科学事业。研究结果将通过科学和大众媒体、网络材料和非营利性自然历史组织的公开演讲传播给广泛的受众。

PI: Ronald L. RutowskiProposal Title: Mechanisms of Color Production and Animal Color SignalsProposal No.: 0316120 Animals produce color signals using both chemical pigments and physical structures. The specific mechanism employed is predicted to have consequences for how they use the signals in behavioral interactions. This three-part project examines these consequences in the Orange Sulphur, a common North American butterfly. In this species, pigments produce the yellow-orange and black markings on the male=s upper wing surfaces while structural modifications found only on the male=s upper wing surfaces produce an iridescent and highly directional ultraviolet (UV) reflection. The first part of the project describes the nature and appearance the UV signal by describing its physical characteristics and then analyzes the spatial relationships between interacting butterflies to see if signal transmission is optimized. The second part examines how much males in nature vary in the structural- and pigment-based components of male coloration and the extent to which this variation leads to variation in male mating success and avoidance of harassment by other males. In the third part, males will be reared under different conditions to see how much the environment affects a male=s coloration and therefore the extent to which a male=s coloration may indicate his condition or quality. These last two parts together test recent suggestions that some mechanisms of color production might provide more information than others about the quality of male signalers for females in mate choice. This project provides rich research and training experiences for students from diverse backgrounds and levels of professional development in the hopes of encouraging and enabling their pursuit of careers in science. The results will be disseminated to a broad audience through the scientific and popular press, web-based materials, and public presentations for non-profit natural history organizations.