Why are warning colours in animals so rare?

有毒昆虫会显示警告颜色，以保护它们免受捕食者的伤害，因为捕食者学会将它们与难闻的味道联系在一起。从理论上讲，可以显示警示色的物种数量没有限制，但据估计，只有大约5%的物种具有警示性颜色。这提出了一个根本的、尚未解决的生物学问题--什么限制了警示颜色？这个项目旨在通过测试三个预测警报信号限制的假设来解决这个重要的生物学问题。预计的结果是更好地了解这些五颜六色的昆虫的生态位，这可能会为保护和生物多样性管理提供信息，并提高对这些华丽生物的认识。

Toxic insects display warning colours as protection from predators who learn to associate them with an unpleasant taste. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of species that could show warning colours but only about 5% are estimated to have them. This presents a fundamental and unresolved biological problem - what limits warning colours? This project aims to address this significant biological question by testing three hypotheses predicting warning signal limitations. Projected outcomes are an improved understanding of the ecological niche of these colourful insects, which may inform conservation and biodiversity management and raise awareness of these flamboyant creatures.