Explore how butterfly camouflage, chemical mimicry and palatability change survival, and how claws, shells, size and speed affect predator feeding choices in IB Biology SL B4.2.10.
Butterflies have evolved different methods of defence against bird attacks. The relative escaping ability and unpalatability (distastefulness) of different tropical butterfly families and subfamilies was investigated in the presence of wild kingbirds, Tyrannus melancholicus, a natural predator of butterflies. Each symbol on the graph represents a different species within a (sub)family.
Greater ability to escape
Lesser ability to escape
Suggest one feature of butterfly wings that might help a butterfly to escape from a predator.
The graph shows that distasteful butterflies tend to have a lower ability to escape from predators than palatable butterflies. Suggest reasons for this trend.