Innate colour preferences and flexible colour learning in the pipevine swallowtail

Abstract

The importance of innate preferences and learned associations in choice of flower colours were investigated for the pipevine swallowtail butterfly,Battus philenor(Papilionidae). Naive butterflies showed innate colour preferences for yellow and, to a lesser extent, blue and purple. Apart from their innate preferences, they were able to learn within 10 flower visits to associate floral colour with the presence of nectar rewards in yellow or magentaLantana camara(Verbenaceae) flowers. Continued experience resulted in greater discrimination in favour of the rewarding colour. Most individuals readily shifted their foraging behaviour when the colour of the rewarding flower was changed. A capacity for rapid and flexible associative learning presumably allows butterflies to adjust their foraging efforts in response to floral rewards that vary over space or time. 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour