Data from: Why have multiple plastic responses? Interactions between color change and heat avoidance behavior in Battus philenor larvae

Having multiple plastic responses to a change in the environment%2C such as increased temperature%2C can be adaptive for two major reasons%3A synergy %28the plastic responses perform better when expressed simultaneously%29%2C or complementarity %28each plastic response provides a greater net benefit in a different environmental context%29. We investigated these hypotheses for two forms of temperature-induced plasticity of Battus philenor caterpillars in southern Arizona populations%3A color change %28from black to red at high temperatures%29 and heat-avoidance behavior %28movement from host to elevated refuges at high host temperatures%29. Field assays using aluminum models showed that the cooling effect of the red color is greatly reduced in a refuge position relative to on a host. Field assays with live caterpillars demonstrated that refuge-seeking is much more important for survival under hot conditions than coloration%3B however%2C in those assays%2C red coloration reduced the need to seek refuges. Our%0Aresults support the complementarity hypothesis%3A refuge-seeking facilitates survival during daily temperature peaks while color change reduces the need to leave the host over longer warm periods. We propose that combinations of rapid but costly short-term behavioral responses and slow but efficient long-term morphological responses may be common when coping with temperature change.