Data from: Developmental lead exposure has mixed effects on butterfly cognitive processes

While the effects of lead pollution have been well studied in vertebrates,
it is unclear to what extent lead may negatively affect insect cognition.
Lead pollution in soils can elevate lead in plant tissues, suggesting it
could negatively affect neural development of insect herbivores. We used
the cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) as a model system to study the
effect of lead pollution on insect cognitive processes, which play an
important role in how insects locate and handle resources. Cabbage white
butterfly larvae were reared on a 4-ppm lead diet, a concentration
representative of vegetation in polluted sites; we measured eye size and
performance on a foraging assay in adults. Relative to controls,
lead-reared butterflies did not differ in time or ability to search for a
food reward associated with a less preferred color. Indeed, lead-treated
butterflies were more likely to participate in the behavioral assay
itself. Lead exposure did not negatively affect survival or body size, and
it actually sped up development time. The effects of lead on relative eye
size varied with sex: lead tended to reduce eye size in males, but
increase eye size in females. These results suggest that low levels of
lead pollution may have mixed effects on butterfly vision, but only
minimal impacts on performance in foraging tasks, although follow-up work
is needed to test whether this result is specific to cabbage whites, which
are often associated with disturbed areas.