Data from: Reduced palatability, fast flight, and tails: Decoding the defence arsenal of Eudaminae skipper butterflies in a Neotropical locality

Prey often rely on multiple defences against predators, such as flight
speed, attack deflection from vital body parts, or unpleasant taste, but
our understanding on how often and why they are co-exhibited remains
limited. Eudaminae skipper butterflies use fast flight and mechanical
defences (hindwing tails), but whether they use other defences like
unpalatability (consumption deterrence), and how these defences interact,
has not been assessed. We tested the palatability of 12 abundant Eudaminae
species in Peru, using training and feeding experiments with domestic
chicks. Further, we approximated the difficulty of capture explained by
flight speed and quantified by wing loading. We performed phylogenetic
regressions to find any association between multiple defences, body size,
and habitat preference. We found a broad range of palatability in
Eudaminae, within and among species. Contrary to current understanding,
palatability was negatively correlated with wing loading, suggesting that
faster butterflies tend to have lower palatability. The relative length of
hind wing tails did not explain the level of butterfly palatability,
showing that attack deflection and consumption deterrence are not mutually
exclusive. Habitat preference (open or forested environments) did not
explain the level of palatability either, although butterflies with high
wing loading tended to occupy semi-closed or closed habitats. Finally, the
level of unpalatability in Eudaminae is size dependent. Larger butterflies
are less palatable, perhaps because of higher detectability/preference by
predators. Altogether, our findings shed light on the contexts favouring
the prevalence of single vs. multiple defensive strategies in prey.