Data from: Positioning behavior according to individual color variation improves camouflage in novel habitats

Behavior can play a key role in adaptation, especially in novel environments. Here we study how ground-perching grasshoppers that colonized street pavements as novel habitats behaviorally manage their detection rates by predators. We found that grasshoppers positioned themselves aligned with the spaces between adjacent bricks more than expected by chance. By performing a virtual predation experiment, we confirmed that this positioning behavior decreases predation rate. Surprisingly, individuals with a poorer cryptic coloration made greater use of this positioning behavior, while individuals with a better cryptic coloration relied more on background color matching. Additionally, positioning behavior interacted with other anti-predation behaviors: individuals who were positioned on the space between bricks allowed potential predators to get closer before fleeing. These results indicate that these grasshoppers showed adaptive flexibility in camouflage and escape behaviors as a function of both individual and environmental variation. Such behavioral flexibility should allow organisms to cope better with novel environments, which deserves more study especially in the current context of global change.

行为在生物适应过程中发挥关键作用，在新生环境中尤为显著。本研究聚焦于以城市人行道作为新生栖息地的地面栖息蚱蜢，探究它们如何通过行为调控被捕食者的发现概率。研究发现，蚱蜢会主动将自身朝向与相邻砖块间的缝隙对齐，且该行为的发生频率远高于随机概率。通过开展虚拟捕食实验，本研究证实该定位行为可降低蚱蜢的被捕食概率。令人意外的是，保护色（cryptic coloration）较差的个体更频繁地采用该定位行为，而保护色较好的个体则更多依赖与背景颜色的匹配。此外，定位行为与其他反捕食行为（anti-predation behaviors）存在交互效应：停留在砖块缝隙处的个体，会允许潜在捕食者更接近自身后再进行逃逸。上述结果表明，这些蚱蜢的伪装与逃逸行为具备适应性灵活性，其表现随个体特征与环境变化而改变。这类行为灵活性可帮助生物更好地适应新生环境，在当前全球变化的背景下，该研究方向值得更多关注与探索。