Communications Biology (Nov 2021)

Toxic plants act as indiscriminate protectors of insects

  • Luke R. Grinham

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02830-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 1
pp. 1 – 1

Abstract

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Aposematism is a prey strategy to communicate toxicity or danger to predators, often through bright colours, and over time is learned by predators. McLellan et al. report in Current Biology that association between an aposematic insect and its host plant is learned by wild birds, to the point that any insect on the plant faces a lower predation risk.