Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)

Lopez, Vinicius Marques; Allen, William; Polido, Mariáh; Almeida, Lucas Henrique; Williams, Kevin Andrew; Ferreira, Rhainer Guillermo

doi:10.1002/ece3.70896

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Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)

Vinicius Marques Lopez

, William Allen

, Mariáh Polido, Lucas Henrique Almeida

, Kevin Andrew Williams, Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira

Ecology and Evolution, Volume: 15, Issue: 2

Swansea University Author: William Allen

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/ece3.70896

Abstract

Predation plays an important role in animal evolution by selecting for antipredator adaptations. Antipredator color adaptations include conspicuous spots, which are believed to provide protection by deflecting attacks to harmful or peripheral body parts, deimatic signaling, or as conspicuous warning...

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Published in:	Ecology and Evolution
ISSN:	2045-7758 2045-7758
Published:	Wiley 2025
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68841

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spelling	2025-03-26T14:05:54.7741822 v2 68841 2025-02-10 Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla) d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5 0000-0003-2654-0438 William Allen William Allen true false 2025-02-10 BGPS Predation plays an important role in animal evolution by selecting for antipredator adaptations. Antipredator color adaptations include conspicuous spots, which are believed to provide protection by deflecting attacks to harmful or peripheral body parts, deimatic signaling, or as conspicuous warning coloration. The utility of antipredator signals is context-dependent and may be influenced by the environment. In this study, we investigated the selective forces acting on the evolution of conspicuous spots on velvet ants (Mutillidae: Dasymutilla). We tested whether conspicuous spots in 80 species of velvet ants evolved in (i) forest-dwelling species, (ii) habitat-generalist species, or (iii) species predated by diverse birds and frogs. Results show that conspicuous spots are more likely to evolve in forest-dwelling species and in areas with more canopy cover, whereas species inhabiting open areas and deserts tend to lose them. Moreover, taxa with conspicuous spots transition between open and forested habitats less often. Spot presence was not associated with predator diversity. We suggest that spots in velvet ants require complex visual environments to be effective, which may limit their habitat occurrence. In simpler environments, carrying conspicuous spots could be costly due to increased exposure to visual predators. Journal Article Ecology and Evolution 15 2 Wiley 2045-7758 2045-7758 animal coloration; antipredator signaling; closed habitats; habitat complexity 1 2 2025 2025-02-01 10.1002/ece3.70896 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Other This study was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development—CNPq (proc.142299/2020–0), Minas Gerais State Research Support Foundation—FAPEMIG (proc. APQ-05401-23), São Paulo Research Foundation — FAPESP (proc. 2021/04798-3) and RGF thanks CNPq (Proc. 312847/2022–0) for a productivity grant. 2025-03-26T14:05:54.7741822 2025-02-10T14:20:49.5250075 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Vinicius Marques Lopez 0000-0001-9445-6540 1 William Allen 0000-0003-2654-0438 2 Mariáh Polido 3 Lucas Henrique Almeida 0000-0002-3388-4143 4 Kevin Andrew Williams 5 Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira 0000-0001-7774-5252 6 68841__33551__374e54f9b1fc421cbeaeef6a35744c53.pdf Ecology and Evolution - 2025 - Lopez et al 2025 EcolEvol Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants Hymenoptera Dasymutilla.pdf 2025-02-10T14:24:40.4590956 Output 2017974 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)
spellingShingle	Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla) William Allen
title_short	Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)
title_full	Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)
title_fullStr	Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)
title_full_unstemmed	Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)
title_sort	Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)
author_id_str_mv	d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5
author_id_fullname_str_mv	d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5_***_William Allen
author	William Allen
author2	Vinicius Marques Lopez William Allen Mariáh Polido Lucas Henrique Almeida Kevin Andrew Williams Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira
format	Journal article
container_title	Ecology and Evolution
container_volume	15
container_issue	2
publishDate	2025
institution	Swansea University
issn	2045-7758 2045-7758
doi_str_mv	10.1002/ece3.70896
publisher	Wiley
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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department_str	School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description	Predation plays an important role in animal evolution by selecting for antipredator adaptations. Antipredator color adaptations include conspicuous spots, which are believed to provide protection by deflecting attacks to harmful or peripheral body parts, deimatic signaling, or as conspicuous warning coloration. The utility of antipredator signals is context-dependent and may be influenced by the environment. In this study, we investigated the selective forces acting on the evolution of conspicuous spots on velvet ants (Mutillidae: Dasymutilla). We tested whether conspicuous spots in 80 species of velvet ants evolved in (i) forest-dwelling species, (ii) habitat-generalist species, or (iii) species predated by diverse birds and frogs. Results show that conspicuous spots are more likely to evolve in forest-dwelling species and in areas with more canopy cover, whereas species inhabiting open areas and deserts tend to lose them. Moreover, taxa with conspicuous spots transition between open and forested habitats less often. Spot presence was not associated with predator diversity. We suggest that spots in velvet ants require complex visual environments to be effective, which may limit their habitat occurrence. In simpler environments, carrying conspicuous spots could be costly due to increased exposure to visual predators.
published_date	2025-02-01T05:21:54Z
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Evolutionary Drivers of Conspicuous Spots in Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Dasymutilla)

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