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First published online October 17, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 3504-3511 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.017848
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Simultaneous color contrast in the foraging swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus

Michiyo Kinoshita1,*, Yuki Takahashi2 and Kentaro Arikawa1

1 Laboratory of Neuroethology, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Shonan Village, Hayama 240-0193, Japan
2 Graduate School of Integrated Science, Yokohama City University, 22-2 Seto, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0027, Japan

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: kinoshita_michiyo{at}soken.ac.jp)

Accepted 15 September 2008

This study demonstrates that the color vision of foraging Japanese yellow swallowtail butterflies, Papilio xuthus, involves simultaneous color contrast. We trained newly emerged Papilio to select a disk of pale green among a set of differently colored disks presented on a black background. When the same set of disks was presented on blue background, the pale green-trained butterflies selected blue-green. The difference in spectra between pale green and blue green was similar to the spectrum of yellow for human vision, suggesting that blue induces yellow. Similarly, the pale green-trained Papilio selected a more bluish spring green on yellow background. We also trained Papilio with orange disks and tested on a green and violet background. The results showed that green induced violet and vice versa. Taken together, we concluded that simultaneous color contrast of Papilio is similar to the effect of complementary colors in human color vision.

Key words: insect, visual system, complementary color, Lepidoptera, color constancy


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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2008