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Peer-reviewedCC BYBiology letters

Beetle gloss is a cue of conspecifics, but only in sunny conditions.

  • Amanda M Franklin1,2
  • Aika H Young2,3
  • Katrina J Rankin4
  • Aëto Apaix4
  • Mark Hanlon5
  • Avichal Tatu2
  • Casper J van der Kooi6
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Ecological, Plant and Animal Sciences, La Trobe University , Melbourne, Australia.
  2. 2School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne , Parkville, Australia.
  3. 3College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University , Adelaide, Australia.
  4. 4Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon , Lyon, France.
  5. 5Department of Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum , Welshpool, Australia.
  6. 6Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen , Groningen, The Netherlands.
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Abstract

Illumination conditions have a tremendous influence on the appearance of colours in nature. This is especially true for glossy objects, which generate bright highlights in direct sunlight, but the visibility of these highlights is noticeably reduced in shaded or overcast conditions. Despite this dramatic change in appearance with illumination, we know little about how illumination influences the visibility of glossy objects, and no study has directly tested the functional consequences. Here, we investigated whether jewel beetles (family: Buprestidae) use glossiness as a long-distance cue of conspecifics and how weather conditions determine the visibility of glossy beetles. We documented beetle attraction to glossy and matte interception traps in their natural habitat. Male beetles were more attracted to glossy than matte traps, but only on sunny days. To determine whether surface gloss is also used to locate conspecifics at short-range, we documented beetle behaviour towards glossy and matte replica beetle models placed on host trees. Beetles were more likely to approach glossy than matte replica beetles. Our results indicate that jewel beetles use glossiness as both long- and short-range cues of potential conspecifics, but only in sunny conditions. This demonstrates that environmental conditions determine when these brilliant visual cues are functionally relevant.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{franklin2026beetle,
  title = {{Beetle gloss is a cue of conspecifics, but only in sunny conditions.}},
  author = {Amanda M Franklin and Aika H Young and Katrina J Rankin and Aëto Apaix and Mark Hanlon and Avichal Tatu and Casper J van der Kooi},
  journal = {Biology letters},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1098/rsbl.2026.0358},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901532},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Beetle gloss is a cue of conspecifics, but only in sunny conditions.
AU  - Amanda M Franklin
AU  - Aika H Young
AU  - Katrina J Rankin
AU  - Aëto Apaix
AU  - Mark Hanlon
AU  - Avichal Tatu
AU  - Casper J van der Kooi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Biology letters
DO  - 10.1098/rsbl.2026.0358
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901532
AB  - Illumination conditions have a tremendous influence on the appearance of colours in nature. This is especially true for glossy objects, which generate bright highlights in direct sunlight, but the visibility of these highlights is noticeably reduced in shaded or overcast conditions. Despite this dramatic change in appearance with illumination, we know little about how illumination influences the visibility of glossy objects, and no study has directly tested the functional consequences. Here, we investigated whether jewel beetles (family: Buprestidae) use glossiness as a long-distance cue of conspecifics and how weather conditions determine the visibility of glossy beetles. We documented beetle attraction to glossy and matte interception traps in their natural habitat. Male beetles were more attracted to glossy than matte traps, but only on sunny days. To determine whether surface gloss is also used to locate conspecifics at short-range, we documented beetle behaviour towards glossy and matte replica beetle models placed on host trees. Beetles were more likely to approach glossy than matte replica beetles. Our results indicate that jewel beetles use glossiness as both long- and short-range cues of potential conspecifics, but only in sunny conditions. This demonstrates that environmental conditions determine when these brilliant visual cues are functionally relevant.
SN  - 1744-9561
SN  - 1744-957X
ER  -