Abstract Color polymorphisms have been traditionally attributed to apostatic selection. The perception of color depends on the visual system of the observer. Theoretical models predict that differently perceived degrees of conspicuousness by two predator and prey species may cause the evolution of polymorphisms in the presence of anti-apostatic and apostatic selection. The spider Gasteracantha cancriformis (Araneidae) possesses several conspicuous color morphs. In orb-web spiders, the prey attraction hypothesis states that conspicuous colors are prey lures that increase spider foraging success via flower mimicry. Therefore, polymorphism could be maintained if each morph attracted a different prey species (multiple prey hypothesis) and each spider mimicked a different flower color (flower mimicry hypothesis). Conspicuous colors could be a warning signal to predators because of the spider’s hard abdomen and spines. Multiple predators could perceive morphs differently and exert different degrees of selective pressures (multiple predator hypothesis). We explored these 3 hypotheses using reflectance data and color vision modeling to estimate the chromatic and achromatic contrast of G. cancriformis morphs as perceived by several potential prey and predator taxa. Our results revealed that individual taxa perceive the conspicuousness of morphs differently. Therefore, the multiple prey hypothesis and, in part, the multiple predator hypothesis may explain the evolution of color polymorphism in G. cancriformis, even in the presence of anti-apostatic selection. The flower mimicry hypothesis received support by color metrics, but not by color vision models. Other parameters not evaluated by color vision models could also affect the perception of morphs and influence morph survival and polymorphism stability.

中文翻译：

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猎物和捕食者对球网蜘蛛显眼性的感知不同：评估颜色多态性进化的替代假设

摘要 颜色多态性传统上归因于背教选择。颜色的感知取决于观察者的视觉系统。理论模型预测，在存在反叛教和叛教选择的情况下，两种捕食者和猎物物种对显眼程度的不同感知可能会导致多态性的进化。蜘蛛 Gasteracantha cancriformis (Araneidae) 拥有几种显眼的颜色变体。在圆网蜘蛛中，猎物吸引力假说指出，显眼的颜色是通过模仿花朵来增加蜘蛛觅食成功率的猎物诱饵。因此，如果每个变体吸引不同的猎物物种（多猎物假设）并且每只蜘蛛模仿不同的花颜色（花拟态假设），则可以保持多态性。由于蜘蛛坚硬的腹部和刺，显眼的颜色可能是对捕食者的警告信号。多个捕食者可以以不同的方式感知变形并施加不同程度的选择压力（多捕食者假设）。我们使用反射率数据和色觉模型探索了这 3 个假设，以估计由几个潜在猎物和捕食者分类群感知的 G. cancriformis 变形的彩色和非彩色对比度。我们的结果表明，个体分类群对变形的显着性的感知不同。因此，多猎物假说和部分多捕食者假说可以解释 G. cancriformis 颜色多态性的进化，即使在存在反叛教选择的情况下也是如此。花模仿假说得到了颜色度量的支持，但没有得到颜色视觉模型的支持。