External color variation in the animal kingdom can have profound effects on the life history of an organism. Color patterns can have multiple functions, such as to attract mates, to facilitate camouflage, or to signal toxicity to potential predators-a function also known as aposematism, or warning coloration. A well-known example of warning coloration is found in ladybird beetles, which display vibrant color patterns that signal their toxic nature to potential predators (Dolenská et al. 2009). As predators begin to associate ingestion of conspicuous prey with sickness or severe discomfort, they learn to avoid them, leading to the evolution of an avoidance response in these predatory species.
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