Abstract
Ass~~~cr.-The Pacific treefrog Pseudacris regilla is polymorphic in dorsal body color. Background selection experiments were conducted to test an hypothesis of differential substrate preference by green and brown morphs. Both morphs selected matching substrates more often than contrasting substrates. Background selection behaviors presumably arise in response to selection by visual predators. Garter snakes (Thamnophis elegans) were presented with contrasting and matching treefrogs on green and brown laboratory backgrounds. When active, matching frogs had no significant advantage; snakes selected the contrasting morph 10 of 18 times. However, in 10 trials where motionless frogs were attacked the contrasting frog was selected 9 times, indicating differential selection on noncryptic individuals. These results suggest that genetically-determined phenotypic variants can reduce the risk of predation through microhabitat selection, and indicate that visual predators can be important selective agents in the evolution and maintenance of color polymorphisms.
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