"The body colour of Robichon's lab aphids is affected by environmental conditions, with the cold favouring green aphids, optimal conditions resulting in orange ones and white ones appearing when the population is large and faced with limited resources....Green aphids, which contain high levels of carotenoids, make significantly more ATP than do white ones, which are almost devoid of these pigments."
Assuming the photosynthetic aphid hypothesis this makes for an interesting positive feedback loop with analogies in economics - when energy levels fall below a critical threshold the aphids are unable to synthesise the "metabolically expensive" cartenoids.
Assuming the photosynthetic aphid hypothesis this makes for an interesting positive feedback loop with analogies in economics - when energy levels fall below a critical threshold the aphids are unable to synthesise the "metabolically expensive" cartenoids.