Ladybugs (Coccinella Septempunctata) Produce Bad-Tasting Alkaloids as a Chemical Defense

Ladybugs (Coccinella septempunctata) produce bad-tasting alkaloids as a chemical defense against predators. Researchers wanted to determine the costs of this chemical defense. They fed ladybugs either small or large amounts of food and measured alkaloid production and concentrations of carotenoids in the ladybug bodies. Carotenoids are the chemicals responsible for the red color of the ladybug, which advertises its unpalatability to predators. What do the results of this experiment, shown in the figure, indicate about costs of chemical defenses?