The British Journal of Animal Behaviour最新文献

Summary

• 1.

  The male of H. misippus responds to the female with a characteristic sequence of courtship reactions.

• 2.

  Test insects were prepared from the wings of freshly killed butterflies. They were presented to free-living males in a manner that allowed the males to respond to them with the courtship sequence of reactions.

• 3.

  The early stages of the courtship sequence were under the control of visual stimuli, but the later stages were controlled by other stimuli, probably of a behavioural and chemosensory nature. These latter stimuli were present in both male and female test insects, and were, therefore of specific rather than sexual nature.

• 4.

  Stimuli arising from the wings of a male test insect had an inhibitory effect on the courtship reactions of living males.

• 5.

  Stimuli arising from the hindwings of a test insect had a more pronounced effect on the behaviour of the male than similar stimuli arising from the forewings.

• 6.

  The courtship sequence was strongly inhibited in its early stages by white or light coloured test insects.

• 7.

  The presence of white hindwings on the test insect exerted a strong inhibitory effect on the courtship reactions of the male. For this reason the male Hypolimnas was not normally attracted to D. chrysippus form alcippus. The latter resembles closely one of the female forms of H. misippus but possesses white hindwings.

• 8.

  It is suggested that there is no mimetic form of H. misippus corresponding to the alcippus form of D. chrysippus. The female form alcippoides of H. misippus is too scarce to be regarded as a true mimetic form.

• 9.

  It is further suggested that, since H. misippus appears to be genetically capable of developing the alcippoides form, no true mimetic association exists between H. misippus and D. chrysippus in those areas where the form alcippus of the latter species is dominant.

Summary

• 1.

  The suckling behaviour of eight litters is described. The average duration of initial massage of the udder by the piglets, milk-ejection and final massage per nursing, for six complete lactations, was 60.5 sec., 14.2 sec. and 149.3 sec. respectively.

• 2.

  An apparent correlation was found between the total time spent on massage at each nursing and total milk yield.

• 3.

  The effect of the position adopted by the sows at nursing times on udder massage and milk yield is discussed.

• 4.

  Lactation curves of the sows were of a different shape from those of cows and sheep in that they reached their peak three weeks after parturition, remained at that level for a further three weeks and then fell rapidly.

• 5.

  Correlation between milk consumption and growth rate up to 19 days of age was 0.98.

• 6.

  The possible effects of the udder massage and the methods of recording yield are discussed.

Summary

• 1.

  A 3-frame observation hive was used to study the events leading up to swarming in a colony of bees with a year-old queen.

• 2.

  The first queen cup was built on 28th May and a further seventeen were built between 9th June and 14th July. Four virgins hatched from these cells.

• 3.

  A prime swarm and two casts reduced the strength of the colony from approximately 10,000 bees just before swarming to approximately 1,500 bees finally.

• 4.

  The queen continued to lay until the day of swarming, and on five occasions was seen to lay in queen cups without any apparent compulsion from the workers.

• 5.

  The queen was only once or twice prevented from carrying out frequent examinations of the queen cups.

• 6.

  She was not interfered with on three occasions when the tore down unsealed queen cells, although the bees became rather excited at these times.

• 7.

  There was a reduction in the number of attendants feeding the queen after queen cell formation had begun, the bees often refusing to supply her with food, and the mean age of bees feeding the queen decreased as the swarming urge developed.

• 8.

  Two cases of “balling” of the queen are described.

• 9.

  Certain workers were seen sometimes to “shake” the queen or other workers, and this process is described. It increased in frequency as the swarming preparations developed.

• 10.

  A year-old mated queen can “pipe.” Commencing five days before the swarm left, this piping became very frequent in the final two days. Unhatched virgins piped, and after hatching they piped much more frequently. Piping ended after the final cast had departed. Descriptions of piping are given.

• 11.

  Bees in the neighbourhood of a piping virgin became quiet and still until the piping ceased.

• 12.

  A feature of the few days preceding swarming was the appearance of columns of stationary bees at the sides of the combs.

• 13.

  Intense activity, in which all the bees took part, immediately preceded the issue of the swarms.

• 14.

  Both the old queen and the virgins vigorously resisted the efforts of the workers to push them out of the hive with the swarms.

Under natural conditions, twin lamps up to 6 weeks old, suckled on average 22 times in 16 daylight hours. Single lambs suckled on average 14 times in 6 daylight hours. The duration of suckling periods became shorter and less frequent as the lambs grew older.