Pub Date : 2023-10-24DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10248
Amber Thatcher, Nathan Insel
Abstract When establishing new peer relationships, animals may explore different modes of interaction, testing-out dominance roles, reciprocation of affiliation, and responses to investigation. This exploration is potentially risky, as higher variability may be counterproductive to establishing expectations and trust. There is therefore a tradeoff between exploration within a new social relationship and maintaining predictable, ‘safe’ behaviours, raising questions about how animals differ in how they engage with strangers. The Chilean degu offers an opportune case study to investigate novel social situations, as females form relationships relatively rapidly with unrelated peers. We presented degu dyads with a series of 20 min ‘reunion’ sessions and found that session-to-session variability in stranger females is, in fact, lower than in cagemates, and lower than stranger or cagemate males. Reduced variability was observed only after an initial social exposure, suggesting it was a feature of new relationships rather than novelty. There was no evidence that groups differed in predictability of behaviours within a reunion. It is known that in the wild, female degus differ from males by readily forming cooperative relationships with unrelated individuals. The data therefore raise the possibility that animals predisposed to cooperation might also show reduced behavioural variability across encounters with new individuals. This work offers new results and methods for considering strategies animals use to cope with social uncertainty.
{"title":"In female degus, reunions are less variable when relationships are new","authors":"Amber Thatcher, Nathan Insel","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10248","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10248","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract When establishing new peer relationships, animals may explore different modes of interaction, testing-out dominance roles, reciprocation of affiliation, and responses to investigation. This exploration is potentially risky, as higher variability may be counterproductive to establishing expectations and trust. There is therefore a tradeoff between exploration within a new social relationship and maintaining predictable, ‘safe’ behaviours, raising questions about how animals differ in how they engage with strangers. The Chilean degu offers an opportune case study to investigate novel social situations, as females form relationships relatively rapidly with unrelated peers. We presented degu dyads with a series of 20 min ‘reunion’ sessions and found that session-to-session variability in stranger females is, in fact, lower than in cagemates, and lower than stranger or cagemate males. Reduced variability was observed only after an initial social exposure, suggesting it was a feature of new relationships rather than novelty. There was no evidence that groups differed in predictability of behaviours within a reunion. It is known that in the wild, female degus differ from males by readily forming cooperative relationships with unrelated individuals. The data therefore raise the possibility that animals predisposed to cooperation might also show reduced behavioural variability across encounters with new individuals. This work offers new results and methods for considering strategies animals use to cope with social uncertainty.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135316810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-23DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10241
Stefan ter Haar, Ljubinka Francuski, Jean-Christophe Billeter, Martijn A. Schenkel, Leo W. Beukeboom
Abstract Adult sex ratio determines the level of mate availability and intrasexual competition for each sex. Sex ratio biases have been proposed to enhance the productivity of animal rearing procedures. However, behaviour may change in response to sex ratio manipulations that may counteract potential benefits. We investigated how sex ratios affected mating behaviour of the housefly Musca domestica , a species used in the animal feed industry. We hypothesized a reduced courtship effort and mating latency and increased ejaculate allocation (copulation duration) under male-biased sex ratios, whereas female-biased sex ratios would lead to the opposite effects. However, courtship effort was reduced in female-biased groups, implying reduced male harassment. Mating latency was lower and copulation lasted longer in female-biased groups, which may reduce reproduction time and increase female fecundity and lifespan. Our results indicate that in houseflies, female-biased sex ratios cause behavioural changes in both sexes that could positively contribute to reproductive output.
{"title":"Adult sex ratios affect mating behaviour in the common housefly Musca domestica L. (Diptera; Muscidae)","authors":"Stefan ter Haar, Ljubinka Francuski, Jean-Christophe Billeter, Martijn A. Schenkel, Leo W. Beukeboom","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10241","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Adult sex ratio determines the level of mate availability and intrasexual competition for each sex. Sex ratio biases have been proposed to enhance the productivity of animal rearing procedures. However, behaviour may change in response to sex ratio manipulations that may counteract potential benefits. We investigated how sex ratios affected mating behaviour of the housefly Musca domestica , a species used in the animal feed industry. We hypothesized a reduced courtship effort and mating latency and increased ejaculate allocation (copulation duration) under male-biased sex ratios, whereas female-biased sex ratios would lead to the opposite effects. However, courtship effort was reduced in female-biased groups, implying reduced male harassment. Mating latency was lower and copulation lasted longer in female-biased groups, which may reduce reproduction time and increase female fecundity and lifespan. Our results indicate that in houseflies, female-biased sex ratios cause behavioural changes in both sexes that could positively contribute to reproductive output.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135461119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-23DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10244
Thomas M. Vignaud, Carl G. Meyer, Clémentine Séguigne, Jan Bierwirth, Eric E.G. Clua
Abstract Although many animal species demonstrate individual personalities, studying these traits in wild sharks has proven challenging. Past research focused mainly on captive or juvenile sharks. Our ethological study of 31 wild adult bull sharks ( Carcharhinus leucas ) utilized an artificial provisioning site, amassing 2813 observations over 651 dives from October 2015 to January 2018 (27 months). Behavioural traits, including boldness-shyness and aggressiveness-placidity, were assessed using an ad hoc ethogram and an influencing factors table. This innovative approach not only allowed us to characterize individual shark behaviours but also to quantify their changes over time. Our findings suggest that adult bull sharks likely possess distinct personalities, spanning from extreme shyness to pronounced boldness, with varying levels of plasticity among individuals. Further exploration of shark personalities holds promise for advancing our comprehension of human–shark interactions and refining the management of potential aggressive behaviours exhibited by large shark species toward humans.
{"title":"Examining individual behavioural variation in wild adult bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) suggests divergent personalities","authors":"Thomas M. Vignaud, Carl G. Meyer, Clémentine Séguigne, Jan Bierwirth, Eric E.G. Clua","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10244","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Although many animal species demonstrate individual personalities, studying these traits in wild sharks has proven challenging. Past research focused mainly on captive or juvenile sharks. Our ethological study of 31 wild adult bull sharks ( Carcharhinus leucas ) utilized an artificial provisioning site, amassing 2813 observations over 651 dives from October 2015 to January 2018 (27 months). Behavioural traits, including boldness-shyness and aggressiveness-placidity, were assessed using an ad hoc ethogram and an influencing factors table. This innovative approach not only allowed us to characterize individual shark behaviours but also to quantify their changes over time. Our findings suggest that adult bull sharks likely possess distinct personalities, spanning from extreme shyness to pronounced boldness, with varying levels of plasticity among individuals. Further exploration of shark personalities holds promise for advancing our comprehension of human–shark interactions and refining the management of potential aggressive behaviours exhibited by large shark species toward humans.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135459761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-20DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10242
Nicole A. Pelletier, Anna M. Knochel, Joshua D. Stewart, Niv Froman, Taylor R. Smith, Greg Marshall, Kyler Abernathy, Julie Hawkins, Guy M.W. Stevens
Abstract Animal-borne video cameras equipped with depth and temperature sensors were deployed on 16 reef manta rays ( Mobula alfredi ) in Raa Atoll, Maldives and 12 oceanic manta rays ( Mobula birostris ) in the Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico. These deployments provided descriptive behavioural data that give vital context to existing biotelemetry data and enabled a comparison of the social dynamics between the two manta ray species. Overall, cruising was the most dominant daytime behaviour recorded for both species. For M. alfredi , cleaning was the second most common behaviour, followed by courtship and feeding. No courtship behaviour was recorded for M. birostris . Across M. alfredi and M. birostris deployments, individuals spent an average of 43 and 8% of recorded time interacting with conspecifics, respectively. Sociability was higher in M. alfredi than M. birostris , however the findings should be interpreted with caution beyond the two deployment populations and times. Crittercams captured multiple courtship events of M. alfredi at depths greater than recreational scuba diving limits and captured previously undocumented interspecific interactions with M. mobular . Crittercam deployments also recorded M. alfredi travelling in groups and hugging the contours of the ocean floor, possibly as a tactic to reduce predation risk and/or improve swimming efficiency, enforcing the importance of this novel technology as a valuable tool to gain new insight into the ecological drivers of habitat use by these species. Lastly, these quantitative and descriptive results provide context for future hypothesis-driven research questions using animal-borne video cameras for mobulid rays.
{"title":"Insight into manta ray behaviour using animal-borne Crittercams","authors":"Nicole A. Pelletier, Anna M. Knochel, Joshua D. Stewart, Niv Froman, Taylor R. Smith, Greg Marshall, Kyler Abernathy, Julie Hawkins, Guy M.W. Stevens","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10242","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10242","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Animal-borne video cameras equipped with depth and temperature sensors were deployed on 16 reef manta rays ( Mobula alfredi ) in Raa Atoll, Maldives and 12 oceanic manta rays ( Mobula birostris ) in the Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico. These deployments provided descriptive behavioural data that give vital context to existing biotelemetry data and enabled a comparison of the social dynamics between the two manta ray species. Overall, cruising was the most dominant daytime behaviour recorded for both species. For M. alfredi , cleaning was the second most common behaviour, followed by courtship and feeding. No courtship behaviour was recorded for M. birostris . Across M. alfredi and M. birostris deployments, individuals spent an average of 43 and 8% of recorded time interacting with conspecifics, respectively. Sociability was higher in M. alfredi than M. birostris , however the findings should be interpreted with caution beyond the two deployment populations and times. Crittercams captured multiple courtship events of M. alfredi at depths greater than recreational scuba diving limits and captured previously undocumented interspecific interactions with M. mobular . Crittercam deployments also recorded M. alfredi travelling in groups and hugging the contours of the ocean floor, possibly as a tactic to reduce predation risk and/or improve swimming efficiency, enforcing the importance of this novel technology as a valuable tool to gain new insight into the ecological drivers of habitat use by these species. Lastly, these quantitative and descriptive results provide context for future hypothesis-driven research questions using animal-borne video cameras for mobulid rays.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135618499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-20DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10245
Zackary A. Graham, Alyssa N. Oppedisano, Megan B. Stubbs, Zachary J. Loughman
Abstract Autotomy is the self-induced loss of a body part, which has evolved in animals at least nine times. Historically, autotomy has been seen as an anti-predator response that increases an animal’s chances of escape and survival. However, autotomy can also provide benefits such as reducing the cost of injury, increasing reproductive success, and allowing escape from non-predatory entrapments. One group of animals that has a high occurrence of autotomy are decapod crustaceans, such as crayfishes, where up to 50% of individuals may have autotomized appendages. In the current study, we investigate the effect of claw autotomy on the digging behaviour in the Hillbilly Hairy Crayfish, Cambarus polypilosus . Our results demonstrate that there was no influence on digging regardless of whether one or two claws were autotomized. Further, we demonstrate that the claws of C. polypilosus are sexually monomorphic, which is unusual among crustaceans.
{"title":"Claw autotomy does not influence digging ability in the Hillbilly Hairy Crayfish, Cambarus polypilosus","authors":"Zackary A. Graham, Alyssa N. Oppedisano, Megan B. Stubbs, Zachary J. Loughman","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10245","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Autotomy is the self-induced loss of a body part, which has evolved in animals at least nine times. Historically, autotomy has been seen as an anti-predator response that increases an animal’s chances of escape and survival. However, autotomy can also provide benefits such as reducing the cost of injury, increasing reproductive success, and allowing escape from non-predatory entrapments. One group of animals that has a high occurrence of autotomy are decapod crustaceans, such as crayfishes, where up to 50% of individuals may have autotomized appendages. In the current study, we investigate the effect of claw autotomy on the digging behaviour in the Hillbilly Hairy Crayfish, Cambarus polypilosus . Our results demonstrate that there was no influence on digging regardless of whether one or two claws were autotomized. Further, we demonstrate that the claws of C. polypilosus are sexually monomorphic, which is unusual among crustaceans.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135616703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-20DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003840
Ila France Porcher, A. Peter Klimley
{"title":"Introduction to the special issue on elasmobranch behaviour and cognition","authors":"Ila France Porcher, A. Peter Klimley","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-00003840","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-00003840","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135616705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-20DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10247
Virginia Pallante, Peter Ejbye-Ernst, Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard
Abstract Research on other than human animals has widely documented the behavioural expression of distress in a conflict context. In humans, however, this remains largely unknown due to the lack of direct access to real-life conflict events. Here, we took the aftermath of 76 video recorded street conflicts and applied the ethological method to explore the distress-related behavioural cues of previous antagonists. Drawing on observations on nonhuman behaviour and inductively identified behaviours, we developed and inter-coder reliability tested an ethogram for the behavioural repertoire of distress. We further quantitively analysed the behaviours with a correlation matrix and PCA, that revealed that the behaviours we observed were not displayed in combination with each other, showing a variability in how people express distress. Since both human and nonhuman primates react to conflict situations with similar expressions of distress, we suggest a comparative approach to understand the evolutionary roots of human behaviour.
{"title":"An ethogram method for the analysis of human distress-related behaviours in the aftermath of public conflicts","authors":"Virginia Pallante, Peter Ejbye-Ernst, Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10247","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Research on other than human animals has widely documented the behavioural expression of distress in a conflict context. In humans, however, this remains largely unknown due to the lack of direct access to real-life conflict events. Here, we took the aftermath of 76 video recorded street conflicts and applied the ethological method to explore the distress-related behavioural cues of previous antagonists. Drawing on observations on nonhuman behaviour and inductively identified behaviours, we developed and inter-coder reliability tested an ethogram for the behavioural repertoire of distress. We further quantitively analysed the behaviours with a correlation matrix and PCA, that revealed that the behaviours we observed were not displayed in combination with each other, showing a variability in how people express distress. Since both human and nonhuman primates react to conflict situations with similar expressions of distress, we suggest a comparative approach to understand the evolutionary roots of human behaviour.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135618843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-20DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10246
V. Schluessel, V. Leo, M. Bawolt, N. Kreuter
Abstract Two species of fish were tested in a serial reversal learning task using two dimensional objects varying in colour and/or form. After reaching the learning criterion (LC) in the original discrimination task, individuals reversed for up to ten times, i.e., stimulus association was switched and animals rewarded for choosing the stimulus that had not been rewarded in the previous learning phase. This was conducted using the two stimuli green diamond (S+) vs. red square (S−) for the training of eight cichlids, and black star (S+) vs. black circle (S−) for the training of seven bamboo sharks. All fifteen animals completed the initial training phase and reversed successfully at least three times, indicating an ability to forsake a previously learned stimulus association in favour of a new one. Sharks, but not cichlids, also showed a decrease in the number of sessions needed to reach LC with an increase in the number of reversals conducted, showing that some sort of learning strategy, i.e., rule learning, had been applied. Animals that improve their performance within such learning paradigms are considered to possess more behavioural flexibility and advanced cognitive abilities than those who do not. More flexibility could specifically aid species living in complex habitats, social groups and subjected to changing environmental conditions.
{"title":"When the penny drops: sharks outsmart cichlids in serial reversal learning","authors":"V. Schluessel, V. Leo, M. Bawolt, N. Kreuter","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10246","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Two species of fish were tested in a serial reversal learning task using two dimensional objects varying in colour and/or form. After reaching the learning criterion (LC) in the original discrimination task, individuals reversed for up to ten times, i.e., stimulus association was switched and animals rewarded for choosing the stimulus that had not been rewarded in the previous learning phase. This was conducted using the two stimuli green diamond (S+) vs. red square (S−) for the training of eight cichlids, and black star (S+) vs. black circle (S−) for the training of seven bamboo sharks. All fifteen animals completed the initial training phase and reversed successfully at least three times, indicating an ability to forsake a previously learned stimulus association in favour of a new one. Sharks, but not cichlids, also showed a decrease in the number of sessions needed to reach LC with an increase in the number of reversals conducted, showing that some sort of learning strategy, i.e., rule learning, had been applied. Animals that improve their performance within such learning paradigms are considered to possess more behavioural flexibility and advanced cognitive abilities than those who do not. More flexibility could specifically aid species living in complex habitats, social groups and subjected to changing environmental conditions.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135617784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-16DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10243
Omar Domínguez–Castanedo, Ingo Schlupp
Abstract Throughout their distribution range, sailfin and shortfin mollies of the genus Poecilia inhabit overlapping habitats; however, little is known about its behavioural coexistence. We first describe the ethogram of Poecilia velifera and P. mexicana in a mangrove of Yucatan. Furthermore, we identify behavioural strategies of each size morphotype/species. We describe reproductive, territorial, and cleaning behaviours in two sympatric species of mollies in their natural context, with emphasis of their behavioural interactions and coexistence. Specifically, here we document (i) specific reproductive strategies in male P. velifera morphotypes (large, intermediate-ornamented and ‘cryptic-intermediate’), suggesting that cryptic-intermediate males have advantages that suggest consequences for their reproductive success; (ii) frequent courtship and sexual behaviours from P. mexicana males directed to P. velifera females, that deserve future attention to determine the possible generation of hybrids; and (iii) increased aggressive behaviour and territoriality of P. mexicana relative to those observed in P. velifera .
{"title":"Intra- and interspecific behavioural ecology within and between Mollienesia males (sailfin molly Poecilia velifera and shortfin molly P. mexicana) in mangroves of Yucatán peninsula","authors":"Omar Domínguez–Castanedo, Ingo Schlupp","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10243","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Throughout their distribution range, sailfin and shortfin mollies of the genus Poecilia inhabit overlapping habitats; however, little is known about its behavioural coexistence. We first describe the ethogram of Poecilia velifera and P. mexicana in a mangrove of Yucatan. Furthermore, we identify behavioural strategies of each size morphotype/species. We describe reproductive, territorial, and cleaning behaviours in two sympatric species of mollies in their natural context, with emphasis of their behavioural interactions and coexistence. Specifically, here we document (i) specific reproductive strategies in male P. velifera morphotypes (large, intermediate-ornamented and ‘cryptic-intermediate’), suggesting that cryptic-intermediate males have advantages that suggest consequences for their reproductive success; (ii) frequent courtship and sexual behaviours from P. mexicana males directed to P. velifera females, that deserve future attention to determine the possible generation of hybrids; and (iii) increased aggressive behaviour and territoriality of P. mexicana relative to those observed in P. velifera .","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136142187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-29DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10236
Tomasz Włodarczyk
Abstract Slave-making ants might exert strong pressure on their host populations by pillaging their nests and sometimes destroying the whole colonies. Consequently, host ants have evolved many adaptations reducing the probability of being attacked, resisting an assault or, as a last line of defence, minimising the losses associated with a successful slave-maker invasion. This paper presents the results of a study on a common Palearctic ant species, Formica fusca , which falls victim to slave raids organised by the congeneric F. sanguinea . Slave-making ants were placed close to the nest entrance of the host ants, and the subsequent instances of aggression were recorded. The study was carried out in the context of the influence of the dominant competitor by selecting host colonies located within and outside the territory of the wood ants ( F. rufa and F. polyctena ). This approach enabled the potential co-evolutionary interplay among three species performing different roles in mutual ecological interactions. The F. fusca ants reacted with aggression to the slave-making ants but not to the dominant competitors. Moreover, the avoidance of the aggression of host ants toward wood ants entails an environment-induced component, besides the presumably inherited one. The impact of the dominant competitor as a territory holder manifests itself in the reduced promptness of F. fusca ants to defend their colonies against slave-makers. The results suggest that this effect is mediated by the negative impact of wood ants on F. fusca colony size.
{"title":"Impact of the dominant competitor on the aggressiveness of host ants toward slave-makers","authors":"Tomasz Włodarczyk","doi":"10.1163/1568539x-bja10236","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10236","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Slave-making ants might exert strong pressure on their host populations by pillaging their nests and sometimes destroying the whole colonies. Consequently, host ants have evolved many adaptations reducing the probability of being attacked, resisting an assault or, as a last line of defence, minimising the losses associated with a successful slave-maker invasion. This paper presents the results of a study on a common Palearctic ant species, Formica fusca , which falls victim to slave raids organised by the congeneric F. sanguinea . Slave-making ants were placed close to the nest entrance of the host ants, and the subsequent instances of aggression were recorded. The study was carried out in the context of the influence of the dominant competitor by selecting host colonies located within and outside the territory of the wood ants ( F. rufa and F. polyctena ). This approach enabled the potential co-evolutionary interplay among three species performing different roles in mutual ecological interactions. The F. fusca ants reacted with aggression to the slave-making ants but not to the dominant competitors. Moreover, the avoidance of the aggression of host ants toward wood ants entails an environment-induced component, besides the presumably inherited one. The impact of the dominant competitor as a territory holder manifests itself in the reduced promptness of F. fusca ants to defend their colonies against slave-makers. The results suggest that this effect is mediated by the negative impact of wood ants on F. fusca colony size.","PeriodicalId":8822,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135200145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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