Ethology最新文献

{"title":"No evidence that the widespread environmental contaminant caffeine alters energy balance or stress responses in fish","authors":"Hung Tan,&nbsp;Jack A. Brand,&nbsp;Bradley O. Clarke,&nbsp;Jack L. Manera,&nbsp;Jake M. Martin,&nbsp;Bob B. M. Wong,&nbsp;Lesley A. Alton","doi":"10.1111/eth.13403","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13403","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Anthropogenic sources of environmental pollution are ever-increasing as urban areas expand and more chemical compounds are used in daily life. The stimulant caffeine is one of the most consumed chemical compounds worldwide, and as a result, has been detected as an environmental contaminant in all types of major water sources on all continents. Exposure of wildlife to environmental pollutants can disrupt the energy balance of these organisms, as restoration of homeostasis is prioritised. In turn, energy allocated to other key biological processes such as growth or reproduction may be affected, consequently reducing the overall fitness of an individual. Therefore, we aimed to investigate if long-term exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of caffeine had any energetic consequences on wildlife. Specifically, we exposed wild eastern mosquitofish (<i>Gambusia holbrooki</i>) to one of three nominal concentrations of caffeine (0, 100 and 10,000 ng/L) and assayed individuals for metabolic rate, general activity, antipredator and foraging behaviour and body size as measures of energy expenditure or energy intake. We found no differences in any measured traits between any of the given exposure treatments, indicating that exposure to caffeine at current environmental levels may not adversely affect the energy balance and fitness of vulnerable freshwater fish.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 12","pages":"666-678"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13403","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136072988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hidden black and yellow thigh color acts as an aposematic signal in the Eastern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor)","authors":"Joseph S. Cannizzaro IV,&nbsp;Gerlinde Höbel","doi":"10.1111/eth.13404","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13404","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Recognizing form and function of animal defenses is paramount to understanding the ecological and evolutionary forces behind predator and prey dynamics. Color patterns are strongly related to defensive strategies in animals. Some rely on camouflage to avoid detection, while others are brightly colored and conspicuously signal their noxiousness to potential predators. Still others combine cryptic dorsal coloration with colorful patches that are concealed in resting position but are facultatively unveiled by special behavior or simply during activity. Such hidden conspicuous color patches may be an intermediate stage in the evolution from camouflage to aposematism. Many species, especially treefrogs of the family Hylidae, are generally considered to be cryptic, yet show colorful patches on their flanks or thighs and have defensive skin secretions that may have unpalatable properties. We investigated whether the conspicuous black and yellow spotted pattern on the thighs of Eastern Gray Treefrogs (<i>Hyla versicolor</i>) serve as an aposematic signal. We conducted a palatability study to test whether Gray Treefrog skin secretions are unpalatable, and a clay model field study to test whether the conspicuous black and yellow thigh pattern is an aposematic warning coloration that reduces predation. Frog secretions were discriminated against during palatability assays, and clay models painted with a spotted black and yellow pattern suffered lower predation rates. Our findings support the hypothesis that hidden color patches act as aposematic signals in Gray Treefrogs and suggest that more species benefit from aposematic coloration than currently appreciated.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 12","pages":"679-685"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46420419","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}

{"title":"Sublethal effects of kleptoparasitism on experimental social spider colonies","authors":"Samantha Straus,&nbsp;Leticia Avilés","doi":"10.1111/eth.13401","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13401","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A defining feature of parasitism is the harm parasites cause to their host via a reduction in lifetime reproductive success. Harm, also referred to as “virulence,” may involve host mortality or sublethal effects, such as a decreased body condition or protracted development of immature individuals. We considered a system where colonies of the social spider <i>Anelosimus eximius</i> serve as hosts to confamilial kleptoparasitic spiders that steal food resources. In a laboratory experiment with parasitized and non-parasitized colonies, we tested whether this host–parasite interaction meets the criterium of harm to host individuals and colonies. We assessed survival and measured scaled mass indices (SMI) before and after the experimental period. Linear mixed effects models demonstrated that colonies exposed to kleptoparasites had lower SMI values at the end of the experiment compared to controls, but found no effect of kleptoparasitism on mortality in treatment and control groups. We conclude that kleptoparasites meet the criterium of harm to their host to be considered parasitic and provide the first empirical measure of virulence for this study system.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 12","pages":"649-654"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13401","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47886608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population differences in multimodal lizard communication are not well explained by habitat or history","authors":"Cristina Romero-Diaz,&nbsp;Bryce R. Wetherell,&nbsp;Danielle Ury,&nbsp;Mikayla Reuter,&nbsp;Jake A. Pruett,&nbsp;Emília P. Martins,&nbsp;Alison G. Ossip-Drahos","doi":"10.1111/eth.13402","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13402","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Animals evolve in complex selective regimes, where a suite of different factors can shape signal use. We might predict that more closely related species will exhibit more similar behavior than those more distantly related; however, sometimes signals are shaped more profoundly by the environment or other forces. Lizards in the genus <i>Sceloporus</i> communicate with conspecifics with multimodal signals that combine species-typical push-up and headbob displays and chemical signals in the form of femoral gland secretions. Here, we examine behavioral activity and signal use across three closely related populations of the <i>Sceloporus undulatus</i> species complex from diverse habitats across the United States, to test the relative roles of habitat and phylogeography in shaping communicative behavior. We filmed undisturbed levels of activity for free-ranging males of <i>S. consobrinus,</i> syn. <i>S. u. erythrocheilus</i>, in Colorado, <i>S. undulatus hyacinthinus</i> in Indiana and <i>S. u. undulatus</i> in Georgia, and scored frequency and rates of behavior important for communication. We found that populations differed in their use of communicative signals in a way that deviates from expectations based solely on phylogeographic proximity or habitat, suggesting that plasticity or adaptation to conditions that vary among populations may be especially important. Specifically, canonical discriminant analyses found the largest differences in movement patterns. <i>Sceloporus u. hyacinthinus</i> was the most behaviorally different out of the three: males in this population had lower movement rates and particularly low levels of chemosensory behavior while male <i>S. consobrinus</i> and <i>S. u. undulatus</i> showed similar rates of chemosensory acts and headbob/push-up displays. Phenotypic and environmental variation among closely related populations, in combination with phylogeographic knowledge can help us untangle the processes responsible for the origin and maintenance of organismal diversity in communicative behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 12","pages":"655-665"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13402","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43994887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How important is temperature for strike success of ectotherms? Thermal effects on predator–prey interactions of free-ranging pit vipers (Gloydius blomhoffii)","authors":"Tomonori Kodama,&nbsp;Akira Mori","doi":"10.1111/eth.13400","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13400","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Among various environmental factors, temperature has been considered a main determinant of outcomes of predator–prey interactions involving ectotherms. Although numerous studies have aimed to examine temperature effects on those interactions, few studies have been conducted under fully natural conditions. In this study, we examined the degree to which temperature affects the outcomes of encounters between a Japanese pit viper (Mamushi, <i>Gloydius blomhoffii</i>) and its prey under natural conditions. We continuously recorded ambushing behaviors and body temperatures of these snakes in the field using videography. We found that, over the range of temperatures at which Mamushi hunted, (1) temperature has only limited effects on whether Mamushis initiate a strike at prey and whether strikes successfully hit the prey; (2) prey reactions to strikes, such as whether they dodge the strike or the latency from strike initiation to dodge, are not affected by temperature; and (3) factors such as distance to prey and prey dodging movements are greater determinants than temperature on the outcomes of encounters between free-ranging Mamushi and their prey. Our results suggest that temperature effects on the outcomes of free-ranging snake–prey interactions may be smaller than hitherto considered.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 12","pages":"641-648"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48879871","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}

{"title":"Sibling cannibalism in the false widow spider is dependent on spiderling density and the reliable availability of fresh prey","authors":"Jeffrey A. Harvey,&nbsp;Robin Steegh,&nbsp;Yuting Dong,&nbsp;Rieta Gols","doi":"10.1111/eth.13399","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13399","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Adult female spiders lay batches of eggs in silken egg sacs, and after hatching, the spiderlings live for transient periods in their mother's web before dispersing. Sibling cannibalism is frequently observed among spiderlings of many species under conditions of food deprivation. Here, we conducted assays in small Petri dishes with different densities of newly hatched (second instar) spiderlings of the false widow spider, <i>Steatoda grossa</i>, using a split-clutch design. Prey (freshly killed fruit flies) availability was manipulated both numerically and temporally. Offspring from 10 different females were separated as siblings into densities of two, four, or eight spiderlings per Petri dish and these were provided with either 0 flies (starvation control), two flies, four flies, or eight flies that were replenished weekly or every 3 weeks. A further control was conducted with solitary spiderlings in Petri dishes deprived of flies. The number of surviving spiderlings per Petri dish was counted every 3 days until only one remained (or until death of the solitary spiderling). Our results show that the rate of cannibalism was lower with increasing spiderling density and when fresh flies were replenished more frequently, whereas the number of flies that were provided did not affect cannibalism. In <i>S. grossa</i>, juvenile cannibalism occurs primarily under conditions of extreme food limitation, although in synanthropic habitats where the spider is abundant, it may be an adaptive strategy owing to the potential scarcity of prey. Under certain conditions, cannibalism in spiderlings is adaptive by eliminating competitors and providing nutrient-rich food.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 11","pages":"630-639"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13399","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45010377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The wolf spider Pardosa milvina varies silk deposition in response to self and same-sex conspecific silk","authors":"Michael O'Donovan,&nbsp;Matthew H. Persons","doi":"10.1111/eth.13398","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13398","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Silk is an important communication medium for spiders with roles in species recognition, sex identification, and mating status assessment. Spiders may benefit by discriminating between their own or another same-sex conspecific's silk. Silk-mediated self-recognition could allow spiders to identify areas that they have previously visited, competitively block silk advertisements from sexual rivals or minimize redundant signaling in an area. Silk deposition behavior may also be contingent upon silk cues detected from same-sex conspecifics. We tested if males and females of the wolf spider <i>Pardosa milvina</i> show different silk deposition patterns when encountering their own silk versus the silk of another spider of the same sex. Using a within-between-subjects design, we quantified male and female deposition of three silk types: draglines, cord silk, and attachment disks on substrates containing either their own silk or the silk of an adult same-sex conspecific (<i>N</i> = 23 males, 28 females). Both males and females significantly increased dragline and cord silk deposition on substrates containing conspecific rather than their own silk with males producing more cord silk than females. Males significantly increased attachment disk deposition on conspecific male silk compared to their own while females showed the opposite response, decreasing attachment disk deposition on conspecific female silk. Both male and female <i>P. milvina</i> can recognize their own silk, but we found significant qualitative and quantitative sex differences in silk deposition suggesting sex-specific functions for attachment disks compared to cord or dragline silk.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 11","pages":"622-629"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46274399","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}

{"title":"Reproductive interference is stronger than expected in Heliconius butterflies","authors":"André Luis Klein,&nbsp;Aldo Mellender de Araújo","doi":"10.1111/eth.13397","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13397","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In animals, reproductive interference associated with mimicry can result in the evolution of private communication channels, as suggested for <i>Heliconius</i> butterflies, where cryptic color wavelength would drive male preference for conspecific over intergeneric co-mimics. Here, we tested this hypothesis in two co-mimic pairs (intra and intergeneric) and measured the efficacy and symmetry of color pattern as a reproductive barrier in a non-co-mimic, possibly hybridizing pair of <i>Heliconius</i> species. We conducted pairwise experiments of preference where a group of males was presented to a conspecific and heterospecific female model made with real wings and free of chemical volatiles. We did not detect any indication of the expected use of cryptic recognition signals to mate choice in the intergeneric co-mimic pair. Additionally, we detected an unexpected male preference for heterospecific female models between intrageneric co-mimics towards the species with larger red patches, suggesting a supernormal stimulus based on a general preference for the red color. Finally, we found an asymmetry in the behavioral reproductive barrier between the non-co-mimic closely related species that also agrees with the hypothesis of a general preference for red and with an expected permeability of the reproductive barrier between them. Since the costs imposed by heterospecific courtships can limit the convergence of signaling phenotypes, our results contribute to explaining the maintenance of multiple aposematic color pattern between unpalatable and closely related sympatric <i>Heliconius</i> species.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 11","pages":"612-621"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43614074","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}

{"title":"Anuran juveniles avoid preying on aggressive ant species","authors":"Ken Naganawa,&nbsp;Yasukazu Okada","doi":"10.1111/eth.13395","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13395","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ants occupy huge biomass in the terrestrial ecosystem. Several ant species are highly aggressive and equipped with venomous stingers and/or formic acid. Therefore, ants are abundant but potentially unpalatable prey for some predators. So far, however, the role of ants as prey is not well understood. In this study, we focused anurans (frogs and toads) as one of the major predators of terrestrial arthropods. Using two anuran species and three ant species sharing the habitats, we asked two questions. First, we hypothesized that the anuran preference for prey is ant-species specific, and tested whether anuran prey preference is affected by ant aggressiveness. Second, we hypothesized that the anurans may innately avoid aggressive ants. To test this hypothesis, ant-naïve anuran juveniles (<i>Bufo</i> toad and <i>Rana</i> frog) were reared from tadpoles, and juveniles' preferences for three ant species with variable aggressiveness were tested. The exposure to different ant species showed that anuran juveniles highly avoided aggressive ants (<i>Lasius</i> and <i>Brachyponera</i>) compared to less aggressive ants (<i>Tetramorium</i>). Additionally, ant-naive juvenile toads avoided the aggressive ants without prior experience. In contrast, ant-naïve juvenile frogs attacked the most of firstly encountered ants and then learned to avoid the unpalatable ants. These findings suggest that (1) some anurans selectively avoid aggressive ant species, (2) <i>Bufo</i> toads have innate avoidance to some ants, while <i>Rana</i> frogs learn to avoid the unpalatable prey.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 11","pages":"592-599"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13395","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47385476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Learning and innovation in urban yellow mongooses (Cynictis penicillata)","authors":"Mijke Müller,&nbsp;Neville Pillay","doi":"10.1111/eth.13396","DOIUrl":"10.1111/eth.13396","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Problem-solving and innovation have been studied extensively, yet urban animals are overlooked despite opportunities to innovate in urban areas. We studied problem-solving in yellow mongooses (<i>Cynictis penicillata</i>) in an urban setting. Using novel puzzle box experiments, we investigated whether yellow mongooses could solve a task of increasing complexity in three locations with varying extents of anthropogenic interactions. Mongooses in a residential ecological estate took the longest time to solve the problem, whereas those frequenting a residential garden solved the problem the fastest. Mongooses solved the puzzle box problem at each of the four stages of complexity, but were the fastest during the least complex first stage, followed by the third stage and requiring more time in the second and fourth stages of complexity. Overall, the location of the mongoose colonies and the complexity of the task were the main correlates of the speed of solving the problem. Urban-living yellow mongooses can interact with novelty in an anthropogenic environment and solve novel problems through innovation to obtain a food incentive.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"129 11","pages":"600-611"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13396","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43798898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}