Ethology最新文献

{"title":"Abdominal Spines on an Amazonian Spiny Spider (Micrathena schreibersi): A Defense Against Mud-Dauber Wasps (Sceliphron spp.) Attack?","authors":"João Gabriel Lacerda de Almeida,&nbsp;Larissa Lotti Oliveira,&nbsp;Carine Mariá Cola","doi":"10.1111/eth.13540","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13540","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The conspicuous abdominal spines in females of <i>Micrathena</i> spiders have evolved independently in several species within the genus. Like other orb-web spiders, <i>Micrathena</i> species can serve as prey to parasitoid mud-dauber wasps, which paralyzes the spiders and inserts them into their nests to serve as food to their larvae. Based on this fact, some studies suggest that <i>Micrathena</i> spines evolved as an antipredator defense against the wasp. However, there is no direct evidence of how the spines could act to avoid the wasp behavior. Here, we present two distinct records involving an Amazonian species of spiny spider, <i>Micrathena schreibersi</i>, where the abdominal spines act as a mechanical barrier against mud-dauber wasps (<i>Sceliphron</i> spp.). These spines prevented the wasps from completely inserting the paralyzed spiders into their tubular nests, forcing the wasps to alter the opening shape to close it. In our second record, the wasp was not able to completely close the nest, leading to predation of her offspring by ants. We discuss the ecological implications of this potential defense trait for both species and propose future hypotheses to further elucidate how these spines may have evolved based on the foraging behavior of mud-dauber wasps.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143389116","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":"Acoustic Features, Syllable Usage, and Song Rates of Male and Female Songs in a Tropical Island Songbird, the Puerto Rican Oriole","authors":"Michelle J. Moyer,&nbsp;Michael D. Ocasio,&nbsp;Emerson F. Lehnert,&nbsp;Noelia A. Nieves Colón,&nbsp;Eriberto Osorio,&nbsp;Ellie K. Bare,&nbsp;Alberic Ponce de León Laguna,&nbsp;Bukola A. Molake,&nbsp;Miguel J. Costas Sabatier,&nbsp;Brian S. Evans,&nbsp;Alcides L. Morales Pérez,&nbsp;Kevin E. Omland","doi":"10.1111/eth.13534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13534","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Our understanding of elaborate signaling behaviors, such as bird song, has been hindered by historical biases towards male animals. Bird song has been shown to serve important functions like defending territories or attracting mates in both males and females, and singing in both sexes is likely the ancestral trait for songbirds. Female song is strongly associated with year-round territory defense, especially in the tropics. However, more studies of both male and female songs are needed to better understand the selection pressures acting on this elaborate signal trait. The common ancestor of the New World orioles (<i>Icterus</i>) was likely a nonmigratory tropical species, with both males and females singing and defending year-round territories. The Puerto Rican Oriole (<i>Icterus portoricensis</i>) has these natural history characteristics, but little is known about how each sex uses song in this understudied Caribbean endemic. We found that while male and female songs were significantly different acoustically, they were indistinguishable in the field, and showed no sex-specific pattern in syllable usage. Males sang at higher rates than females during the dawn chorus, but females sang frequently during the day. Song is likely evolving as a unified trait in this species, reflecting the characteristics of the common ancestor, but may serve different functions for each sex. In the future, playback studies and rate observations throughout the full day and throughout the year will provide additional insight into how males and females of this tropical songbird may be using their songs.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143389330","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":"Discrimination Against Non-Nestmates Functions to Exclude Socially Parasitic Conspecifics in an Ant","authors":"Takuma P. Nakamura,&nbsp;Shigeto Dobata","doi":"10.1111/eth.13533","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13533","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Social animals utilise various communication methods to organise their societies. In social insects, nestmate discrimination plays a crucial role in regulating colony membership. Counter to this system, socially parasitic species employ diverse behavioural and chemical strategies to bypass their host's detection. In this study, we tested whether such parasitic adaptations could be detected in the incipient stage of social parasitism that is observed as intraspecific phenomena in some social insects. The Japanese parthenogenetic ant <i>Pristomyrmex punctatus</i> harbours a genetically distinct cheater lineage which infiltrates and exploits host colonies. We found that intrusion of this intraspecific social parasite was defended by nestmate discrimination of host colonies without any behavioural strategies specialised in social parasitism. Most of the cheaters were eliminated through aggression by host workers that are typically observed against non-nestmates, resulting in a low intrusion success rate for the cheaters (6.7%). Our result contrasts with the expectation from interspecific social parasitism but rather resembles the intraspecific counterpart reported in Cape honeybees (<i>Apis mellifera capensis</i>), illustrating the role of nestmate discrimination in defence against the intrusion of intraspecific social parasites.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13533","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143389309","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":"Risk-Taking in Bluebirds After Exposure to a Nest Predator Relates to Parental Roles and Shows Little Cooperation Between Partners","authors":"Karen L. Wiebe,&nbsp;Simon P. Tkaczyk","doi":"10.1111/eth.13531","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13531","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Parents may experience a trade-off between caring for offspring and protecting themselves from predators. The reproductive value hypothesis predicts that parents should take more risks for older, more valuable offspring, whereas the harm to offspring hypothesis predicts that parents should risk more for vulnerable offspring that would suffer most from a lack of parental care at the moment. After exposing parent mountain bluebirds (<i>Sialia, currucoides</i>) to a model predator, we recorded latency times for them to touch, to look into, and to enter their nestbox and the number of times they inspected the box across three breeding stages: nest-building, incubation and nestling-rearing. Females took greater risks than males during the nest-building and incubation stages by inspecting and entering boxes sooner and more times, consistent with their role in parental care at those early breeding stages that requires them to enter the box. Risk-taking in males was consistent with the reproductive value hypothesis, increasing across breeding stages. In contrast, females took the greatest risk during incubation, consistent with the harm to offspring hypothesis. Furthermore, the riskiest behaviours were not correlated between pair members, and both sexes assumed the risk to first inspect the nestbox approximately equally. This suggests there is not a ‘war of attrition’ between mates over risk-taking, but neither was there cooperation by the male to facilitate the rapid resumption of parental care by his mate. The results highlight that patterns of investment in nest defense in birds may be sex-specific.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143119897","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":"Niche Construction Through an Optimal Host Brood Size Is Supported in Brown-Headed Cowbirds: A Response to M. Soler","authors":"Nicholas D. Antonson,&nbsp;Wendy M. Schelsky,&nbsp;Deryk Tolman,&nbsp;Rebecca M. Kilner,&nbsp;Mark E. Hauber","doi":"10.1111/eth.13530","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13530","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Chicks of generalist avian brood parasites, who share the nest with host young, must balance the benefits that nestmates provide in eliciting care from (foster) parents against the costs incurred while competing for these provisions. In Antonson et al. (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;), we demonstrated that nestlings of the brown-headed cowbird (&lt;i&gt;Molothrus ater&lt;/i&gt;), a generalist brood parasite, receive more food and survive best when reared with an intermediate number of host nestlings rather than with too many or none, in support of the begging assistance hypothesis (Kilner, Madden, and Hauber &lt;span&gt;2004&lt;/span&gt;; Figure 1). However, our results also provided evidence for a strategy beyond begging assistance, as we also demonstrated that nestling cowbirds on average reduced broods and fledged with only 2 host nestmates. Specifically, host broods were reduced when the cowbird hatched alongside 4 host hatchlings, but when experimentally hatched with 2 host hatchlings, brood sizes remained at this optimum. These results are consistent with a niche construction strategy whereby the nestling cowbird manipulates its social environment to increase its own probability of survival (Odling-Smee et al., &lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt;). Soler (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) disagrees, and here we respond to his critique.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Soler's objection&lt;/i&gt; #&lt;i&gt;1&lt;/i&gt;: That “the crucial prediction of the niche construction hypothesis—that is, that the cowbird nestling causes selective host brood reduction, allowing the survival of just two host nestlings—was not demonstrated.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Antonson et al. (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;), we tested the hypothesis that brood reduction in larger-than-optimal brood sizes in nest boxes of prothonotary warblers (&lt;i&gt;Protonotaria citrea&lt;/i&gt;) was directly attributable to the parasitic cowbird nestling. To do so, we used a paired experimental design whereby we experimentally generated parasitized and non-parasitized broods with the same number of nestlings at both the optimal or larger-than-optimal host brood sizes. We found that only larger-than-optimal broods &lt;i&gt;containing a cowbird nestling&lt;/i&gt; experienced brood reduction (Figure 2).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although this finding demonstrates that the presence of a brown-headed cowbird nestling causes brood reduction, Soler (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) suggests that our experimental design was insufficient to demonstrate that brood reduction was due to any special adaptations on the part of the cowbird. Antonson et al. (&lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;), in Soler's (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) opinion, should have included a 5th treatment where a warbler chick twice the size of the rest would have been fostered to ensure brood reduction was intrinsic to the parasitic species. Such a design, in Soler's (&lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;) view, would enable one to distinguish whether the brood reduction we observed was due to unique behavioral adaptations employed by the parasitic cowbird or simply a general outcome when any larger nestling is raised alongside several smaller warbler offsp","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13530","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143119898","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":"Neighbor Density and Post-Contact Immobility Duration as Antipredator Behavior: Antlion Larvae Do Not Fit the Selfish Prey Hypothesis","authors":"Alejandro G. Farji-Brener,&nbsp;Ana Abarca-Méndez,&nbsp;Liza Cubero-Morales,&nbsp;Kevin López-Reyes,&nbsp;Diana Ramírez-Mosquera,&nbsp;Ignacio Escalante","doi":"10.1111/eth.13527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13527","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Remaining immobile for an unpredictable period after being touched by a potential predator (post-contact immobility, PCI) may favor survival. However, the factors that determine variation in PCI duration are poorly understood. We tested whether PCI duration depends on the surrounding conspecific density (the selfish prey hypothesis) in the tropical antlion larvae <i>Myrmeleon crudelis</i>. These insects avoid predation by being immobile or burying themselves. The selfish prey hypothesis predicts a reduction in the PCI duration as conspecific density increases because this high density of conspecifics around can stimulate the redirection of the predator's interest in other nearby potential prey. In the field, we measured PCI and found that its duration was independent of the conspecific density. In the lab, we also measured the PCI of a subset of the same larvae in the absence of neighbors. Using a paired design, we found that PCI duration was lower in the lab in the absence of neighbors than in the field. Our results suggest that the antlion larvae did not follow the selfish prey hypothesis. We propose two alternative explanations. First, the larvae have a limited ability to detect neighbors in the field and keep up with the changing number of surrounding active pits. Second, burying may be more important than PCI as an antipredator strategy. In our lab experiment, larvae had a more accurate idea of the conspecific density around their pit because they explored the area. We propose that knowing the absence of conspecifics triggered a shorter PCI duration. Under a high predation risk (i.e., no other prey to which the predator would redirect its attention), the larvae select the unequivocal antipredator behavior of burying. This work illustrates the relevance of accurate information in deciding how to avoid predation, especially when prey can prioritize between alternative behaviors, with success varying between the contexts.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143114369","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":"Changes in Male Behavior in Response to Female Chemical Stimulus in an Understudied Arthropod Model","authors":"C. Simian,&nbsp;M. A. Oviedo-Diego,&nbsp;R. Palen-Pietri,&nbsp;P. A. Olivero,&nbsp;D. E. Vrech,&nbsp;A. V. Peretti","doi":"10.1111/eth.13526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13526","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Intraspecific sexual communication, crucial in reproductive interactions, often involves the interchange of signals like vibrations, visual signals, and chemical compounds like sex chemical cues. Within the arachnids, solifuges (“camel spiders”) are an understudied group in terms of the detection of chemical compounds during mate searching and sexual interactions. In solifugids, the malleoli, chemoreceptor structures located on the ventral side of legs IV, are putative structures capable of capturing chemical signals. Our study focused on chemical male perception of female cues in <i>Titanopuga salinarum</i> (Ammotrechidae), examining associated behavioral modifications and the role of malleoli. We analyzed alterations in the motion pattern (activity pulse) and specific behaviors performed by males in association with female chemical stimuli. Using experimental arenas, we exposed males to female chemical cues stimuli similar to those available at the field. Stimuli comprised females (F) and cuticular extracts (CE), with corresponding controls. Males with intact malleoli (<i>N</i> = 26 with F, <i>N</i> = 20 with CE) were compared to those with malleoli removed (<i>N</i> = 21 with F, <i>N</i> = 17 with CE). We found partial evidence that males detect chemical cues of females deposited on the substrate. We observed no differences in the duration and number of the activity pulses spent in the zones with and without stimuli in any of the groups analyzed. However, the males exhibit significant changes in locomotion patterns in response to female chemical cues, suggesting a behavioral response to these stimuli. This finding suggests that the males of this species detect the female chemical cues and modify their behavior, and can quickly gather the necessary olfactory information where the stimulus is located. In addition, we found a possible condition-dependent regime for the detection of female cues by males, which would be expected from life-history characteristics of <i>T. salinarum</i>. Our findings prompt discussion from a sexual selection perspective, suggesting the importance of chemical communication in intraspecific interactions in this elusive but fascinating animal model.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143114370","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":"A Butterfly's Flash Coloration Distracts Predators—Read Future Textbook Knowledge in Ethology","authors":"Wolfgang Goymann","doi":"10.1111/eth.13520","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13520","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;A highlight of visiting a tropical rainforest is watching iridescent butterflies passing by, flashing their colours in the sunlight that makes it to the forest floor. It can be quite tricky to keep track of such a butterfly because typically only the upper side of the wings is iridescent, so that the colour only flashes when this side of a wing can be seen. People think that this kind of moving flash coloration makes it difficult for visual predators to follow the flight path of the butterfly. Hence, iridescent colours may help butterflies to distract predators. Computer simulations and experiments with humans as ‘predators’ suggest that this may be true, but as of now the flash colouration hypothesis had not been tested for real.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this issue of Ethology, Vieira-Silva et al. (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;) conducted a series of clever experiments to finally test the flash colouration hypothesis in &lt;i&gt;Morpho helena&lt;/i&gt; butterflies. This species displays an iridescent blue colour on the upper side of its wings (as can be seen on this issues' cover image) that flashes when they move through the forest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a first experiment, the authors painted the cryptic underside of the wings with a colour mimicking the iridescent blue of the upper side of the wing. Thereby, the butterflies become more constantly visible during flight, because now the blue colour is exposed all of the time. The underside of the wings of a control group got painted with a brown colour similar to the original cryptic colour, thereby controlling for the effect of catching and painting the butterflies. In a capture–recapture analysis, Vieira-Silva et al. (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;) found that blue-coloured butterflies were less likely to be seen again compared to the brown-coloured control individuals. Because &lt;i&gt;Morpho helena&lt;/i&gt; butterflies do not move around far, the most parsimonious explanation for the lower resighting rates of the blue-coloured butterflies is that a higher proportion of them got eaten by predators.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a second experiment, Vieira-Silva et al. (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;) tested if an overall cryptic colour as such would have reduced predation. To test this, they coloured the upper side of the wing—which normally has the blue flashing colouration—with brown colour, so that the butterflies become completely cryptic during flight. This treatment, however, did not affect recapture rates, suggesting that completely cryptic butterflies did not have an advantage over individuals that flashed their blue colour during flight. Hence, the distraction effect of a flashing blue colour likely has a similar effect than complete crypsis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To show that the higher predation of butterflies with an underside coloured in blue was really due to moving butterflies and not because such butterflies became generally more visible to predators, the authors conducted a third experiment. To test if blue colouration affected predation in non-moving butterflies, they compared how likely dead mo","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"130 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13520","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142641184","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":"Adaptive Significance of Long Mating With Repeated Intromissions in Zygogramma bicolorata","authors":"Rabi Sankar Pal,&nbsp;Anirban Bhowmick,&nbsp;Kunmun Naik,&nbsp;Bodhisatta Nandy","doi":"10.1111/eth.13525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13525","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Long matings are abundant in insects despite the range of the costs involved. The causes and consequences of the evolution of long mating remain an interesting problem for behavioural ecologists. We studied extraordinarily long mating that involves repeated intromissions interspersed with latent periods in the Parthenium beetle (<i>Zygogramma bicolorata</i>). We conducted a series of interrupted mating assays to examine the fitness consequences of different components of this curious mating behaviour. We tested multiple adaptive hypotheses concerning male fertility and competitive ability. We found that sperm transfer and fertility did not exhibit a linear increase with the number of intromissions. There was also no evidence of nutrient transfer by the males. Interestingly, our results showed that both sexes suffered a significant cost of long mating. Further, female remating behaviour was found to be modulated by the length of the previous mating. Additionally, males were observed performing a curious leg rubbing behaviour during the inter-intromission latent period, putatively serving as a copulatory courtship function that reduced female resistance to the continuance of mating. Therefore, we show that while the long mating may still serve a mate-guarding role, there are additional fitness effects of such behaviour that need careful consideration. Our study provides insights into the adaptive significance of long mating and its fitness consequences.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143111427","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":"Do Rearing Group-Size and Social Rank Influence the Affective State of a Cooperatively-Breeding Cichlid Fish?","authors":"Léa Langérôme,&nbsp;Océane La Loggia,&nbsp;Bettina Voser,&nbsp;Barbara Taborsky","doi":"10.1111/eth.13516","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13516","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The affective state of animals, that is, their mood and emotions, is altered by stressful (negative) or enriching (positive) experiences. In turn, the affective state influences decision making, thereby helping animals when coping with environmental challenges and opportunities. However, it is largely unknown how social experiences modulate the affective state. Here, we performed a judgement bias test to study the effects of rearing group-size and experimentally assigned current rank on the affective state of the cooperatively-breeding cichlid fish <i>Neolamprologus pulcher</i>. To assess affective state, we developed and validated a judgement bias test for this species. Fish learned to discriminate between a positive and a negative stimulus as shown by different latencies to approach the stimulus. Furthermore, the response curves to the stimuli conformed to the ones expected in judgement bias tests: fish showed an intermediate latency to approach an ambiguous stimulus, which significantly differed from the latencies to approach the positive and the negative stimulus. Unexpectedly, there were no significant effects of rearing group size and current social rank on the affective state of <i>N. pulcher</i>, despite known effects of these two social parameters on behaviours and physiology of this species. This may mean that observed behavioural and physiological differences in the treatment environments do not allow valid predictions about the affective state elicited by these environments. Alternatively, it may need more socioecologically relevant testing paradigms when evaluating the valence of social environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":50494,"journal":{"name":"Ethology","volume":"131 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/eth.13516","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142862401","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}