1
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Shreenidhi PM, Brock DA, McCabe RI, Strassmann JE, Queller DC. Costs of being a diet generalist for the protist predator Dictyostelium discoideum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313203121. [PMID: 38530891 PMCID: PMC10998602 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313203121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Consumers range from specialists that feed on few resources to generalists that feed on many. Generalism has the clear advantage of having more resources to exploit, but the costs that limit generalism are less clear. We explore two understudied costs of generalism in a generalist amoeba predator, Dictyostelium discoideum, feeding on naturally co-occurring bacterial prey. Both involve costs of combining prey that are suitable on their own. First, amoebas exhibit a reduction in growth rate when they switched to one species of prey bacteria from another compared to controls that experience only the second prey. The effect was consistent across all six tested species of bacteria. These switching costs typically disappear within a day, indicating adjustment to new prey bacteria. This suggests that these costs are physiological. Second, amoebas usually grow more slowly on mixtures of prey bacteria compared to the expectation based on their growth on single prey. There were clear mixing costs in three of the six tested prey mixtures, and none showed significant mixing benefits. These results support the idea that, although amoebas can consume a variety of prey, they must use partially different methods and thus must pay costs to handle multiple prey, either sequentially or simultaneously.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. M. Shreenidhi
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO63130
| | - Debra A. Brock
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO63130
| | - Rachel I. McCabe
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO63130
| | - Joan E. Strassmann
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO63130
| | - David C. Queller
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO63130
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2
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Ehmet N, Wang TH, Zhang YP, Zhao X, Sun K, Hou QZ. Effect of robbing intensity on reproductive success of Symphytum officinale (Boraginaceae). JOURNAL OF PLANT RESEARCH 2024:10.1007/s10265-024-01536-1. [PMID: 38506958 DOI: 10.1007/s10265-024-01536-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
The intervention of nectar robbers in plant pollination systems will cause some pollinators to modify their foraging behavior to act as secondary robbers, consequently adopting a mixed foraging strategy. The influence of nectar robbing on pollinator behavior may be affected by spatio-temporal difference of robbing intensity, and consequently, may have different effects on the pollination of host plants. However, whether and how the nectar robbing might influence pollinators under different robbing intensity still needs further investigation. In this study, Symphytum officinale was used to detect the effect of nectar robbers on pollinators under different robbing intensity as well as their effects on plant reproductive success. Six robbing levels and three bumblebees with mixed foraging behaviors were used to evaluate the effect of different robbing intensity on pollinator behavior, visitation rate, flower longevity and pollen deposition. Our results indicated that the robbing rate increased gradually with the proportion of robbed flowers, but which did not affect the frequency of legitimate visits. The increase of robbing rate promoted the corolla abscission, and then enhanced the self-pollen deposition, but which had no significant effect on cross-pollen deposition. These results indicate that the overall fitness of S. officinale was improved by combined self and cross-pollination modes when visited by both pollinators and nectar robbers simultaneously. Although nectar robbing is not uncommon, its consequences for pollination in the interaction web have not been well studied. Our results emphasize the significance of indirect impacts in mediating the adaptive outcomes of species interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nurbiye Ehmet
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
- College of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, Hubei, China
| | - Tai-Hong Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
| | - Yi-Ping Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
| | - Xiang Zhao
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
| | - Kun Sun
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
| | - Qin-Zheng Hou
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China.
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3
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Collett TS, Hempel de Ibarra N. An 'instinct for learning': the learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants from the 1850s to now. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:301237. [PMID: 37015045 PMCID: PMC10112973 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/06/2023]
Abstract
The learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants are precisely coordinated movements that enable insects to memorise the visual surroundings of their nest or other significant places such as foraging sites. These movements occur on the first few occasions that an insect leaves its nest. They are of special interest because their discovery in the middle of the 19th century provided perhaps the first evidence that insects can learn and are not solely governed by instinct. Here, we recount the history of research on learning flights from their discovery to the present day. The first studies were conducted by skilled naturalists and then, over the following 50 years, by neuroethologists examining the insects' learning behaviour in the context of experiments on insect navigation and its underlying neural mechanisms. The most important property of these movements is that insects repeatedly fixate their nest and look in other favoured directions, either in a preferred compass direction, such as North, or towards preferred objects close to the nest. Nest facing is accomplished through path integration. Memories of views along a favoured direction can later guide an insect's return to its nest. In some ant species, the favoured direction is adjusted to future foraging needs. These memories can then guide both the outward and homeward legs of a foraging trip. Current studies of central areas of the insect brain indicate what regions implement the behavioural manoeuvres underlying learning flights and the resulting visual memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas S Collett
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK
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4
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Chen S, Li M, Liu J, Feng Y, Yao J, Shi L, Chen X. Colour Selection and Olfactory Responses of Papilio demoleus during Foraging and Courtship. INSECTS 2023; 14:249. [PMID: 36975934 PMCID: PMC10056065 DOI: 10.3390/insects14030249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Colours and odours are the most important cues for butterflies to localise food and mating partners. We studied the visual and olfactory responses of the widely distributed butterfly Papilio demoleus Linnaeus during foraging and courtship. P. demoleus visited odourless flowers with six colours except green and black, with red as the favourite colour (650-780 nm). Males and females differed in behaviour while visiting flowers. Males were more active than females during foraging. The application of honey water resulted in a significant increase in flower visits by both females and males, and they scarcely visited the apetalous branches with odours. Under natural conditions, four patterns were observed: males chasing males (42.28%), males chasing females (30.56%), females chasing females (13.73%), and females chasing males (13.43%). Males chasing males was the most frequent, probably because males drive away competing con-specific males. When butterflies visited odourless mimics, males chasing females (70.73%) and males chasing males (29.27%) also occurred, indicating that males could accurately distinguish mates using colours only without any chemical cues, and females need chemical cues. The behavioural responses of P. demoleus to floral visits and courtship suggest that colour is the dominant factor during foraging and courtship. We verified the presence of P. demoleus rhodopsin genes, including Rh2, Rh3, Rh4, and Rh5, for long wavelength, blue, and ultraviolet (UV) spectrum recognition, which is consistent with the colour recognition of flowers and wings during visiting flowers and courtship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shunan Chen
- Resource Insect Research Center, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming 650233, China; (S.C.)
- Key Laboratory of Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming 650233, China
| | - Mingtao Li
- Resource Insect Research Center, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming 650233, China; (S.C.)
- Key Laboratory of Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming 650233, China
| | - Ji Liu
- Resource Insect Research Center, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming 650233, China; (S.C.)
- Key Laboratory of Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming 650233, China
| | - Ying Feng
- Resource Insect Research Center, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming 650233, China; (S.C.)
- Key Laboratory of Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming 650233, China
| | - Jun Yao
- Institute of Highland Forest Science, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming 650233, China
| | - Lei Shi
- Key Laboratory of Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming 650233, China
- Institute of Highland Forest Science, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming 650233, China
| | - Xiaoming Chen
- Resource Insect Research Center, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming 650233, China; (S.C.)
- Key Laboratory of Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming 650233, China
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5
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Hayes L, Grüter C. When should bees be flower constant? An agent-based model highlights the importance of social information and foraging conditions. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:580-593. [PMID: 36479701 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Many bee species show flower constancy, that is, a tendency to visit flowers of one type during a foraging trip. Flower constancy is important for plant reproduction, but the benefits of constancy to bees is unclear. Social bees, which often use communication about food sources, show particularly strong flower constancy. We aimed to better understand the benefits of flower constancy in social bees and how these benefits depend on foraging conditions. We hypothesised that sharing social information increases the benefits of flower constancy because social foragers share information selectively about high-quality food sources, thereby reducing the need to sample alternatives. We developed an agent-based model that allowed us to simulate bee colonies with and without communication and flower constancy in different foraging environments. By varying key environmental parameters, such as food source numbers and reward size, we explored how the costs and benefits of flower constancy depend on the foraging landscape. Flower constancy alone performed poorly in all environments, while indiscriminate flower choice was often the most successful strategy. However, communication improved the performance of flower constant colonies considerably in most environments. This combination was particularly successful when high-quality food sources were abundant and competition was weak. Our findings help explain why social bees tend to be more flower constant than solitary bees and suggest that flower constancy can be an adaptive strategy in social bees. Simulations suggest that anthropogenic changes of foraging landscapes will have different effects on the foraging performance of bees that vary in flower constancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy Hayes
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Christoph Grüter
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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6
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Villsen K, Corse E, Meglécz E, Archambaud‐Suard G, Vignes H, Ereskovsky AV, Chappaz R, Dubut V. DNA metabarcoding suggests adaptive seasonal variation of individual trophic traits in a critically endangered fish. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:5889-5908. [PMID: 36125278 PMCID: PMC9828795 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Revised: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Dietary studies are critical for understanding foraging strategies and have important applications in conservation and habitat management. We applied a robust metabarcoding protocol to characterize the diet of the critically endangered freshwater fish Zingel asper (the Rhone streber). We conducted modelling and simulation analyses to identify and characterize some of the drivers of individual trophic trait variation in this species. We found that population density and ontogeny had minor effects on the trophic niche of Z. asper. Instead, our results suggest that the majority of trophic niche variation was driven by seasonal variation in ecological opportunity. The total trophic niche width of Z. asper seasonally expanded to include a broader range of prey. Furthermore, null model simulations revealed that the increase of between-individual variation in autumn indicates that Z. asper become more opportunistic relative to summer and spring, rather than being associated with a seasonal specialization of individuals. Overall, our results suggest an adaptive variation of individual trophic traits in Z. asper: the species mainly consumes a few ephemeropteran taxa (Baetis fuscatus and Ecdyonurus) but seems to be capable of adapting its foraging strategy to maintain its body condition. This study illustrates how metabarcoding data obtained from faeces can be validated and combined with individual-based modelling and simulation approaches to explore inter- and intrapopulational individual trophic traits variation and to test hypotheses in the conventional analytic framework of trophic ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt Villsen
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRDAvignon Université, IMBEMarseilleFrance
| | - Emmanuel Corse
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRDAvignon Université, IMBEMarseilleFrance,Centre Universitaire de Formation et de Recherche de Mayotte (CUFR)DembeniFrance,MARBEC, University of Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Emese Meglécz
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRDAvignon Université, IMBEMarseilleFrance
| | | | - Hélène Vignes
- CIRAD, University of Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro, AGAPMontpellierFrance
| | - Alexander V. Ereskovsky
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRDAvignon Université, IMBEMarseilleFrance,St. Petersburg State UniversitySt. PetersburgRussia,Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of Russian Academy of SciencesMoscowRussia
| | - Rémi Chappaz
- INRAE, Aix Marseille Université, RECOVERAix‐en‐ProvenceFrance
| | - Vincent Dubut
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRDAvignon Université, IMBEMarseilleFrance
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7
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Memory and the value of social information in foraging bumble bees. Learn Behav 2022; 50:317-328. [DOI: 10.3758/s13420-022-00528-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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8
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Klečka J, Mikát M, Koloušková P, Hadrava J, Straka J. Individual-level specialisation and interspecific resource partitioning in bees revealed by pollen DNA metabarcoding. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13671. [PMID: 35959478 PMCID: PMC9359135 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
It is increasingly recognised that intraspecific variation in traits, such as morphology, behaviour, or diet is both ubiquitous and ecologically important. While many species of predators and herbivores are known to display high levels of between-individual diet variation, there is a lack of studies on pollinators. It is important to fill in this gap because individual-level specialisation of flower-visiting insects is expected to affect their efficiency as pollinators with consequences for plant reproduction. Accordingly, the aim of our study was to quantify the level of individual-level specialisation and foraging preferences, as well as interspecific resource partitioning, in three co-occurring species of bees of the genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae), C. chalybea, C. nigrolabiata, and C. cucurbitina. We conducted a field experiment where we provided artificial nesting opportunities for the bees and combined a short-term mark-recapture study with the dissection of the bees' nests to obtain repeated samples from individual foraging females and complete pollen provisions from their nests. We used DNA metabarcoding based on the ITS2 locus to identify the composition of the pollen samples. We found that the composition of pollen carried on the bodies of female bees and stored in the brood provisions in their nests significantly differed among the three co-occurring species. At the intraspecific level, individual females consistently differed in their level of specialisation and in the composition of pollen carried on their bodies and stored in their nests. We also demonstrate that higher generalisation at the species level stemmed from larger among-individual variation in diets, as observed in other types of consumers, such as predators. Our study thus reveals how specialisation and foraging preferences of bees change from the scale of individual foraging bouts to complete pollen provisions accumulated in their nests over many days. Such a multi-scale view of foraging behaviour is necessary to improve our understanding of the functioning of plant-flower visitor communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Klečka
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michael Mikát
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavla Koloušková
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Hadrava
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic,Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Straka
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
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9
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Hopkins R. Predicting how pollinator behavior causes reproductive isolation. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8847. [PMID: 35462980 PMCID: PMC9019001 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Pollinator behavior is an important contributor to plants speciation, yet how variation in pollinator behavior causes variation in reproductive isolation (RI) is largely uncharacterized. Here I present a model that predicts how two aspects of pollinator behavior, constancy and preference, contribute to a barrier to reproduction in plants. This model is motivated by two observations: most co‐occurring plants vary in frequency over space and time, and most plants have multiple pollinators that differ in behavior. Thus, my goal was to understand how relative frequencies of plants and pollinators in a community influence ethological RI between co‐occurring plants. I find that RI for a focal plant generally increases with increasing relative plant frequency, but the shape of this relationship is highly dependent on the strength of pollinator behavior (constancy and preference). Additionally, when multiple pollinators express different behavior, I find that pollinators with stronger preference disproportionately influence RI. But, I show that RI caused by constancy is the average RI predicted from constancy of each pollinator weighted by pollinator frequency. I apply this model to examples of pollinator‐mediated RI in Phlox and in Ipomopsis to predict the relationships between plant frequency and ethological RI in natural systems. This model provides new insights into how and why pollinator specialization causes RI, and how RI could change with changing biological communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Hopkins
- The Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and The Arnold ArboretumHarvard UniversityBostonMassachusettsUSA
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10
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Gilad T, Dorfman A, Subach A, Libbrecht R, Foitzik S, Scharf I. Evidence for the effect of brief exposure to food, but not learning interference, on maze solving in desert ants. Integr Zool 2021; 17:704-714. [PMID: 34958517 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Theories of forgetting highlight two active mechanisms through which animals forget prior knowledge by reciprocal disruption of memories. According to "proactive interference", information learned previously interferes with the acquisition of new information, whereas "retroactive interference" suggests that newly gathered information interferes with already existing information. Our goal was to examine the possible effect of both mechanisms in the desert ant Cataglyphis niger, which does not use pheromone recruitment, when learning spatial information while searching for food in a maze. Our experiment indicated that neither proactive nor retroactive interference took place in this system although this awaits confirmation with individual-level learning assays. Rather, the ants' persistence or readiness to search for food grew with successive runs in the maze. Elevated persistence led to more ant workers arriving at the food when retested a day later, even if the maze was shifted between runs. We support this finding in a second experiment, where ant workers reached the food reward at the maze end in higher numbers after encountering food in the maze entry compared to a treatment, in which food was present only at the maze end. This result suggests that spatial learning and search persistence are two parallel behavioral mechanisms, both assisting foraging ants. We suggest that their relative contribution should depend on habitat complexity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomer Gilad
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Arik Dorfman
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Aziz Subach
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Romain Libbrecht
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Susanne Foitzik
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Inon Scharf
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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11
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Richman SK, Barker JL, Baek M, Papaj DR, Irwin RE, Bronstein JL. The Sensory and Cognitive Ecology of Nectar Robbing. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.698137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals foraging from flowers must assess their environment and make critical decisions about which patches, plants, and flowers to exploit to obtain limiting resources. The cognitive ecology of plant-pollinator interactions explores not only the complex nature of pollinator foraging behavior and decision making, but also how cognition shapes pollination and plant fitness. Floral visitors sometimes depart from what we think of as typical pollinator behavior and instead exploit floral resources by robbing nectar (bypassing the floral opening and instead consuming nectar through holes or perforations made in floral tissue). The impacts of nectar robbing on plant fitness are well-studied; however, there is considerably less understanding, from the animal’s perspective, about the cognitive processes underlying nectar robbing. Examining nectar robbing from the standpoint of animal cognition is important for understanding the evolution of this behavior and its ecological and evolutionary consequences. In this review, we draw on central concepts of foraging ecology and animal cognition to consider nectar robbing behavior either when individuals use robbing as their only foraging strategy or when they switch between robbing and legitimate foraging. We discuss sensory and cognitive biases, learning, and the role of a variable environment in making decisions about robbing vs. foraging legitimately. We also discuss ways in which an understanding of the cognitive processes involved in nectar robbing can address questions about how plant-robber interactions affect patterns of natural selection and floral evolution. We conclude by highlighting future research directions on the sensory and cognitive ecology of nectar robbing.
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12
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Kandori I, Fukada S, Kurosaki T, Yokoi T, Papaj DR. Comparison of color‐learning rates among eight species of three insect orders (Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera). Ecol Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ikuo Kandori
- Laboratory of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture Kindai University Japan
| | - Satoshi Fukada
- Laboratory of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture Kindai University Japan
| | - Tsutomu Kurosaki
- Laboratory of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture Kindai University Japan
| | - Tomoyuki Yokoi
- Laboratory of Conservation Ecology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Tsukuba Japan
| | - Daniel R. Papaj
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA
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13
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Yin W, Xue Q, Tian B, Yang S, Li Z, Chen Z, Ryan MJ, Hoffmann AA. Flexible habitat choice by aphids exposed to multiple cues reflecting present and future benefits. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Mothers choose suitable habitats for laying offspring to maximize fitness. Because habitat quality varies in space and time, mothers gather information to choose among available habitats through multiple cues reflecting different aspects of habitat quality at present and in the future. However, it is unclear how females assess and integrate different cues associated with current rewards and future safety to optimize oviposition/larviposition decisions, especially across small spatial scales. Here, we tested the individual and interactive effects of leaf surface, leaf orientation, and leaf bending direction on larviposition site choice and fitness benefits of wheat aphids (Metopolophium dirhodum) within individual leaves. We found that females preferred upper over lower surfaces for gaining current food-related rewards, downward- over upward-facing surfaces for avoiding potential abiotic risks, and sunken over protruding surfaces for avoiding potential biotic risks. When facing conflicting cues during larviposition, females preferred downward-facing/sunken surfaces over upper surfaces, suggesting that females prioritize potential safety at the cost of current rewards during decision making. Most importantly, our combined-cue experiments showed females still assessed secondary cues (i.e., the upper surface) when first-ranked cues (i.e., the downward-facing/sunken surface) are available, even though females only gained relatively small fitness rewards through secondary cues, and females can integrate different cues associated with current rewards and potential safety in a multiplicative way to make flexible and complex larviposition decisions. Overall, our findings provide new insights into how animals collect and process multi-cue information associated with current rewards and potential safety to maximize fitness at small spatial scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wandong Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Jin Ming Avenue, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Qi Xue
- Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Baoliang Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Jin Ming Avenue, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Shujian Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Jin Ming Avenue, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Zhengying Li
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Jin Ming Avenue, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Zhaozhao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Jin Ming Avenue, Kaifeng, Henan, China
| | - Michael J Ryan
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, University Station, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ary A Hoffmann
- School of BioSciences, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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14
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Mariette MM. On nest-site copying, owner aggression, and mimicry: the adaptive significance of interspecific information use in a landscape of fear. Acta Ethol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10211-020-00357-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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15
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Ohsaki N, Ohata M, Sato Y, Rausher MD. Host Plant Choice Determined by Reproductive Interference between Closely Related Butterflies. Am Nat 2020; 196:512-523. [PMID: 32970464 DOI: 10.1086/710211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractA number of empirical studies have concluded that reproductive interference (RI) contributes to parapatric species distributions or sexual exclusion. However, the possibility that divergent host plant use in phytophagous insects is due to sexual exclusion has seldom been considered. Here, we present evidence that RI is responsible for different host plant use by two Pierid butterfly species, Pieris napi and Pieris melete. When a novel host species was introduced about 50 years ago, two Pierid butterfly species at first used both the ancestral host species and the novel one. Subsequently, P. napi shifted to use only the novel host, while P. melete shifted to specialize on the ancestral host. To explain these patterns, we investigated whether the two host species differ in suitability for larval growth and survival. Additionally, we tested whether RI occurred between the two butterfly species using large outdoor field cages. Courtship of females by conspecific and heterospecific males reduces the number of eggs laid by approximately half. However, RI is asymmetric and would generate selection on P. melete females to evolve to avoid the more suitable host species preferred by P. napi. Thus, our study suggests that sexual exclusion can explain the shift in host plant use by these two butterfly species.
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Dimorphic flowers modify the visitation order of pollinators from male to female flowers. Sci Rep 2020; 10:9965. [PMID: 32561882 PMCID: PMC7305190 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66525-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism is a pervasive form of variation within species. Understanding how and why sexual dimorphism evolves would contribute to elucidating the mechanisms underlying the diversification of traits. In flowering plants, pollinators are considered a driver of sexual dimorphism when they affect female and male plant fitness in distinct ways. Here, we found that flowers appear to manipulate the behavior of pollinators using sexually dimorphic traits in the dioecious tree Eurya japonica. In this plant, female flowers present a higher-quality reward for pollinators, whereas male flowers have a more conspicuous appearance. Plants benefit by inducing pollinators to carry pollen from male to female flowers, and their sexual dimorphism might thus facilitate pollen movement through pollinator behavior. In two-choice experiments, pollinators frequently moved from male to female flowers, whereas computer simulation suggested that sexually dimorphic traits would evolve if pollinators changed behavior depending on the traits of the flowers they had just visited. These results suggest that the floral traits affecting the visiting order of pollinators have evolved in plants. Using E. japonica, we theoretically show that the induction of sequential behavior in pollinators might be crucial to the evolution of sexual dimorphism in flowers, and our experiments support these findings.
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Esmaile N, Rodrigues D. Attractiveness to highly informative flowers and absence of conditioning in the southern monarch butterfly. Behav Processes 2020; 175:104120. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Ruedenauer FA, Spaethe J, van der Kooi CJ, Leonhardt SD. Pollinator or pedigree: which factors determine the evolution of pollen nutrients? Oecologia 2019; 191:349-358. [PMID: 31463783 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04494-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
A prime example of plant-animal interactions is the interaction between plants and pollinators, which typically receive nectar and/or pollen as reward for their pollination service. While nectar provides mostly carbohydrates, pollen represents the main source of protein and lipids for many pollinators. However, the main function of pollen is to carry nutrients for pollen tube growth and thus fertilization. It is unclear whether pollinator attraction exerts a sufficiently strong selective pressure to alter the nutritional profile of pollen, e.g., through increasing its crude protein content or protein-to-lipid ratio, which both strongly affect bee foraging. Pollen nutritional quality may also be merely determined by phylogenetic relatedness, with pollen of closely related plants showing similar nutritional profiles due to shared biosynthetic pathways or floral morphologies. Here, we present a meta-analysis of studies on pollen nutrients to test whether differences in pollen nutrient contents and ratios correlated with plant insect pollinator dependence and/or phylogenetic relatedness. We hypothesized that if pollen nutritional content was affected by pollinator attraction, it should be different (e.g., higher) in highly pollinator-dependent plants, independent of phylogenetic relatedness. We found that crude protein and the protein-to-lipid ratio in pollen strongly correlated with phylogeny. Moreover, pollen protein content was higher in plants depending mostly or exclusively on insect pollination. Pollen nutritional quality thus correlated with both phylogenetic relatedness and pollinator dependency, indicating that, besides producing pollen with sufficient nutrients for reproduction, the nutrient profile of zoophilous plants may have been shaped by their pollinators' nutritional needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian A Ruedenauer
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Johannes Spaethe
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Casper J van der Kooi
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sara D Leonhardt
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
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Somanathan H, Saryan P, Balamurali GS. Foraging strategies and physiological adaptations in large carpenter bees. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2019; 205:387-398. [PMID: 30840127 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-019-01323-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Large carpenter bees are charismatic and ubiquitous flower visitors in the tropics and sub-tropics. Unlike honeybees and bumblebees that have been popular subjects of extensive studies on their neuroethology, behaviour and ecology, carpenter bees have received little attention. This review integrates what is known about their foraging behaviour as well as sensory, physiological and cognitive adaptations and is motivated by their versatility as flower visitors and pollinators. This is evident from their extremely generalist foraging and adeptness at handling diverse flower types as legitimate pollinators and as illegitimate nectar robbers. They purportedly use traplining to forage between isolated patches and are long-distance flyers over several kilometres suggesting well-developed spatial learning, route memory and navigational capabilities. They have a broad range of temperature tolerance and thermoregulatory capabilities which are likely employed in their forays into crepuscular and nocturnal time periods. Such temporal extensions into dim-light periods invoke a suite of visual adaptations in their apposition optics. Thus, we propose that carpenter bees are an excellent though understudied group for exploring the complex nature of plant-pollinator mutualisms from ecological and mechanistic perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hema Somanathan
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
| | - Preeti Saryan
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | - G S Balamurali
- IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
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Bauder JAS, Karolyi F. Superlong Proboscises as Co-adaptations to Flowers. INSECT MOUTHPARTS 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-29654-4_15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Szigeti V, Kőrösi Á, Harnos A, Kis J. Lifelong foraging and individual specialisation are influenced by temporal changes of resource availability. OIKOS 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Viktor Szigeti
- Dept of Ecology, Inst. for Biology, Univ. of Veterinary Medicine Budapest HU‐1077 Hungary
- Inst. of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Vácrátót Hungary
| | - Ádám Kőrösi
- Dept of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, Univ. of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
- MTA‐ELTE‐MTM Ecology Research Group Budapest Hungary
| | - Andrea Harnos
- Dept of Biomathematics and Informatics, Univ. of Veterinary Medicine Budapest Hungary
| | - János Kis
- Dept of Ecology, Inst. for Biology, Univ. of Veterinary Medicine Budapest HU‐1077 Hungary
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Tan MK, Goh FN, Tan HTW. Consistent Between-Individual Differences in Foraging Performance in a Floriphilic Katydid in Response to Different Choices. ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY 2018; 47:918-926. [PMID: 29878088 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvy087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The neural constraint hypothesis is one of the central ideas for the understanding of insect-plant interaction but there are still knowledge gaps in the data for foraging behavior and the performance of herbivores, and particularly florivores. We used a floriphilic katydid, Phaneroptera brevis (Serville, 1838) (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) and a naturalized weed, Bidens pilosa L. (Asteraceae) in caged experiments in an insectary to answer these questions: 1) How does the foraging performance of the floriphilic katydid vary when exposed to a choice in the number of capitula and types of florets of B. pilosa? 2) Does the foraging performance of the katydid, when exposed to multiple choices, improve with time, and are between-individual differences in foraging performance consistent? We observed that having more choices in the floret types and number of capitula is generally associated with a reduced foraging performance of the katydids. Floret types and number of capitula, however, did not have an interactive effect on foraging performance. We also found that the differences in foraging performance in response to choice tend to be consistent between katydids but each katydid became more efficient and decisive over time. That learning and experience can improve the foraging performance of the katydid has provided us with some insights as to how a continuum of efficient and inefficient katydids can be maintained in a population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Kai Tan
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Fang Ni Goh
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Hugh Tiang Wah Tan
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
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Nieberding CM, Van Dyck H, Chittka L. Adaptive learning in non-social insects: from theory to field work, and back. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2018; 27:75-81. [PMID: 30025638 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Revised: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
We review the evidence that learning affects fitness in non-social insects. Early accounts date back from the 1970s and were based on field-based observational and experimental work, yet exploration of the ways in which various forms of learning increase fitness remains limited in non-social insects. We highlight the concerns that arise when artificial laboratory settings, which do not take the ecology of the species into account, are used to estimate fitness benefits of learning. We argue that ecologically-relevant experimental designs are most useful to provide fitness estimates of learning, that is, designs that include: firstly, offspring of wild-caught animals producing newly established stocks under relevant breeding conditions, combined with common-garden and reciprocal transplant experiments; secondly, the spatio-temporal dynamics of key ecological resources; and thirdly, the natural behaviours of the animals while searching for, and probing, resources. Finally, we provide guidelines for the study of fitness-learning relationships in an eco-evolutionary framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline M Nieberding
- Biodiversity Research Centre, Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
| | - Hans Van Dyck
- Biodiversity Research Centre, Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
| | - Lars Chittka
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, UK; Wissenschaftskolleg/Institute for Advanced Study, Wallotstr. 19, 14193 Berlin, Germany
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24
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Predicting monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) movement and egg-laying with a spatially-explicit agent-based model: The role of monarch perceptual range and spatial memory. Ecol Modell 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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25
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Learning about larceny: experience can bias bumble bees to rob nectar. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2478-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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26
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Marklund MHK, Svanbäck R, Zha Y, Scharnweber K, Eklöv P. The influence of habitat accessibility on the dietary and morphological specialisation of an aquatic predator. OIKOS 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.04094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maria H. K. Marklund
- Dept of Ecology and Genetics; Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala Univ., Norbyvägen 18d; SE-75236 Uppsala Sweden
- Water Research Centre and The Environment Institute, School of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Adelaide; North Terrace SA Australia
| | - Richard Svanbäck
- Dept of Ecology and Genetics; Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala Univ., Norbyvägen 18d; SE-75236 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Yinghua Zha
- Dept of Ecology and Genetics; Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala Univ., Norbyvägen 18d; SE-75236 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Kristin Scharnweber
- Dept of Ecology and Genetics; Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala Univ., Norbyvägen 18d; SE-75236 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Peter Eklöv
- Dept of Ecology and Genetics; Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala Univ., Norbyvägen 18d; SE-75236 Uppsala Sweden
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Ramos BDCM, Rodríguez-Gironés MA, Rodrigues D. Learning in two butterfly species when using flowers of the tropical milkweed Asclepias curassavica: No benefits for pollination. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2017; 104:1168-1178. [PMID: 28790090 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1700040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/16/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY The ability of insect visitors to learn to manipulate complex flowers has important consequences for foraging efficiency and plant fitness. We investigated learning by two butterfly species, Danaus erippus and Heliconius erato, as they foraged on the complex flowers of Asclepias curassavica, as well as the consequences for pollination. METHODS To examine learning with respect to flower manipulation, butterflies were individually tested during four consecutive days under insectary conditions. At the end of each test, we recorded the number of pollinaria attached to the body of each butterfly and scored visited flowers for numbers of removed and inserted pollinia. We also conducted a field study to survey D. erippus and H. erato visiting flowers of A. curassavica, as well as to record numbers of pollinaria attached to the butterflies' bodies, and surveyed A. curassavica plants in the field to inspect flowers for pollinium removal and insertion. KEY RESULTS Learning improves the ability of both butterfly species to avoid the nonrewarding flower parts and to locate nectar more efficiently. There were no experience effects, for either species, on the numbers of removed and inserted pollinia. Heliconius erato removed and inserted more pollinia than D. erippus. For both butterfly species, pollinium removal was higher than pollinium insertion. CONCLUSION This study is the first to show that Danaus and Heliconius butterflies can learn to manipulate complex flowers, but this learning ability does not confer benefits to pollination in A. curassavica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruna de Cássia Menezes Ramos
- Laboratório de Interações Inseto-Planta, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, P.O. Box 68020, 21.941-902 Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Miguel Angel Rodríguez-Gironés
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA/CSIC), Ctra. de Sacramento S/N, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almería, Spain
| | - Daniela Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Interações Inseto-Planta, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, P.O. Box 68020, 21.941-902 Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, P.O. Box 68020, 21.941-902 Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
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28
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Janovský Z, Smyčka J, Smyčková M, Herben T. Pollinator preferences and flower constancy: is it adaptive for plants to manipulate them? Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blw032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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29
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Sikkink KL, Kobiela ME, Snell-Rood EC. Genomic adaptation to agricultural environments: cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae) as a case study. BMC Genomics 2017; 18:412. [PMID: 28549454 PMCID: PMC5446745 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-017-3787-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2017] [Accepted: 05/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Agricultural environments have long presented an opportunity to study evolution in action, and genomic approaches are opening doors for testing hypotheses about adaptation to crops, pesticides, and fertilizers. Here, we begin to develop the cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) as a system to test questions about adaptation to novel, agricultural environments. We focus on a population in the north central United States as a unique case study: here, canola, a host plant, has been grown during the entire flight period of the butterfly over the last three decades. Results First, we show that the agricultural population has diverged phenotypically relative to a nonagricultural population: when reared on a host plant distantly related to canola, the agricultural population is smaller and more likely to go into diapause than the nonagricultural population. Second, drawing from deep sequencing runs from six individuals from the agricultural population, we assembled the gut transcriptome of this population. Then, we sequenced RNA transcripts from the midguts of 96 individuals from this canola agricultural population and the nonagricultural population in order to describe patterns of genomic divergence between the two. While population divergence is low, 235 genes show evidence of significant differentiation between populations. These genes are significantly enriched for cofactor and small molecule metabolic processes, and many genes also have transporter or catalytic activity. Analyses of population structure suggest the agricultural population contains a subset of the genetic variation in the nonagricultural population. Conclusions Taken together, our results suggest that adaptation of cabbage whites to an agricultural environment occurred at least in part through selection on standing genetic variation. Both the phenotypic and genetic data are consistent with the idea that this pest has adapted to an abundant and predictable agricultural resource through a narrowing of niche breadth and loss of genetic variants rather than de novo gain of adaptive alleles. The present research develops genomic resources to pave the way for future studies using cabbage whites as a model contributing to our understanding of adaptation to agricultural environments. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3787-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin L Sikkink
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Ave, 140 Gortner Lab, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
| | - Megan E Kobiela
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Ave, 140 Gortner Lab, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Emilie C Snell-Rood
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Ave, 140 Gortner Lab, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA
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Arena E, Arena P, Strauss R, Patané L. Motor-Skill Learning in an Insect Inspired Neuro-Computational Control System. Front Neurorobot 2017; 11:12. [PMID: 28337138 PMCID: PMC5340754 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2017.00012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In nature, insects show impressive adaptation and learning capabilities. The proposed computational model takes inspiration from specific structures of the insect brain: after proposing key hypotheses on the direct involvement of the mushroom bodies (MBs) and on their neural organization, we developed a new architecture for motor learning to be applied in insect-like walking robots. The proposed model is a nonlinear control system based on spiking neurons. MBs are modeled as a nonlinear recurrent spiking neural network (SNN) with novel characteristics, able to memorize time evolutions of key parameters of the neural motor controller, so that existing motor primitives can be improved. The adopted control scheme enables the structure to efficiently cope with goal-oriented behavioral motor tasks. Here, a six-legged structure, showing a steady-state exponentially stable locomotion pattern, is exposed to the need of learning new motor skills: moving through the environment, the structure is able to modulate motor commands and implements an obstacle climbing procedure. Experimental results on a simulated hexapod robot are reported; they are obtained in a dynamic simulation environment and the robot mimicks the structures of Drosophila melanogaster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Arena
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica, Elettronica, e Informatica, University of Catania Catania, Italy
| | - Paolo Arena
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica, Elettronica, e Informatica, University of CataniaCatania, Italy; National Institute of Biostructures and BiosystemsRome, Italy
| | - Roland Strauss
- Institut für Zoologie III (Neurobiologie), University of Mainz Mainz, Germany
| | - Luca Patané
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica, Elettronica, e Informatica, University of Catania Catania, Italy
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Kinoshita M, Stewart FJ, Ômura H. Multisensory integration in Lepidoptera: Insights into flower-visitor interactions. Bioessays 2017; 39. [DOI: 10.1002/bies.201600086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michiyo Kinoshita
- Laboratory of Neuroethology; SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies); Shonan Village Hayama Japan
| | - Finlay J. Stewart
- Laboratory of Neuroethology; SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies); Shonan Village Hayama Japan
| | - Hisashi Ômura
- Graduate School of Biosphere Science; Hiroshima University; Higashi-hiroshima Hiroshima Japan
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Boughman JW, Svanbäck R. Synergistic selection between ecological niche and mate preference primes diversification. Evolution 2016; 71:6-22. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2015] [Revised: 10/03/2016] [Accepted: 10/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Janette W. Boughman
- Department of Integrative Biology Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan 48824
| | - Richard Svanbäck
- Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior program; Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics Uppsala University Norbyvägen 18D SE‐752 36 Uppsala Sweden
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33
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Russell AL, Leonard AS, Gillette HD, Papaj DR. Concealed floral rewards and the role of experience in floral sonication by bees. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Developmental lead exposure has mixed effects on butterfly cognitive processes. Anim Cogn 2016; 20:87-96. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1029-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2016] [Revised: 08/19/2016] [Accepted: 08/22/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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35
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Legitimate visitors and nectar robbers on Trifolium pratense showed contrasting flower fidelity versus co-flowering plant species: could motor learning be a major determinant of flower constancy by bumble bees? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2057-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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36
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Rodríguez-Gironés MA, Sun S, Santamaría L. Passive partner choice through exploitation barriers. Evol Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-014-9738-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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37
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Bauder JAS, Morawetz L, Warren AD, Krenn HW. Functional constraints on the evolution of long butterfly proboscides: lessons from Neotropical skippers (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). J Evol Biol 2015; 28:678-87. [PMID: 25682841 PMCID: PMC4402018 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2014] [Revised: 01/20/2015] [Accepted: 02/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Extremely long proboscides are rare among butterflies outside of the Hesperiidae, yet representatives of several genera of skipper butterflies possess proboscides longer than 50 mm. Although extremely elongated mouthparts can be regarded as advantageous adaptations to gain access to nectar in deep-tubed flowers, the scarcity of long-proboscid butterflies is a phenomenon that has not been adequately accounted for. So far, the scarceness was explained by functional costs arising from increased flower handling times caused by decelerated nectar intake rates. However, insects can compensate for the negative influence of a long proboscis through changes in the morphological configuration of the feeding apparatus. Here, we measured nectar intake rates in 34 species representing 21 Hesperiidae genera from a Costa Rican lowland rainforest area to explore the impact of proboscis length, cross-sectional area of the food canal and body size on intake rate. Long-proboscid skippers did not suffer from reduced intake rates due to their large body size and enlarged food canals. In addition, video analyses of the flower-visiting behaviour revealed that suction times increased with proboscis length, suggesting that long-proboscid skippers drink a larger amount of nectar from deep-tubed flowers. Despite these advantages, we showed that functional costs of exaggerated mouthparts exist in terms of longer manipulation times per flower. Finally, we discuss the significance of scaling relationships on the foraging efficiency of butterflies and why some skipper taxa, in particular, have evolved extremely long proboscides.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A S Bauder
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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38
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Snell-Rood EC, Steck M. Experience drives the development of movement-cognition correlations in a butterfly. Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Novak M, Tinker MT. Timescales alter the inferred strength and temporal consistency of intraspecific diet specialization. Oecologia 2015; 178:61-74. [PMID: 25656583 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-014-3213-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Many populations consist of individuals that differ substantially in their diets. Quantification of the magnitude and temporal consistency of such intraspecific diet variation is needed to understand its importance, but the extent to which different approaches for doing so reflect instantaneous vs. time-aggregated measures of individual diets may bias inferences. We used direct observations of sea otter individuals (Enhydra lutris nereis) to assess how: (1) the timescale of sampling, (2) under-sampling, and (3) the incidence- vs. frequency-based consideration of prey species affect the inferred strength and consistency of intraspecific diet variation. Analyses of feeding observations aggregated over hourly to annual intervals revealed a substantial bias associated with time aggregation that decreases the inferred magnitude of specialization and increases the inferred consistency of individuals' diets. Time aggregation also made estimates of specialization more sensitive to the consideration of prey frequency, which decreased estimates relative to the use of prey incidence; time aggregation did not affect the extent to which under-sampling contributed to its overestimation. Our analyses demonstrate the importance of studying intraspecific diet variation with an explicit consideration of time and thereby suggest guidelines for future empirical efforts. Failure to consider time will likely produce inconsistent predictions regarding the effects of intraspecific variation on predator-prey interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Novak
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA,
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Svanbäck R, Quevedo M, Olsson J, Eklöv P. Individuals in food webs: the relationships between trophic position, omnivory and among-individual diet variation. Oecologia 2015; 178:103-14. [PMID: 25651804 PMCID: PMC4555210 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-014-3203-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2014] [Accepted: 12/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Among-individual diet variation is common in natural populations and may occur at any trophic level within a food web. Yet, little is known about its variation among trophic levels and how such variation could affect phenotypic divergence within populations. In this study we investigate the relationships between trophic position (the population’s range and average) and among-individual diet variation. We test for diet variation among individuals and across size classes of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), a widespread predatory freshwater fish that undergoes ontogenetic niche shifts. Second, we investigate among-individual diet variation within fish and invertebrate populations in two different lake communities using stable isotopes. Third, we test potential evolutionary implications of population trophic position by assessing the relationship between the proportion of piscivorous perch (populations of higher trophic position) and the degree of phenotypic divergence between littoral and pelagic perch sub-populations. We show that among-individual diet variation is highest at intermediate trophic positions, and that this high degree of among-individual variation likely causes an increase in the range of trophic positions among individuals. We also found that phenotypic divergence was negatively related to trophic position in a population. This study thus shows that trophic position is related to and may be important for among-individual diet variation as well as to phenotypic divergence within populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Svanbäck
- Department of Ecology and Genetics/Limnology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden,
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41
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Fuss T, Schluessel V. Something worth remembering: visual discrimination in sharks. Anim Cogn 2014; 18:463-71. [PMID: 25359522 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-014-0815-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2014] [Revised: 10/20/2014] [Accepted: 10/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated memory retention capabilities of juvenile gray bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium griseum) using two-alternative forced-choice experiments. The sharks had previously been trained in a range of visual discrimination tasks, such as distinguishing between squares, triangles and lines, and their corresponding optical illusions (i.e., the Kanizsa figures or Müller-Lyer illusions), and in the present study, we tested them for memory retention. Despite the absence of reinforcement, sharks remembered the learned information for a period of up to 50 weeks, after which testing was terminated. In fish, as in other vertebrates, memory windows vary in duration depending on species and task; while it may seem beneficial to retain some information for a long time or even indefinitely, other information may be forgotten more easily to retain flexibility and save energy. The results of this study indicate that sharks are capable of long-term memory within the framework of selected cognitive skills. These could aid sharks in activities such as food retrieval, predator avoidance, mate choice or habitat selection and therefore be worth being remembered for extended periods of time. As in other cognitive tasks, intraspecific differences reflected the behavioral breadth of the species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodora Fuss
- Institute of Zoology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 169, 53115, Bonn, Germany,
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42
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Parent CE, Agashe D, Bolnick DI. Intraspecific competition reduces niche width in experimental populations. Ecol Evol 2014; 4:3978-90. [PMID: 25505525 PMCID: PMC4242580 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2014] [Revised: 08/29/2014] [Accepted: 09/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Intraspecific competition is believed to drive niche expansion, because otherwise suboptimal resources can provide a refuge from competition for preferred resources. Competitive niche expansion is well supported by empirical observations, experiments, and theory, and is often invoked to explain phenotypic diversification within populations, some forms of speciation, and adaptive radiation. However, some foraging models predict the opposite outcome, and it therefore remains unclear whether competition will promote or inhibit niche expansion. We conducted experiments to test whether competition changes the fitness landscape to favor niche expansion, and if competition indeed drives niche expansion as expected. Using Tribolium castaneum flour beetles fed either wheat (their ancestral resource), corn (a novel resource) or mixtures of both resources, we show that fitness is maximized on a mixed diet. Next, we show that at higher population density, the optimal diet shifts toward greater use of corn, favoring niche expansion. In stark contrast, when beetles were given a choice of resources, we found that competition caused niche contraction onto the ancestral resource. This presents a puzzling mismatch between how competition alters the fitness landscape, versus competition's effects on resource use. We discuss several explanations for this mismatch, highlighting potential reasons why optimality models might be misleading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine E Parent
- Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station C0930, Austin, Texas, 78712
| | - Deepa Agashe
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138 ; National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research GKVK, Bellary Road, Bangalore, 560065, India
| | - Daniel I Bolnick
- Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin 1 University Station C0930, Austin, Texas, 78712 ; Howard Hughes Medical Institute 1 University Station C0930, Austin, Texas, 78712
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43
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Ballesteros Y, Polidori C, Tormos J, Baños-Picón L, Asís JD. Complex-to-predict generational shift between nested and clustered organization of individual prey networks in digger wasps. PLoS One 2014; 9:e102325. [PMID: 25019164 PMCID: PMC4096507 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2014] [Accepted: 06/18/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Although diet has traditionally been considered to be a property of the species or populations as a whole, there is nowadays extensive knowledge that individual specialization is widespread among animal populations. Nevertheless, the factors determining the shape of interactions within food webs remain largely undiscovered, especially in predatory insects. We used an aggregation of the digger wasp Bembix merceti to 1) analyse patterns of individual prey use across three flying seasons in a network-based context; and 2) test the effect of four potential factors that might explain network topologies (wasp mass, nest spatial distribution, simultaneous nest-provisioning, prey availability). Inter-individual diet variation was found in all three years, under different predator-prey network topologies: Individuals arranged in dietary clusters and displayed a checkerboard pattern in 2009, but showed nestedness in 2008 and 2010. Network topologies were not fully explained by the tested factors. Larger females consumed a higher proportion of the total number of prey species captured by the population as a whole, in such a way that nested patterns may arise from mass-dependent prey spectrum width. Conversely, individuals with similar body mass didn't form clusters. Nested patterns seemed to be associated with a greater availability of the main prey species (a proxy for reduced intra-specific competition). Thus, according with theory, clusters seemed to appear when competition increased. On the other hand, the nests of the individuals belonging to a given cluster were not more closely located, and neither did individuals within a cluster provision their nests simultaneously. Thus, a female-female copying behaviour during foraging was unlikely. In conclusion, wasp populations can maintain a considerable individual variation across years under different food web organizations. The tested factors only partially accounted for the shift in network properties, and new analyses should be carried out to elucidate how diet network topologies arise in wasp populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yolanda Ballesteros
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Carlo Polidori
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - José Tormos
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Laura Baños-Picón
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Josep Daniel Asís
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
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Wright CM, Holbrook CT, Pruitt JN. Animal personality aligns task specialization and task proficiency in a spider society. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:9533-7. [PMID: 24979771 PMCID: PMC4084461 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1400850111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Classic theory on division of labor implicitly assumes that task specialists are more proficient at their jobs than generalists and specialists in other tasks; however, recent data suggest that this might not hold for societies that lack discrete worker polymorphisms, which constitute the vast majority of animal societies. The facultatively social spider Anelosimus studiosus lacks castes, but females exhibit either a "docile" or "aggressive" phenotype. Here we observed the propensity of individual females of either phenotype to perform various tasks (i.e., prey capture, web building, parental care, and colony defense) in mixed-phenotype colonies. We then measured the performance outcomes of singleton individuals of either phenotype at each task to determine their proficiencies. Aggressive females participated more in prey capture, web building, and colony defense, whereas docile females engaged more in parental care. In staged trials, aggressive individuals were more effective at capturing prey, constructing webs, and defending the colony, whereas docile females were more effective at rearing large quantities of brood. Thus, individuals' propensity to perform tasks and their task proficiencies appear to be adaptively aligned in this system. Moreover, because the docile/aggressive phenotypes are heritable, these data suggest that within-colony variation is maintained because of advantages gleaned by division of labor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin M Wright
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260; and
| | - C Tate Holbrook
- Department of Natural Sciences, College of Coastal Georgia, Brunswick, GA 31520
| | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260; and
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45
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Ishii HS, Masuda H. Effect of flower visual angle on flower constancy: a test of the search image hypothesis. Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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46
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Amaya-Márquez M, Hill PSM, Abramson CI, Wells H. Honey Bee Location- and Time-Linked Memory Use in Novel Foraging Situations: Floral Color Dependency. INSECTS 2014; 5:243-69. [PMID: 26462587 PMCID: PMC4592622 DOI: 10.3390/insects5010243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2013] [Revised: 01/17/2014] [Accepted: 01/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Learning facilitates behavioral plasticity, leading to higher success rates when foraging. However, memory is of decreasing value with changes brought about by moving to novel resource locations or activity at different times of the day. These premises suggest a foraging model with location- and time-linked memory. Thus, each problem is novel, and selection should favor a maximum likelihood approach to achieve energy maximization results. Alternatively, information is potentially always applicable. This premise suggests a different foraging model, one where initial decisions should be based on previous learning regardless of the foraging site or time. Under this second model, no problem is considered novel, and selection should favor a Bayesian or pseudo-Bayesian approach to achieve energy maximization results. We tested these two models by offering honey bees a learning situation at one location in the morning, where nectar rewards differed between flower colors, and examined their behavior at a second location in the afternoon where rewards did not differ between flower colors. Both blue-yellow and blue-white dimorphic flower patches were used. Information learned in the morning was clearly used in the afternoon at a new foraging site. Memory was not location-time restricted in terms of use when visiting either flower color dimorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Peggy S M Hill
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA.
| | - Charles I Abramson
- Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
| | - Harrington Wells
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA.
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47
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Nityananda V, Pattrick JG. Bumblebee visual search for multiple learned target types. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 216:4154-60. [PMID: 23948481 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.085456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Visual search is well studied in human psychology, but we know comparatively little about similar capacities in non-human animals. It is sometimes assumed that animal visual search is restricted to a single target at a time. In bees, for example, this limitation has been evoked to explain flower constancy, the tendency of bees to specialise on a single flower type. Few studies, however, have investigated bee visual search for multiple target types after extended learning and controlling for prior visual experience. We trained colour-naive bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) extensively in separate discrimination tasks to recognise two rewarding colours in interspersed block training sessions. We then tested them with the two colours simultaneously in the presence of distracting colours to examine whether and how quickly they were able to switch between the target colours. We found that bees switched between visual targets quickly and often. The median time taken to switch between targets was shorter than known estimates of how long traces last in bees' working memory, suggesting that their capacity to recall more than one learned target was not restricted by working memory limitations. Following our results, we propose a model of memory and learning that integrates our findings with those of previous studies investigating flower constancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Nityananda
- Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
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49
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Jia Y, Jiao S, Zhang Y, Zhou Y, Lei G, Liu G. Diet Shift and Its Impact on Foraging Behavior of Siberian Crane (Grus Leucogeranus) in Poyang Lake. PLoS One 2013; 8:e65843. [PMID: 23823943 PMCID: PMC3688820 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2013] [Accepted: 05/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of habitat selection and diet has a long history in ecology. This is often used to assess the functional roles of wetland in biodiversity conservation. Shifting habitat and diet may be one of the survival strategies during extremely adverse conditions. Therefore, sudden changes in habitat selection may indicate the deterioration of the habitat quality, and management interventions are necessary. Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus) became critically endangered due to loss of habitat, and is currently a global conservation focus. Every winter, more than 95% of the species' global population congregates at Poyang Lake, and feeds on tubers of Vallisneria spiralis in shallow water and mudflat habitat. In this study, we reported the first sighting of large numbers of Siberian cranes foraging at wet meadows, where they fed on a different plant, Potentilla limprichtii due to extreme scarcity of their preferred tuber. To understand how well the cranes adapted to such unusual habitat, field surveys to assess the distribution of cranes across different habitats, and food availability in each habitat were carried out in the winter of 2011. Field observations on crane behaviors at different habitats were also conducted. Results show that cranes displayed significantly different behavior patterns when using the wet meadow, compared to the crane's optimal habitat - shallow water and mudflat. Both juveniles and adults spent significantly less time foraging, and more time alerting in meadows than in shallow waters and mudflats. These results indicated that the meadow might be a suboptimal wintering ground for Siberian crane, which helped the cranes survive from extreme unfavorable conditions. To some degree, this finding alleviates the general concern over the fluctuating of its food resources which was caused by hydrological disturbances. However, more studies are needed to assess the consequences of such diet and habitat shift for crane survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifei Jia
- Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | | | | | - Yan Zhou
- Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Guangchun Lei
- Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
- * E-mail:
| | - Guanhua Liu
- Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Natural Reserve Authority, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
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50
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Wagner AE, Van Nest BN, Hobbs CN, Moore D. Persistence, reticence and the management of multiple time memories by forager honey bees. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [PMID: 23197093 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.064881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Honey bee foragers form time memories that enable them to match their foraging activity to the time of day when a particular food source is most productive. Persistent foragers show food-anticipatory activity by making reconnaissance flights to the previously productive food source and may continue to inspect it for several days. In contrast, reticent foragers do not investigate the source but wait for confirmation from returning persistent foragers. To determine how persistent and reticent foragers might contribute to the colony's ability to rapidly reallocate foragers among sources, we trained foragers to collect sucrose from a feeder at a restricted time of day for several days and then observed their behavior for three consecutive days during which the feeder was empty. In two separate trials, video monitoring of the hive entrance during unrewarded test days in parallel with observing reconnaissance visits to the feeder revealed a high level of activity, in both persistent and reticent foragers, thought to be directed at other food sources. This 'extracurricular' activity showed a high degree of temporal overlap with reconnaissance visits to the feeder. In some cases, inspection flights to the unrewarded feeder were made within the same trip to an extracurricular source, indicating that honey bees have the ability to manage at least two different time memories despite coincidence with respect to time of day. The results have major implications for understanding flower fidelity throughout the day, flower constancy within individual foraging excursions, and the sophisticated cognitive management of spatiotemporal memories in honey bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley E Wagner
- Department of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA
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