bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of Removal of Successful Males in a Fallow Deer Lek
Authors: Apollonio Marco , Festa‐Bianchet Marco , Mari Franco 
Published: May 2010

AbstractRemoval of 5 of the 8 most successful males in a fallow deer lek between breeding seasons led to an increase in fighting rate of males and a decrease in mating rate of both sexes. The increase in fighting was likely due to disruption of the social hierarchy. The lower mating rate of females was not due to disruption of copulations by territorial males, nor did it appear to result from disturbance from fights. We suggest that difficulties in mate choice related to an unstable male hierarchy resulted in females either increasing their length of stay in the lek, visiting the lek more than once before mating, or leaving the lek without mating.
Male Mate Preferences in the Mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki
Authors: Bisazza Angelo , Marconato Andrea , Marin Guglielmo 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAlthough male mosquitofish invest little in their progeny, the simultaneous availability of many potential mates and the large variance in their quality are expected to favour the evolution of mechanisms of male mate choice. Males of Gambusia holbrooki were shown to exhibit sexual preferences when presented simultaneously with two potential mates. When females differed in size, males showed more sexual activity directed at the larger of the two and the time spent with this female increased with the difference between the two females. This preference, however, was lower than expected if males spent time in direct proportion to the difference in fertility between females. In the second part of the study, females which had just delivered were found to be clearly preferred over gravid females. Attractiveness of females dropped after the third day, and disappeared in the sixth day after parturition. The results are discussed in relation to the probable occurrence of sperm competition and sperm displacement in this species.
Neighbor Recognition and Context‐dependent Aggression in a Solitary Wasp, Sphecius speciosus (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)
Authors: Pfennig David W. , Reeve Hudson K. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractFemale cicada‐killer wasps (Sphecius speciosus) nest underground and provision one brood chamber at a time with cicadas upon which they lay a single egg. Females commonly nest in dense aggregations of several dozen burrows. Although there is usually only one female per nest, occasionally two females encounter each other in the same burrow. Burrow owners exhibit variable tolerance of intruders (i. e. conspecific females who enter their nest), ranging from apparent indifference to intense aggression (biting and stinging). Field observations and experimental manipulations show that a nest owner's behavior toward intruders is influenced by 1) the presence of an exposed cicada in the owner's burrow, 2) whether or not the intruder is nesting near the nest owner, and 3) the intruder's size. A nest owner was most aggressive when an exposed cicada was present in its burrow and the intruder was a large nonneighbor (i.e. a female who was not nesting within 1 m of the nest owner in the same nest aggregation). Owners were markedly less aggressive when there was no exposed cicada and the intruder was a large nonneighbor or a small neighbor (i.e. a female who was nesting within 1 m of the nest owner in the same nest aggregation). Owners displayed little or no aggression when there was no exposed cicada and the intruder was a large neighbor. Owners apparently modulate their aggression according to their susceptibility to usurpation and/or perhaps cleptoparasitism. The ability of S. speciosus females to vary their aggression in different contexts suggests that selection can favor plasticity in social responses even in solitary Hymenoptera. Such flexibility may have been a forerunner of the elaborate social assessment mechanisms of eusocial insects.
The Parental Response to Brood Size Manipulation in Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieui)
Authors: Ridgway Mark S. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn this field study, the broods of male smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) were manipulated to determine if males adjust their level of defense in response to changes in brood size. Conspecific models of equal size were used to elicit defense before and after manipulations, prior to swim‐up of offspring from the nest. Males with augmented broods increased their defense and males with reduced broods decreased their defense, both relative to a control. These results were in the predicted directions; however, the risky tactic, biting, was more independent of brood size changes relative to a less risky threat behaviour, the jaw display. These results demonstrate that parents adjust their level of investment in response to changes in brood size relative to their own expected future reproduction, and that risks of injury or mortality associated with the parent's different defense tactics can explain why some measures of brood defense are relatively independent of brood size.
Lekking Behaviour in Crested Newts, Triturus cristatus
Authors: Hedlund Linda , Robertson Jeremy G. M. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractWe describe the distribution of males and females in a natural population of crested newts, Triturus cristatus, during the breeding season and show that the mating system is a lek. Males arrived earlier than females at breeding sites, and throughout the breeding season there was a male‐biased operational sex ratio. Males aggregated for most of the breeding season, and did not cluster over any resources essential for females. The male aggregations were not correlated with environmental factors, nor with female distribution. The males display to females prior to mating, but contribute nothing apart from sperm, and they cannot force females to mate. Females also aggregated, though less than males, and their aggregations were separate from those of males.
The Behavioral Ecology of Libellula luctuosa (Burmeister) (Odonata: Libellulidae)
Authors: Moore Allen J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn a pond dragonfly, Libellula luctuosa, the number of males at the mating site increased linearly during mating seasons. The number of fertilizable females in the population did not increase. An increasingly male biased operational sex ratio (OSR) therefore correlated with the increasing density of males. I predicted that this would cause increased male‐male competition and alter female mate choice.Competition for territories influenced mating success in L. luctuosa. Two different mating strategies were adopted by males of L. luctuosa: some flew and defended lengths of shoreline (territorial males), and some perched and avoided male‐male interactions (satellite males). Satellite males increased later in the season when all territories were occupied. However, no satellite ever switched to the territorial strategy and no territorial male ever became a satellite. At high male density, two males occasionally defended the same territory. The occupation of territories was nonrandom. The probability of any male mating depended on the time of year. Territory owners did most of the mating; satellite males rarely mated. Postmating guarding of females by males depended on the number of conspecific males present.Mating success of males was also influenced by female mating behavior, and female mating behavior was influenced by the number of males present. Females visited several males prior to mating. When fewer males were present females were more likely to reject male mating attempts. The length of copulation did not change during the mating season. At high male density, females spent less time ovipositing immediately after mating. Postcopulatory mate guarding by males increased the length of time the female spent ovipositing. These behavioral patterns may represent different strategies of mate choice, precopulatory mate choice at low male density and postcopulatory mate choice at high male density.
Temporal Patterns of Division of Labor among Workers in the Primitively Eusocial Bumble Bee, Bombus griseocollis (Hymenoptera: Apidae)1)
Authors: Cameron Sydney A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe primitively eusocial bee, Bombus (Fraternobombus) griseocollis, possesses a complex temporal division of labor based on shifting patterns of principal tasks rather than on discrete age castes. Workers within a given age range perform ensembles of tasks which change quantitatively as the workers age. Functional classes of behavior, such as nursing or guarding, are not limited to a given age class of workers; all tasks are performed by workers of all ages. Colony ontogeny also influences worker behavioral ontogeny; significant differences in task performance exist among workers born in different phases of colony development. As the colony aged, young bees foraged with increasing probability. In the absence of foraging mortality, foragers shifted to nursing tasks, and were replaced by younger bees.
Sexual Harassment in Langur Monkeys (Presbytis entellus): Competition for Ova, Sperm, and Nurture?
Authors: Sommer Volker 
Published: May 2010

AbstractInterference of nonmating individuals in copulations was studied for 14 months in a harem troop of free‐ranging Hanuman langurs living in Rajasthan/India. 80.6% of 346 sexual interactions were harassed by members of all age‐sex classes except infant‐I. A mean of 1.6 (range 1–7) harassers cooperated entailing a mean of 1.9 (range 1–7) successive copulatory attempts of the disturbed couples. Rank did not influence the direction of male‐male harassment. However, higher‐ranking adult females harassed lower‐ranking twice as often (67.2%) as vice versa (32.8%). Moreover, only 58.8% of copulations of the 3 top‐ranking females were disturbed against 96.4% in the 3 lowest‐ranking.Harassment by adult males seems to reflect intrasexual competition for insemination of females. Harassing females possibly try to limit births and reduce future resource competition. Since insemination of one female may reduce the probability of another female's impregnation, harassment might also express sperm competition. The latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that 75.0% of all copulatory attempts of pregnant females were likewise disturbed. Since interference in nonfertile matings cannot reflect resource competition, it is assumed that copulating pregnant females try to deplete the sperm available to competing fertile females. Immatures harassing maternal copulations obviously try to delay the births of siblings who are rivals for nurture.
The Display of the Blue‐black Grassquit: The Acoustic Advantage of Getting High
Authors: Wilczynski Walter , Ryan Michael J. , Brenowitz Eliot A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractMale blue‐black grassquits (Volatinia jacarina) display by leaping vertically above the top of the dense grass in which they perch and emitting a high pitched call. Acoustic‐transmission experiments demonstrated that calls broadcast from above the high grass typical of grassquit habitat attenuated less over distance than identical calls broadcast from typical perch heights within the grass. By leaping when they call, grassquits might enhance the distance over which their call can be detected.
Infant Killing and Infant Adoption Following the Introduction of New Males to an All‐Female Colony of Baboons
Authors: Gomendio Montserrat , Colmenares Fernando 
Published: May 2010

AbstractA novel group of Hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) containing three adult males was introduced into an already established colony of Hamadryas and hybrid baboons, with no adult males. All the unfamiliar males attacked the unweaned infants in their newly established harems. However, only one of them actually killed infants. All females in the colony who were not cycling when the union took place, including the lactating females, resumed cycling soon after the new males' arrival. In most cases lactating females had already started cycling when their infants were killed. The infants interfered with the interactions between the males and their mothers. In this way, infants initiated conflict with originally friendly males, who then started attacking the infants. Unrelated infants born shortly after the introduction developed friendly relationships with the males, in marked contrast to those born before. It was suggested that if a mother starts to develop a relationship with a new male while her infant is still dependent, the latter will respond to the male in a fearful and interfering way, possibly as a result of the decrease in maternal investment which accompanies the process of male‐female bonding. On the other hand, if this bonding process is over by the time the infant is born, no infant‐male conflict will arise. Young and/or subordinate males might be less capable of dealing in other ways with this kind of conflict, and therefore more prone to kill infants. Immatures followed different strategies. Oldest infants and juveniles who were not dependent on maternal care stayed away from their mothers and the new males. Younger infants who could not survive on their own actively tried to associate with other caretakers.
Temporal Progression of the Giant Petrel Courtship
Authors: Bretagnolle Vincent 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe courtship behaviour of the giant petrel Macronectes giganteus is described after a 15‐months field study in Adélie Land, Antarctica. The five sexual displays are briefly summarized. Sequences of these displays given by both partners form the courtship. Analysis of 1122 sequences shows that their structure varies during the two months before laying. The biological function of this temporal evolution is discussed, focusing on two particular aspects: the synchronization of partners and the diminution of aggressivity leading to copulation.
Nestmate Recognition in Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren). Do Queens Label Workers?
Authors: Obin Martin S. , van der Meer Robert K. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn studies with large, laboratory colonies containing fertile (physogastric) queens, the intensity of worker aggression directed at nonnestmate kin and nonnestmate nonkin was independent of queen‐derived olfactory cues. Workers were also confined for 24 h with a physogastric queen. Those workers selected for testing while tending queens were attacked during subsequent introductions to nestmates. Queen‐derived cues are thus sufficient for nestmate recognition in the laboratory. Aggression elicited by queen‐tending workers was not significantly associated with queen fecundity (weight). The fire‐ant queen attractant/recognition pheromone was transferred from queens to queen‐tending workers in these small groups. Data are consistent with the hypothesis that workers detect both qualitative and quantitative differences in queen pheromones. While queen‐derived cues do not appear to play a significant role in colony‐level recognition, they could function as caste‐recognition cues within fire‐ant nests.
An Experimental Study of the Behavioral Basis of Sexual Isolation between Two Sympatric Plethodontid Salamanders, Desmognathus imitator and D. ochrophaeus
Authors: Verrell Paul A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractSexual isolation between two species of North American plethodontid salamanders (Desmognathus imitator and D. ochrophaeus) from a locality where they are sympatric was investigated by staging a series of 40 intraspecific and 40 interspecific sexual encounters. Only 5% of interspecific encounters resulted in insemination of the female, indicating a high degree of sexual isolation between these species (Stalker's index of sexual isolation = + 0.88). Behavioral observation revealed that, in 80% of interspecific sexual encounters, males apparently ignored heterospecific females and failed to initiate even the preliminary stage of courtship, during which the male actively pursues the female. Evidence of a role for chemical stimuli in maintaining sexual isolation was obtained in experiments in which males were exposed to different types of odors in a Y‐maze olfactometer. Males of both D. imitator and D. ochrophaeus preferred conspecific over heterospecific female odor. This result supports the hypothesis that interspecific courtships fail because heterospecific females produce inappropriate chemical cues.
Kin Association in Japanese Quail Chicks
Authors: Waldman Bruce , Bateson Patrick 
Published: May 2010

AbstractJapanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) have finely‐tuned kin‐recognition abilities that may serve a role in mate choice. To investigate whether these abilities are expressed in other life stages, we examined patterns of association among quail chicks in the laboratory four days after hatching. Hatchlings were reared either in mixed‐family groups, consisting of siblings and nonsiblings, or in pure‐family groups, consisting just of siblings. Chicks were highly social in testing sessions, as reflected in their clumped spatial distributions, and interacted more with their siblings than with nonsiblings. Siblings in each of four mixed‐family groups preferentially associated with one another over nonsiblings. No discrimination was evident among differently marked siblings in four purefamily groups. Thus, at an early age, quail discriminate between siblings and nonsiblings despite social experience of both. Recognition abilities that develop prior to or soon after hatching may facilitate cooperation among chicks, may enable siblings to track each others' traits as they mature, or both.
The Pattern of Helping in the Bell Miner (Manorina melanophrys)
Authors: Clarke Michael F. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe amount of aid a helper gave a single brood varied significantly according to the helper's age, sex and breeding status. The rate at which non‐breeding helpers fed a brood increased as the helpers aged. Male helpers and unmated breeding‐age helpers gave aid at higher rates and to a greater number of different breeding pairs than did female helpers and mated helpers.Breeding pairs which were assisted by six or more helpers during the fledgling period produced more independent offspring per attempt than did pairs assisted by fewer helpers. It is suggested that the helpers reduced the provisioning burden of the breeding pair.Individual helpers fed nondescendant kin at significantly higher rates than they fed recipients of no known genetic relationship. However, most helpers also aided broods to which they had no known genetic relationship. Their pattern of aid distribution amongst such recipients was neither random nor related to the proximity of the recipients. Naturally ‘widowed’ female breeders paired preferentially with the unrelated, unmated, breeding‐age male which had provided the most aid to their previous broods.The pattern of aid distribution by bell miners was most accurately predicted by the hypotheses that helpers gain indirect fitness benefits by aiding kin (whenever appropriate kin were present, which was predominantly when an individual was young), and direct fitness benefits through aiding breeders as the helpers approached sexual maturity, thereby increasing the likelihood of being accepted to fill a breeding vacancy.
Measuring Pair Relationships in Jackdaws
Authors: Wechsler Beat 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe pair relationships of 8 pairs of jackdaws (Corvus monedula), living in a captive flock of 28 jackdaws, were characterized by 12 quantitative measures in three observation periods. The 12 measures represent different aspects of jackdaw social relationships like spatial proximity, exclusiveness, interactional frequencies, asymmetry and behavioural meshing. They were analysed with respect to their consistency in measuring the quality of jackdaw pair‐bonds. The amount of time the pair mates spent in mutual proximity was significantly correlated with the behavioural meshing of the mates and the exclusiveness of the pair relationship. The frequencies of feeding and preening the mate as well as the asymmetry in each partner's contribution to the maintenance of mutual proximity were not significantly correlated with any other pair‐relationship measure. A factor analysis distributed the 12 measures on five orthogonal factors.
Strike‐induced Chemosensory Searching in the Colubrid Snakes Elaphe g. guttata and Thamnophis sirtalis
Authors: Cooper William E. , McDowell Susan G. , Ruffer Jay 
Published: May 2010

AbstractStrike‐induced chemosensory searching (SICS) occurs in numerous venomous snakes. SICS also occurs in the nonvenomous snakes Elaphe g. guttata and Thamnophis sirtalis. These species elevated tongue‐flicking rates more after striking than after exposure to experimental control conditions. Controlled effects were disturbance, visual cues (and possibly noncontact chemical cues), and handling. In another experiment with T. sirtalis, degree of disturbance was controlled. Some snakes received tactile stimulation of the oral mucosa and others similar tactile stimulation plus chemical prey cues. The much greater tongue‐flick rate in the condition including prey odors indicates that 1) disturbance alone cannot account for SICS, 2) tactile stimulation of the mouth is unlikely to elicit the full SICS response, and 3) chemical cues may be of paramount importance. SICS may be widespread in nonvenomous snakes and was presumably a preadaptation favoring the strike‐release‐trail strategy used by many venomous species. The highest tongue‐flicking rates in both species occurred after striking. In E. g. guttata an equally high rate followed swallowing. Tongue‐flicking rate in T. s. sirtalis decreased after swallowing. Interspecific differences in post‐swallowing response by snakes may be related to feeding mode and prey aggregation.
Buffalo Herd Structure and its Repercussions for Condition of Individual African Buffalo Cows
Authors: Prins H. H. T. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe African buffalo Syncerus caffer was studied in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania. Emphasis was placed on the study of (individual) buffalo cows, which live in mixed herds. Buffalo herds are discrete social units and females were never observed in another herd than their own. The herd showed a structure with respect to the distribution of sex‐age classes. Individual cows generally kept the same location within the herd. The location in the herd appeared to be coupled to food intake and was strongly related to physical condition. The best location (highest intake and best condition) was between the front and the centre of the herd, the worst location was the rear of the herd (when moving or grazing). Females with calves appeared to have the highest position in the hierarchy as determined from the rate of displacement over food; adult bulls did not interact with cows. Few births were observed during the late dry season and it appears that there is a calving peak at the end of the long rains. Conception rate increased when cows increased in condition and dropped when cows lost condition. Cows showed a strong seasonality in condition but bulls on average hardly changed in condition, except for a loss in condition during the inferred conception peak. Buffalo herds in Manyara showed a fusion‐fission pattern independent of season but strongly influenced by the size of the herd: large herds split more often than smaller ones. In large herds, buffalo grazed closer together than in small herds and it appeared likely that competition was more severe in large herds. Animals in the rear of a large herd lost condition faster during the dry season than animals in the best location in the herd, and especially cows in the rear split off most frequently from the herd to graze in a smaller fragment. From the literature on cattle, it is inferred that the reproductive success of cows in the rear of the herd will be lower than of cows in the best location, and this differential is confirmed by the behaviour of adult bulls. It is as yet unclear what the advantage is for adult cows in the rear of a large herd to stay in that herd but the sharing of information with more successful individuals seems a good candidate.