Habitat choice and complex decision making in a trap-building predator

Adar, Shay; Dor, Roi; Scharf, Inon

doi:10.1093/beheco/arw071

Cited by 35 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For instance, wormlions ( Vermileo sp.) prefer shaded habitats, but shade preference drops when shade is combined with some disturbance, such as shallow substrate or obstacles, preventing them from constructing their pit‐traps (Adar, Dor & Scharf, ). In contrast, other animals refer to only one environmental factor at a time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive and sex‐specific life‐history responses ofCulex pipiensmosquito larvae to multiple environmental factors

et al. 2018

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Spatio‐temporal variation in aquatic habitat characteristics can have important implications for the population and community dynamics of organisms utilizing these habitats. We studied the life‐history responses of Culex pipiens larvae (Diptera: Culicidae) to multiple environmental factors associated with habitat drying by increasing larval density (directly affecting resource availability), temperature fluctuations (influencing physiological processes), and solute concentration due to evaporation (inducing an environmental stress), using a full‐factorial design. We found that high density led to lower larval survival and to shorter development time. Larvae delayed their metamorphosis in response to fluctuating temperature. We detected inter‐sexual differences in the effects of these two factors on adult body sizes, with high larval density leading to the emergence of smaller females, and fluctuating temperature translating to larger adult males. The two sexes also differed concerning the two‐way interactive effects of different environmental factors on development time and on adult size. Our findings indicate that C. pipiens larvae respond to multiple environmental factors via phenotypic plasticity, rather than through bet‐hedging. Future studies should account for additional inter‐stage effects, rather than body size, such as adult fecundity, longevity, and dispersal.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive and sex‐specific life‐history responses ofCulex pipiensmosquito larvae to multiple environmental factors

et al. 2018

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“…Rats, for example, learn faster or err less in a maze when they are hungry and a reward is offered than when they are satiated [32][33][34][35]. Unless hunger itself is under study, behavioral studies therefore take care to standardize the hunger level prior to the experiment or account for body condition (e.g., [36][37][38][39][40]). Researchers often standardize prior experience and state (e.g., hunger level) [41][42], but we are not aware of any study demonstrating the effect of non-spatial information on the presence of food, on maze-solving time and consequent food discovery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning

et al. 2020

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Experience can lead to faster exploitation of food patches through spatial learning or other parallel processes. Past studies have indicated that hungry animals either search more intensively for food or learn better how to detect it. However, fewer studies have examined the contribution of non-spatial information on the presence of food nearby to maze solving, as a parallel process to spatial learning. We exposed Cataglyphis niger ant workers to a food reward and then let them search for food in a maze. The information that food existed nearby, even without spatial information, led to faster maze solving compared to a control group that was not exposed to the food prior to the experiment. Faster solving is probably achieved by a higher number of workers entering the maze, following the information that food is present nearby. In a second experiment, we allowed the ants to make successive searches in the maze, followed by removing them after they had returned to the nest and interacted with their naïve nestmates. This procedure led to a maze-solving time in-between that displayed when removing the workers immediately after they had reached the food and preventing their return to the colony, and that of no removal. The workers that interacted upon returning to the nest might have transferred to naïve workers information, unrelated to spatial learning, that food existed nearby, and driven them to commence searching. Spatial learning, or an increase in the correct movements leading to the food reward relative to those leading to dead-ends, was only evident when the same workers were allowed to search again in the same maze. However, both non-spatial information on the presence of food that elevated search intensity and spatial learning led to faster maze solving. OPEN ACCESSCitation: Bega D, Samocha Y, Yitzhak N, Saar M, Subach A, Scharf I (2020) Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning. PLoS ONE 15 (2): e0229709. https://doi.org/10.We collected 59 colonies of Cataglyphis niger from the Tel-Baruch sand dunes in Tel Aviv, Israel (32.132N, 34.788E), a public land. These sand dunes are an enclave of a disturbed natural Non-spatial information and maze solving in ants PLOS ONE | https://doi.

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“…Heinrich & Heinrich, 1984;Eltz, 1997;Hauber, 1999;Barkae et al, 2012). Wormlions usually prefer shaded habitats with a fine-particle size of sand (Devetak & Arnett, 2015;Adar et al, 2016). Preference for shade might be explained by its serving as a cue for shelter from rain, wind, direct sunlight and/or reduced detection by predators (Gotelli, 1993;Scharf et al, 2008a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Preference for shade might be explained by its serving as a cue for shelter from rain, wind, direct sunlight and/or reduced detection by predators (Gotelli, 1993;Scharf et al, 2008a). Although the majority of wormlions prefer particular conditions, some individuals are always located in less favourable environments (Devetak, 2008;Adar et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat preference of wormlions and their behavioural repeatability under illumination/shade conditions

Katz

Subach

Pruitt

et al. 2016

Ecological Entomology

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1. Animal personality is defined as the repeatable between‐individual differences in behaviour over time and contexts. Some personality traits, such as activity or aggression, have received much attention while other behaviours, such as habitat preference or learning, have been neglected. 2. Wormlion larvae are sit‐and‐wait dipteran predators that inhabit shaded microhabitats in the field and also prefer shade in the laboratory. The aim of the present study was to examine wormlion larvae behavioural repeatability in general and specifically in the context of habitat preference. In order to achieve this, three experiments were conducted to determine whether, to what extent and under which conditions wormlion preference for shaded microhabitats is repeatable. 3. Individual tendency to relocate when the environment conditions deteriorate was also assessed, by switching between shaded and illuminated conditions, either with or without pit destruction. 4. Larvae showed a highly repeatable preference for shade. Repeatability was detected in additional behavioural traits: pit construction, pit area and tendency to relocate. 5. This behavioural repeatability was demonstrated under constant microhabitat conditions, with distinct behaviours in each setting. Under constant illumination, wormlions constructed smaller pits, moved over longer distances and were found at the tray edges more frequently than under constant shade conditions, suggesting that illuminated environments are perceived as risky or unsuitable. 6. Switching between the two microhabitat conditions without pit destruction induced fewer relocations than switching with pit destruction, suggesting that wormlions do not tend to abandon their pits, even if their microhabitat conditions deteriorate.

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Habitat choice and complex decision making in a trap-building predator

Cited by 35 publications

References 46 publications

Interactive and sex‐specific life‐history responses ofCulex pipiensmosquito larvae to multiple environmental factors

Interactive and sex‐specific life‐history responses ofCulex pipiensmosquito larvae to multiple environmental factors

Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning

Habitat preference of wormlions and their behavioural repeatability under illumination/shade conditions

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