Helper contributions to antiparasite behavior in the cooperatively breeding bell miner

Pacheco, Maria Lúcia Tinoco; McDonald, Paul G.; Wright, Jonathan; Kazem, Anahita J. N.; Clarke, Michael F.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arm163

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…An important issue here might be to distinguish between the effects of kin selection owing to variation in relatedness within groups versus between groups. Like most other studies in cooperative breeding, ours was designed to test adaptive hypotheses that might explain individual variation in helping effort within the immediate social group (McDonald et al 2007a(McDonald et al , 2008a(McDonald et al ,b, 2009Pacheco et al 2008;te Marvelde et al 2009). Also, like most studies, our genetic sampling was limited to only a small local sub-set of the actual bell miner population, so we effectively quantified mostly within-colony variation in relatedness (i.e.…”

Section: Discussion (A) Kin-selected Helpingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helping effort increases with relatedness in bell miners, but ‘unrelated’ helpers of both sexes still provide substantial care

et al. 2009

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Indirect fitness benefits from kin selection can explain why non-breeding individuals help raise the young of relatives. However, the evolution of helping by non-relatives requires direct fitness benefits, for example via group augmentation. Here, we examine nest visit rates, load sizes and prey types delivered by breeding pairs and their helpers in the cooperatively breeding bell miner (Manorina melanophrys). In this system, males remain in their natal colony while young females typically disperse, and helpers of both sexes often assist at multiple nests concurrently. We found extremely clear evidence for the expected effect of genetic relatedness on individual helping effort per nest within colonies. This positive incremental effect of kinship was facultative-i.e. largely the result of within-individual variation in helping effort. Surprisingly, no sex differences were detectable in any aspect of helping, and even non-relatives provided substantial aid. Helpers and breeders of both sexes regulated their provisioning effort by responding visit-by-visit to changes in nestling begging. Helping behaviour in bell miners therefore appears consistent with adaptive cooperative investment in the brood, and kin-selected care by relatives. Similar investment by 'unrelated' helpers of both sexes argues against direct fitness benefits, but is perhaps explained by kin selection at the colony level.

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Section: Discussion (A) Kin-selected Helpingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helping effort increases with relatedness in bell miners, but ‘unrelated’ helpers of both sexes still provide substantial care

et al. 2009

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“…2009) that forms large colonies of several hundred individuals. Individuals cooperate in a variety of contexts within the colony (Pacheco et al. 2008), but are best known for their despotic nature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐lethal foraging by bell miners on a herbivorous insect: Potential implications for forest health

Haythorpe

McDonald²

2010

Austral Ecology

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Tree health is often negatively linked with the localized abundance of parasitic invertebrates. One group, the sap-sucking psyllid insects (Homoptera: Psyllidae) are well known for their negative impact upon vegetation, an impact that often culminates in the defoliation and even death of hosts. In Australia, psyllid-infested forest in poor health is also frequently occupied by a native honeyeater, the bell miner (Manorina melanophrys; Meliphagidae), so much so that the phenomenon has been dubbed 'bell miner-associated dieback' (BMAD). Bell miners are thought to be the causative agent behind BMAD, in part because the species may selectively forage only upon the outer covering (lerp) exuded by psyllid nymphs, leaving the insect underneath to continue parasitizing hosts. As bell miners also aggressively exclude all other avian psyllid predators from occupied areas, these behavioural traits may favour increases in psyllid populations. We examined bell miner foraging behaviour to determine if non-lethal foraging upon psyllid nymphs occurred more often than in a congener, the noisy miner (M. melanocephala; Meliphagidae). This was indeed the case, with bell miners significantly more likely to remove only the lerp covering during feeding, leaving the insect intact underneath. This arose from bell miners using their tongue to pry off the lerp cases, whereas noisy miners used their mandibles to snap at both the lerp and insect underneath. Furthermore, psyllids left behind following a bell miner foraging event were significantly more likely to be viable and regrow a lerp covering than those exposed by noisy miners. Together, this behaviour supports the theory that non-lethal foraging behaviour of bell miners may contribute to high psyllid abundance, consistent with the mechanisms by which BMAD is thought to develop.

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“…Consistent with this idea, incubation and brooding are exclusive to breeding female Carrion Crows, which also show the greatest effort in cleaning activities. A similar pattern was found in cooperatively breeding Bell Miners, in which the greatest antiparasite effort was made by the (Pacheco et al 2008); and in Magellanic Woodpeckers (Campephilus magellanicus), in which the male performed most of the brooding and nest sanitation (Chazarreta et al 2011). Furthermore, a recent review by Guigueno and Sealy (2012) also confirmed that ectoparasite removal is mainly performed by the brooding individuals.…”

Section: Why Did Breeding Females Clean More?mentioning

confidence: 55%

“…In cooperatively breeding Bell Miners (Manorina melanophrys), 18% of helpers only performed mobbing, 20% only provisioned the chicks, and the rest carried out both tasks (Arnold et al 2005). Regarding nest sanitation, Pacheco et al (2008) found that breeding female Bell Miners provided the greatest effort against larvae of a parasitic fly that infested the nestlings. Our understanding of cooperation at the nest would therefore benefit from a more comprehensive view of the role of each member of the group (Baglione et al 2010) that analyzes contribution to any activity related to rearing of young.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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2015

The Auk

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Helper contributions to antiparasite behavior in the cooperatively breeding bell miner

Cited by 13 publications

References 44 publications

Helping effort increases with relatedness in bell miners, but ‘unrelated’ helpers of both sexes still provide substantial care

Helping effort increases with relatedness in bell miners, but ‘unrelated’ helpers of both sexes still provide substantial care

Non‐lethal foraging by bell miners on a herbivorous insect: Potential implications for forest health

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