Implications of insect responses to supernormal visual releasing stimuli in intersexual communication and flower-visiting behaviour: A review

Kral, Karl

doi:10.14411/eje.2016.056

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…The attractiveness of exaggerated key stimuli (extreme or even "supernormal stimuli") is a well-known phenomenon in ethology (Tinbergen, 1948(Tinbergen, , 1951Tinbergen & Perdeck, 1950). A supernormal stimulus, despite its possible artificial nature, is capable of inducing a positive response in perceivers, as empirically demonstrated in a wide variety of species (Staddon, 1975;Bielert & Anderson, 1985;Barrett, 2007;Jaffe et al, 2007;Moreno et al, 2008;Tanaka et al, 2011;Kral, 2016), and humans are no exception (Costa & Corazza, 2006;Barrett, 2007Barrett, , 2010Morris et al, 2013;Pazhoohi et al, 2020). This ethological mechanism may underlie the reaction to intensified positive expressiveness in the direction of enhancing a prosocial response in perceivers, and contribute to successful cheating by those who use it.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaders-Cheaters in Male Group Cooperation: Differences in Nonverbal Communication and Genetic Factors

Rostovtseva¹,

Butovskaya²,

Mezentseva³

et al. 2022

psychology

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Here we report on the results of an experimental study investigating “who?” emerges as a leader in the context of male group cooperation and “how?” they do that. The study was designed based on the iterated Public Goods Game, played face-to-face in groups composed of four male strangers. The game involved interactions both with and without communication to allow the assessment of individual cooperative strategies, leadership potential, and individual features of positive nonverbal expressiveness during interactions. Along with the individual behavioural characteristics we have addressed personality traits (the Big Five) and an oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism (OXTR: SNP rs53576; A/G) as putative markers of individual sociability. Our results revealed that emergent leaders most often employed the strategy of unconditional cooperation (“altruism”) and were characterized by enhanced positive facial expressiveness and extraversion compared to non-leaders. However, a fraction of emergent leaders (25%) turned out to be occasional free-riders (“cheaters”). Their distinctive features were the highest scores on extraversion, exaggerated activity in negotiations, and over-expression of positive nonverbal elements. Given the high efficiency of leaders-cheaters’ behaviour, we consider this result as the evidence for supernormal stimuli functioning in humans. Moreover, leaders-cheaters were characterized by a specific allelic frequency of OXTR rs53576 (heterozygosity: AG). The homozygous GG variant of this SNP is argued to be associated with prosociality, and the AA, on the contrary, with poor sociability. The heterozygous variant (AG) probably is a compromise that enables its carriers to successfully combine high social skills with anti-social behavior (free-riding). This finding supports existing evidence on the role of OXTR rs53576 in human social behaviour.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaders-Cheaters in Male Group Cooperation: Differences in Nonverbal Communication and Genetic Factors

Rostovtseva¹,

Butovskaya²,

Mezentseva³

et al. 2022

psychology

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“…That aggression and a subsequent attack could have turned into a mating episode is possible but unlikely as combat between male cicadas is rare. With the dead individual’s slightly larger body resembling that of a female (and the lack of a defensive reaction when approached by the live male), a supernormal visual releasing stimulus as described by Kral [ 12 ] in the European Journal of Entomology for exceptionally attractive sex partners, could possibly have been involved. Not to be dismissed are also the possibilities that the male could have been confused and thought it was mounting a live female, or that there are cicada males that are attracted to other males and would be rebuffed by living (heterosexual) males.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Report of Necrophilia in the Form of Necrocoitus among Insects, Involving Two Male Cryptotympana atrata (Fabricius, 1775) Cicadas

Wang

Meyer-Rochow

2020

Insects

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The unusual case of a male Cryptotympana atrata cicada from China attempting to mate with a dead male conspecific is described and illustrated. Although hitherto unreported, necrophilic behaviour in the form of an attempted necrocoitus, involving dead male or female corpses, may not be as isolated a case as has been previously assumed, but it does not seem to have been mentioned earlier in the entomological literature. Although the described behaviour could have been an expression of a lack of opportunity to locate a cooperative female, several other possibilities, referred to in the Discussion, exist and should not be dismissed.

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“…If intersubspecific mating occurs in the subspecies crucivora and rapae, hybrids are viable with a highly variable UV pattern in the females [ 99 ]. The flutter response was also described in Pieris napi [ 4 , 62 ], Hypolimnas bolina [ 100 ], and in Colias eurytheme , where it functions as a signal of unreceptive behaviour [ 1 ]. It seems that the presence of UV reflectance in certain specific species could be explained by Amotz Zahavi’s ‘handicap principle’ [ 45 ], which proposes that such signals are evolutionarily stable because their expression is costly.…”

Section: The Adaptive Function Of Uv Reflectance and Its Perception I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Visible beyond Violet: How Butterflies Manage Ultraviolet

Stella

Kleisner

2022

Insects

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Ultraviolet (UV) means ‘beyond violet’ (from Latin ‘ultra’, meaning ‘beyond’), whereby violet is the colour with the highest frequencies in the ‘visible’ light spectrum. By ‘visible’ we mean human vision, but, in comparison to many other organisms, human visual perception is rather limited in terms of the wavelengths it can perceive. Still, this is why communication in the UV spectrum is often called hidden, although it most likely plays an important role in communicating various kinds of information among a wide variety of organisms. Since Silberglied’s revolutionary Communication in the Ultraviolet, comprehensive studies on UV signals in a wide list of genera are lacking. This review investigates the significance of UV reflectance (and UV absorption)—a feature often neglected in intra- and interspecific communication studies—mainly in Lepidoptera. Although the text focuses on various butterfly families, links and connections to other animal groups, such as birds, are also discussed in the context of ecology and the evolution of species. The basic mechanisms of UV colouration and factors shaping the characteristics of UV patterns are also discussed in a broad context of lepidopteran communication.

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Implications of insect responses to supernormal visual releasing stimuli in intersexual communication and flower-visiting behaviour: A review

Cited by 8 publications

References 91 publications

Leaders-Cheaters in Male Group Cooperation: Differences in Nonverbal Communication and Genetic Factors

Leaders-Cheaters in Male Group Cooperation: Differences in Nonverbal Communication and Genetic Factors

First Report of Necrophilia in the Form of Necrocoitus among Insects, Involving Two Male Cryptotympana atrata (Fabricius, 1775) Cicadas

Visible beyond Violet: How Butterflies Manage Ultraviolet

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