Androgen levels and social interactions in breeding males of the peacock blenny

Nest-holder male Salaria pavo have lower circulating concentrations of 11-ketotestosterone (KT) at the beginning of the breeding season than at its peak. At that peak density of nesting males was higher as were the number of visits of sneaker males to nests and of agonistic interactions between nest-holders and sneaker males. There was no difference between the two dates either in the frequency of male-male interactions or in the frequency of courtship episodes. Thus, higher plasma levels in nest-holders might be explained by a more intense sneaking pressure at the peak of the breeding season. At that peak, nest-holders had higher plasma levels of KT and a higher testosterone (T) to KT metabolization index in the gonads than did floater males. Both nest-holders and floaters had higher levels of KT and T in the testicular gland than in the testis. The levels of both androgens in the testicular gland, but not in the testis, were correlated with circulating concentrations of KT. These results suggest that the testicular gland is the major source of circulating KT in blenniids. Nest-holders had higher metabolization indexes than floaters both in the testis and in the testicular gland, which suggests that nest holding status promotes the conversion of T into KT.     

Optimal climbing speed explains the evolution of extreme sexual size dimorphism in spiders

Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the evolution of extreme sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Among them, the gravity hypothesis (GH) explains that extreme SSD has evolved in spiders because smaller males have a mating or survival advantage by climbing faster. However, few studies have supported this hypothesis thus far. Using a wide span of spider body sizes, we show that there is an optimal body size (7.4 mm) for climbing and that extreme SSD evolves only in spiders that: (1) live in high‐habitat patches and (2) in which females are larger than the optimal size. We report that the evidence for the GH across studies depends on whether the body size of individuals expands beyond the optimal climbing size. We also present an ad hoc biomechanical model that shows how the higher stride frequency of small animals predicts an optimal body size for climbing.     

Carotenogenesis in Phycomyces

Time course studies of carotenoid production and of mycelial growth in liquid cultures of Phycomyces blakesleeanus wild type [NRRL 1555 (?)], red mutants C9, C10 and C13 and the heterokaryon C2 * C9 are reported. The ratios of the concentrations of lycopene, γ-carotene and β-carotene in the red mutant C13 and in the heterokaryon C2 * C9 during the growth periods were measured. In these strains the concentration of lycopene is close to its final value after 2 days of growth, at a time at which β-carotene is just beginning to be produced. It is suggested that the β-carotene produced late is possibly synthesized via β-zeacarotene.     

Infant loss during and after male replacement in gibbons

According to the sexual selection hypothesis, infanticide during resident male replacement is an adaptive strategy that has evolved because the killing of unweaned offspring sired by previous males shortens the inter‐birth intervals of the mothers whose infants are targeted and thereby increases the reproductive fitness of the perpetrator. To test this hypothesis, we describe previously unreported cases of primary male replacement for two gibbon species (Hylobates lar and Nomascus nasutus), and review all other reported cases of primary male replacement in gibbons. Overall, infants were present in nearly half of all cases (16/33, 48%) and of the 18 infants present during replacement, 50% (N = 9) disappeared within 2 months of the event. In four of the five cases where there was sufficient demographic information to identify the likely sire of the subsequent offspring of females that lost infants, the new male was believed to be the sire. Infants were also less likely to die or disappear if the new male and original resident male were possible kin. However, there was no significant difference in the age of infants between those that died or disappeared following replacement and those that survived to weaning (p = .630). Our review of takeover‐related infant loss in gibbons confirms that periods of male instability are risky for unweaned infants and that replacing males benefit from infant loss. Nevertheless, variability in the context of infant loss and difficulties related to data collection in the field make it difficult to test competing hypotheses concerning the mechanisms and functions of infanticide in the small apes.     

Can landscape properties predict occurrence of grey-sided voles?

There has been a long-term decline in spring and fall numbers of Clethrionomys rufocanus in boreal Sweden in 1971–2005. Previous studies on permanent sampling plots in the centre of 2.5 × 2.5 km landscapes suggested that habitat fragmentation (sensu destruction) could have contributed to the decline. Therefore, we tested these findings in a field study and compared trapping results on the central sampling plots of landscapes with a low degree of fragmentation (LDF) and of “hot spot” type with trapping results in managed forest landscapes with a high degree of fragmentation (HDF). We predicted that C. rufocanus would be more common on the LDF plots. We used our permanent plots supplemented with a new sample of plots, mainly of the rare LDF type, inside or just outside the long-term study area. Very few voles were trapped on both plot types, and no difference was found. However, a subsequent pilot study with trapping in a national park with large areas of pristine, unfragmented forest yielded more voles than in the managed, more fragmented, areas. Consequently, the initial field study data and some other recent data were also re-analysed from a “local patch quality” perspective. This alternative approach revealed the positive importance of large focal patches of forest >60 years old and their content of old-growth (pine) forest (>100 years). Interestingly, at the landscape level, the frequency distribution of patches of forest >60 years old, old-growth (>100 years), and especially of old-growth pine forest (>100 years), relative to the properties of plots with C. rufocanus, suggested that there are few forest patches left that are suitable for C. rufocanus. Our current results suggest that habitat fragmentation cannot be excluded as a contributing cause to the long-term decline of C. rufocanus in boreal Sweden.     

The effects of host plant species on adult oviposition and larval performance of the aphid predator Aphidoletes aphidimyza

1. Although preference–performance relationships in insects are typically studied in a bi-trophic context, it is well known that host plants can affect both the preference and performance of natural enemies of herbivorous insects. 2. This study presents evidence from field and laboratory studies that two species of milkweeds, the putatively less defended Asclepias incarnata and the putatively more defended Asclepias syriaca, differentially affect adult oviposition and larval performance in Aphidoletes aphidimyza, an aphid-feeding predatory midge, independent of aphid density. 3. Host plant species affected predatory fly larvae abundance by a factor of 50 in the field and a factor of 8 in the laboratory. Larval and adult emergence rates in our laboratory studies provided strong evidence for reduced performance on A. syriaca. Oviposition in choice and no-choice settings provided some evidence for preference for A. incarnata, and a potentially suppressive effect of A. syriaca. 4. The results provide limited support for the hypothesis that natural selection can lead to positive correlations between adult oviposition preferences and larval performance upon various food sources, even when predatory insects oviposit onto host plants of their herbivorous prey. 5. Preference and performance are not perfectly aligned in this system, however, because ovipositing females do not reject A. syriaca entirely. Potential explanations for mismatches between preference and performance in this system include the neural constraints associated with being a generalist, adaptive time-limited foraging strategies, and unique evolutionary histories of laboratory colonies compared with wild insects.