Behaviours promoting grouping or dispersal of mother and neonates in ovoviviparous cockroaches

Summary. The nature of early relationships between mother and nymphs and among siblings was compared in four cockroach species belonging to the same ovoviviparous family (Zetoborinae) in order to characterise the behavioural interactions favouring dispersal or maintenance of the group of neonates. Behavioural interactions between mothers and their new-born nymphs and between two sibling neonates were video recorded and analysed with flow charts on factorial maps. In the solitary species Thanatophyllum akinetum, nymphs dispersed a few hours after birth without aggressiveness between siblings or between mother and offspring. In contrast females of Schultesia lampyridiformis displayed a behaviour never previously observed in cockroaches: aggression towards their own neonate nymphs, which could contribute to their dispersal. In Phortioeca nimbata and Lanxoblatta emarginata, nymphs stayed with their mother for 10 days, but social interactions differed between the two sp ecies: P. nimbata mothers actively searched for their nymphs, this behaviour being favoured by an active search for mutual contact by the nymphs themselves, while L. emarginata nymphs sought more actively the proximity of their mother but less contact between themselves. Thus, different species of Zetoborinae presented two types of dispersal of the young and two types of maintenance of the birth group, both achieved by specific behavioural interactions. The relevance of behavioural interactions for the characterisation of early gregarism and parental care is discussed.     

克隆水分整合有助胡杨无性系幼株在极端干旱生境下保持更高生存优势

以塔里木河下游的胡杨为对象,研究胡杨母株与其克隆幼株间的克隆水分整合特征及对克隆幼株生理机能的影响.结果表明: 胡杨母株与其克隆幼株间存在明显的以顶向传输为特征的水分整合,母株对克隆幼株的日平均水分整合流量为同区域长势相近的实生幼株通过自身根系日平均获取水量的3倍,克隆幼株因水分整合而能够获取与母株相似且较实生幼株水分来源相对较深层的土壤水,拥有更好的水分获取能力.这使胡杨克隆幼株较实生幼株保持显著更高的叶片水分含量,且黎明前和正午叶水势分别显著增加10.0%和29.7%.更好的水分生理状态使克隆幼株的光合电子传递速率与光适应下实际光化学效率显著高出实生幼株23.4%和11.5%,并能够保持显著更低的光系统Ⅱ过剩激能比例和光抑制风险.这可能让胡杨克隆幼株在极端干旱生境中较实生幼株保持更高的生存优势.     

Parental investment and offspring sex ratio in a solitary bee,Anthidium septemspinosum lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)

Anthidium septemspinosum is a solitary, tube-nesting bee. Studies onA. septemspinosum were made to investigate how offspring sex ratios were influenced by maternal conditions. Males were generally larger than females, indicating that parental investment between sexes differed. Body size was related to male mating success, but was not related to nesting success of females. Large and young mother bees, who had more ability to invest, invested more in male offspring while small and old mothers invested more in female offspring. These results indicate that mother bees of this species are able to adaptively manipulate offspring sex ratio in relation to their ability to invest in offspring, as predicted in mammals by Trivers & Willard (1973).     

Intergroup affiliative interactions and intergroup transfer of young male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)

The social interactions between young male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) and members of two adjacent groups were studied. Young males usually associated with members of a single group. Although some young males occasionally interacted with members of the neighboring group, the frequency of their intergroup affiliative interactions was much lower than that of their intragroup interactions. The intergroup affiliative interactions were less symmetrical than the intragroup interactions. Three- or four-year-old males who remained in their natal group interacted with males of the neighboring group, whereas males over 5 years old did not. Young males revealed a dramatic change in their association partners from males in one group to those in another during the course of their intergroup transfer. Males who remained in their natal group did not attempt to interact with females of the neighboring group. In contrast, males who had transferred to a non-natal group interacted with females in their natal group. It is suggested that intergroup affiliative interactions and intergroup transfer of young male macaques are influenced by close associations between males. The immediate motivation for transfer of young natal macaques may be some attraction to males outside their group rather than sexual attraction to unfamiliar females.     

Hearing recognition of the lamb by its mother

A group of twenty-three Merino ewes were tested for their ability to discriminate between their own and an alien lamb at a distance. Most of them (nineteen of twenty-three) were able to recognize their own young at a distance of 10 m. Eighteen of the twenty-three mothers, selected at random, were tested with recorded bleatings of lambs. They displayed a significant preference for the bleating of their own lambs. These results suggest that hearing plays an important role in the distance recognition of the lamb by its mother.     

Mother-young Relationships in Captive Ungulates: Behavioral Changes over Time

Ungulates are frequently classified into two groups: the “followers”, in which young initially stay close to their mother and the “hiders”, in which young remain at some distance from their mother, often concealed in vegetation. To examine differences in mother-young behavior between the follower and hider groups and among species within these groups, we studied 63 mother-young pairs, representing 22 ungulate species, for 7 weeks after birth of the young. The follower group had consistently higher scores than the hider group on measures of mother-young association, and lower scores on the percentage of time the young spent lying; however, there was considerable variation within each group. In follower species, two measures of mother and young association decreased over time. In hiders, contact between mother and young did not increase over time although the distance between them, while both were lying, decreased. This reduction in the resting distance between mother and young did not always coincide with other changes possibly indicative of the end of the hiding period. The amount of time young hiders spent lying decreased over time.     

Developmental trends in mother-infant interactions in Java macaques (Macaca fascicularis) during the first ten days of life

In this study on Java macaques themain characteristics of the mother-infant relationship during infants' first 10 days have been elaborated. Early mother and infant behaviour is described and early interactions between mothers and their young have been analyzed. Observations and trend analyses of early behaviours like ventro-ventral contact behaviour, being on nipple, and explorative behaviour, make it clear that Java macaque infants play an important role in the early development of mother-infant interactions. In contrast to the rhesus and the stumptailed infant, the young Java macaque appears to develop a great variety of behaviours in its first 10 days. Whereas the infant's behaviour gains in complexity and social initiative, the mother becomes increasingly more passive and self-oriented. Early mother-infant interaction can be characterized by mutual adjustment.     

Grooming relationships of adolescent orphans in a free-ranging group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at Katsuyama: a comparison among orphans with sisters, orphans without sisters, and females with a surviving mother

The present study examined grooming relationships of adolescent females in a free-ranging group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at Katsuyama. To assess whether the loss of the mother influenced the grooming relationships of adolescent females (5–7 years old), we compared the time spent in grooming interactions and the number of grooming partners among the following three groups: 6 adolescent orphans with sisters, 9 adolescent orphans without sisters, and 11 adolescent non-orphans with surviving mothers. In Japanese macaques, grooming most frequently occurs between mothers and their daughters. Therefore, it is expected that if the mother is lost, orphans will devote less time to grooming interactions than non-orphans. However, the time spent in overall grooming interactions did not differ among the three groups. While non-orphans maintained grooming relationships with their mothers, orphans acquired alternative grooming relationships with other group members. Orphans adopted two kinds of tactics to compensate for the loss of the mother. First, adolescent orphans with sisters developed more affiliative grooming relationships with their sisters than non-orphans with sisters. Secondly, adolescent orphans without sisters spent more time in grooming interactions with same-aged females and non-related adult females. Moreover, regarding grooming interactions with same-aged females and non-related adult females, orphans without sisters had a larger number of grooming partners than non-orphans. These results indicate that adolescent females have enough flexibility to develop their grooming network after the loss of their mothers, and that the lack of mother and sisters might accelerate socialization of adolescent females and enable them to be integrated in reciprocal adult grooming relationships.     

Mother-young relationships in captive ungulates: Spatial and temporal patterns

Ungulates are often divided into two groups—the followers and the hiders—characterized by differing spatial and temporal patterns of mother-young behavior. We assessed the relative roles of mother and young in maintaining these patterns by recording standardized quantitative measures on 37 mother-young pairs representing eight species. We found no differences between followers and hiders on any of our measures. The mother was largely responsible for maintaining the species characteristic spacing distances between mother and young, although young sometimes contributed. The mother usually initiated activity bouts of the young. Activity bouts of young were longer and more frequent when the mother was active than when she was lying down. Young often stood when their mother was lying, but these activity bouts were brief. Young usually terminated their own activity bouts. Hinde's measure, a measure designed to quantify the relative roles of primate mother and young in maintaining proximity, proved less satisfactory for ungulates, due to the multiple interpretations possible for low values of the measure and the difficulty of adequately defining approaches and departures.     

Factor affecting body mass of young fat dormics (Glis glis) at weaning and by hibernation

This paper describes the factors affecting body mass at weaning and by hibernation of young fat dormice (Glis glis) We studied a free-living population in 1991 and 1992 in a mixed forest where 100 nest-boxes were placed. In the two years, 128 females used the nest-boxes to give birth and rear their litters and more than 900 dormice have been individually marked. Body mass of young at weaning was positively correlated to body mass of the mother in both years and to birth date in 1991, while litter size was negatively correlated to body mass of the young in 1992 only, when birth took place about two weeks later than in 1991. On the contrary, by the time of hibernation, young born later weighed significantly less than those born earlier in the season, and heavier young at weaning remained heavier by hibernation, while maternal body mass and litter size did not significantly affect body mass of young at this stage. Body mass of the mother was negatively related to the date of parturition and early breeding females lost weight during lactation, while females that bred later did not. It seems, therefore, that early breeding carries a cost that only females in good condition can afford. It appears that females may follow two strategies: those in poor body condition will delay pregnancy so that lactation occurs when environmental feeding conditions are at their best; those in good condition will breed earlier, since they can afford to lose weight during lactation. Their young will have more time to grow before hibernation and the mothers themselves will have a longer period of time for restoring their fat reserves.     

Social organization of free-ranging ruffed lemurs,Varecia variegata variegata: mother-adult daughter relationship

The relationship between a mother and an adult daughter is examined in a group of free-ranging ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) at the Duke University Primate Center (DUPC). Although the two females were affiliative during the birth season, interactions during the mating season were predominantly agonistic. The maturing daughter was dominant to the mother, as has been observed in many caged social groups at the DUPC. Although both mother and daughter produced offspring in the same group, the daughter subsequently aggressively evicted the mother from the enclosure. It was not possible to maintain more than one long-term resident breeding female in the same social group. This pattern contrasts with observations of affiliation among breeding females in the wild. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Epigenetic Maternal Effects on Endogenous Rhythms in Precocial Birds

Development involves interactions between genetic and environmental influences. Vertebrate mothers are generally the first individuals to encounter and interact with young animals. Thus, their role is primordial during ontogeny. The present study evaluated non‐genomic effects of mothers on the development of rhythms of precocial Japanese quail (Coturnix c. japonica). First, we investigated the influence of mothering on the ontogeny of endogenous rhythms of young. We compared circadian and ultradian rhythms of feeding activity of quail reared with or without adoptive mothers. More brooded than non‐brooded quail presented a circadian and/or an ultradian rhythm. Thus, the presence of the mother during the normal brooding period favors, in the long term, expression of rhythms in the young. Second, we investigated the influence of rhythmic phenotype of the mother on the development of endogenous rhythms of young by comparing quail brooded by circadian‐rhythmic adoptive mothers (R) to quail brooded by circadian‐arrhythmic adoptive mothers (A). More R‐brooded than A‐brooded quail expressed circadian rhythmicity, and circadian rhythm clarities were greater in R‐brooded than A‐brooded quail. Ultradian rhythmicity did not differ between R‐ and A‐brooded quail, nor between R and A adoptive mothers. Thus, the rhythmic phenotypes of quail mothers influence the rhythmic phenotypes of their young. Our results demonstrate that mothers of precocial birds influence epigenetically the ontogeny of endogenous rhythms of the young they raise.     

Social Dependence of Infant Slow Lorises to Learn Diet

Nocturnal lorises and pottos (Lorisinae) are among the least gregarious of primates. Mothers start to leave their infants alone during the night as early as the day of birth. However, captive studies also indicate that weaning young lorisines closely follow their mothers nearly all the time and obtain their first solid food via scrounging. Accordingly, it has been suggested that young lorisines depend on their mothers to obtain dietary information and to achieve dietary independence by watching their mothers feeding or interacting directly with their mothers over food. We tested for a social dependence on dietary learning by infants in a social network of wild slow lorises (Nycticebus coucang). The social network included one male infant, his mother, and two subadult females. The infant only took to mouth food items that were also part of the females' diet and showed concordance in the frequency of use of food patches with the females. These results contradict dietary learning by trial and error. They indicate that dietary learning by infants depends on information obtained from older conspecifics. However, the infant was never involved in direct interactions with conspecifics over food and fed mostly alone. He was not within a distance where he could see the females feeding more often than expected from the configuration and utilization of home ranges. The infant never looked at conspecifics feeding in his vicinity, which suggests that visual observation or direct interaction over food may not be the mechanisms by which information about food resources is passed from older individuals to young, but that other ways of obtaining such information are used.     

The effects of twinning and maternal experience on maternal-filial social relationships in confined beef cattle

The objective of this investigation was to assess the maternal-filial social relationships of Hereford beef cattle as influenced by maternal experience of the dam (primiparous vs. multiparous) and number of offspring (one vs. two calves). Calves were temporarily separated from their dams during the first week after parturition, and the behavioral responses of mother and young were noted during and following separation.Contact and contact-seeking behaviors between twins and their mothers began to decline by the 5th or 6th day post-partum. Over the same period, contact behaviors exhibited by single calves and their dams remained stable or increased in frequency. Mothers of twins were less responsive to their calves than mothers of singles both during and following separation, and twins interacted with alien females more frequently than single-born young. It is proposed that insufficient milk production by Hereford dams bearing two calves provides an incentive for twins to parasitize the milk supply of alien mothers and, thus, become less dependent on their natural mothers. Social feedback between mother and twins may be further reduced by dams dividing their maternal attentiveness between two offspring.In general, experienced cows were more responsive to separation from their offspring than inexperienced heifers. Cows and their calves exhibited more frequent contact and contact-seeking behavior than heifers and their young.     

Demography of male reproductive queues in cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus

1. Subordinate helpers in cooperative societies may gain both immediate and future benefits, including paternity and territorial inheritance. However, if such opportunities correlate with rank in the queue, it is unclear why such queues should be stable. 2. In cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus, only males are generally philopatric, and form stable hierarchical queues for the dominant position. 3. Male opportunities for reproduction are influenced both by their dominance status within the group, and their relatedness to the breeding female. For young queuing subordinates, the breeding female is typically their mother. Because of incest avoidance, reproduction is possible only through extra-group mating, even if the dominant position is achieved while the mother is still on the territory. If the mother dies while the helper is still a subordinate, he can seek matings both outside the group, and with the unrelated replacement female within the group. Finally, males can achieve the dominant position and pair with an unrelated female by inheritance, dispersal to a neighbouring vacancy, or by forming a liaison with an immigrant subordinate female that causes fission of the natal territory. 4. On average males spent more time living with unrelated females than with their mother. Subordinate males gained no survival advantages when living with their mother rather than an unrelated female, contrary to the prediction that parents facilitate the survival of their offspring. 5. Dominants and subordinates also had similar survival. Mortality accelerated over time, probably because older males invest more in extra-group courtship display. 6. Fairy-wren queues are likely to be stable because older birds are superior, and because extra-pair mating provides direct benefits to subordinates.     

Artificial weaning of Old World monkeys: benefits and costs

Permanent mother-infant separation prior to natural weaning is a common hus-bandry practice in monkey breeding colonies. In the United States, all eight Re-gional Primate Research Centers have such colonies. Under undisturbed conditions, Old World monkey mothers wean their infants at the age of about 1 year (Hall & DeVore, 1965; Poirier, 1970; Roonwal & Mohnot, 1977; Southwick, Beg, & Siddiqi, 1965). Natural weaning is a gradual process. It implies that the mother, over a period of several weeks or months, more and more consistently discourages her infant to suck on her breasts. Once the mother stops nursing the infant for good, the affectionate bond between the two is not broken (Altmann, Altmann, Hausfater, & McCuskey, 1977; Lindburg, 1971; Poirier, 1970; Roonwal & Mohnot, 1977). The young usually remains in the ma-ternal group at least until prepuberty. Under confinement conditions, artificial weaning is an abrupt occurrence that takes place several months prior to the biologically normal age of weaning. It im-plies that the still-nursed infant is taken away from the mother and subsequently reared alone or with other artificially weaned infants.     

Regular dominance of thumb ankylosis with mental retardation transmitted over 3 generations

A young girl 12 old, sent to us for obesity, and coxa-epiphysiolysis showed signs of mental retardation and bilateral thumb ankylosis. The fact that the mother was also affected by both of these signs, led to a more detailed genetic research. The latter revealed that not only the daughter, the mother, but also their own mother and may be, the sister, the grand-mother and the great-aunt of the patient had a retardation, a slight dysmorphia, a type A brachydactylia, signs of obesity and an identical ankylosis of both thumbs. This vertical inheritance, affecting apparently females only, but not associated with a high rate of miscarriage, has, it seems, never been reported. The characteristics of this family are being considered and discussed.     

Littermate Influences on Behavioral Development in Acomys cahirinus and Mus musculus

To assess the influence of “littermate” characteristics on early social interactions, preweaning spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus) were raised in pairs consisting of pups differing in age by 15 days, or with a Mus musculus agemate. Whereas the older pups appeared to be relatively unaffected by the replacement of their original littermate with a younger pup, the frequencies of suckling and social contact by the younger pups differed as a function of the age of littermates with whom they were raised. Likewise, although the behaviour of Acomys pups raised with conspecifics vs. Mus agemates did not vary, Mus pups housed with a Mus littermate displayed more frequent interactions with their littermate and less contact with the foster mother than did Mus pups raised with an Acomys littermate. It was concluded that the effective preweaning social environment of Mus and A. cahirinus consists of more than the mother. In particular, littermate characteristics appear to influence interactions between the pups themselves as well as with other social partners.     

In vitro culture of intramolluscan stages of the avian schistosome Trichobilharzia ocellata

Several different procedures for in vitro cultivation of intramolluscan stages of the avian schistosome Trichobilharzia ocellata were tried. A medium was found and culture conditions were established that not only supported in vitro transformation of miracidia into mother sporocysts, but also resulted in substantial subsequent growth; moreover, some degree of germinative development appeared to occur as well. Cerebral ganglia from uninfected adult snails of the intermediate host species, Lymnaea stagnalis, could produce factors promoting in vitro development of young mother sporocysts. Results are compared with data from the literature and it is concluded that greater success in in vitro culturing of young mother sporocysts of T. ocellata can be achieved than has hitherto been reported for other schistosome species. The same culture procedures were less successful when applied to other intramolluscan stages of T. ocellata, but can be used for in vitro maintenance of these stages. The procedures described here will be a useful tool in the study of schistosome-snail interactions in T. ocellata-L. stagnalis and possibly in other systems as well.     

Mother–young bonding in prolific D’man and Romanov sheep

The effect of prolificacy on mother–young mutual recognition is still largely unknown in sheep. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of prolific ewes to develop an exclusive bond with their neonate and to recognize each other from alien subjects. Observations were performed on 11 D’man and 16 Romanov ewes with, respectively, 19 and 37 of their lambs. Maternal selectivity was tested at 24 h postpartum during two consecutive periods of 3 min. All mothers accepted their own lambs at suckling, while 21 out of 27 (78%) rejected the alien, thus displaying mostly selective nursing. To assess mother–young recognition, a two-choice test was performed at 36 h postpartum. Ewes clearly preferred their own lambs to an alien lamb and behavioral differences were not found between mothers of small (singletons and twins) and large litters (triplets and quadruplets). Romanov ewes reached their own lambsmore rapidly and spent more time near them than D’man ewes. Lambs from small litters, in particular light lambs, clearly preferred their mothers to an alien dam; however, both light and heavy lambs in large litters did not discriminate between the two stimulus ewes. D’man lambs clearly preferred their mothers to an alien dam; in contrast, such a preference was not as clearly demonstrated in Romanov lambs.