Microhabitat selection in the early juvenile mudskipper Boleophthalmus pectinirostris (L.)

Using laboratory choice experiments, behavioural preferences of the early juvenile mudskipper Boleophthalmus pectinirostris for temperature, salinity and sediment were observed. The temperature preference experiments were conducted in an annular chamber with a thermal gradient of 27 to 34° C, and the fish selected a mean ± s . d . temperature of 31·2 ± 0·5° C. The salinity preference experiments were conducted in an aquarium with decreasing salinity from 20 to 15, 10, 5 and 0·5, and significantly more ( P < 0·05) fish were found in water with a salinity of 5. The sediment preference experiments were tested in circular tanks which contained four types of sediment (medium sand, fine sand, muddy sand and sandy mud), and the fish showed a clear preference for sandy mud. These results indicated that early juvenile B. pectinirostris showed behavioural preference for microhabitats. Temperature and salinity probably set large-scale boundaries on distribution, but sediment should be a critical factor for determining the distribution of the mudskipper.     

Simple Reaching Is Not So Simple: Association Between Hand Use and Grip Preferences in Captive Chimpanzees

We assessed the relationship between grip preference and hand use in chimpanzees in 2 experiments. In experiment 1, we evaluated consistency in hand use and grip preference across 4 food types. The chimpanzees showed population-level right-handedness and there are significant positive associations for both hand and grip use across food types. In experiment 2, we assessed validity of hand use in relation to grip preference in 2 colonies of chimpanzees via the same methodology. Differences in hand preferences between colonies were associated with variation in the observed grip preferences. There was no evidence of rearing effects on handedness in either colony. We discuss the overall results in the context of the evolution of handedness in relation to increasing motor demands as manifest in variation on grasping behavior.     

Preference for ethanol in feeding and oviposition in temperate and tropical populations of Drosophila melanogaster

The natural habitat of Drosophila melanogaster Meigen (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is fermenting fruits, which can be rich in ethanol. For unknown reasons, temperate populations of this cosmopolitan species have higher ethanol resistance than tropical populations. To determine whether this difference is accompanied by a parallel difference in preference for ethanol, we compared two European and two tropical African populations in feeding and oviposition preference for ethanol‐supplemented medium. Although females of all populations laid significantly more eggs on medium with ethanol than on control medium, preference of European females for ethanol increased as ethanol concentration increased from 2 to 6%, whereas that of African females decreased. In feeding tests, African females preferred control medium over medium with 4% ethanol, whereas European females showed no preference. Males of all populations strongly preferred control medium. The combination of preference for ethanol in oviposition, and avoidance or neutrality in feeding, gives evidence that adults choose breeding sites with ethanol for the benefit of larvae, rather than for their own benefit. The stronger oviposition preference for ethanol of temperate than tropical females suggests that this benefit may be more important in temperate populations. Two possible benefits of ethanol for which there is some experimental evidence are cryoprotection and protection against natural enemies.     

The relationship between PROP and ethanol preferences: an evaluation of 4 inbred mouse strains

Ethanol's taste attributes undoubtedly contribute to the development of drug preference. Ethanol's taste is both sweet and bitter. Taster status for bitter 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) has been proposed as a genetic marker for alcoholism; however, human results are conflicting. We collected preference scores for both tastants in 4 mouse strains selected on the basis of previously reported taste preference, with the generally accepted idea that inbred mice show minimal within-strain variation. Eighty-eight male mice (22 per strain) participated. The strains were as follows: C57BL/6J, ethanol preferring; BALB/cJ, ethanol avoiding; SWR/J, PROP avoiding; and C3HeB/FeJ, PROP neutral. Using a brief-access (1-min trials) 2-bottle preference test, we assessed the taste response of each strain to PROP and ethanol on separate days. Although PROP avoiding versus neutral mice could be segregated into significantly different populations, this was not the case for ethanol avoiding versus preferring mice, and all strains showed high variability. On average, only BALB/cJ, SWR/J, and C3HeB/FeJ mice conformed to their literature-reported preferences; nonetheless, there were a substantial number of discordant animals. C57BL/6J did not conform to previous results, indicating that they are ethanol preferring. Finally, we did not observe a significant relationship between PROP and ethanol preferences across strains. The high variability per strain and the number of animals in disagreement with their respective literature-reported preference raise concerns regarding their utility for investigations underlying mechanisms of taste-mediated ingestive responses. Absent postingestive consequences, the brief-access results suggest a possible degree of previously masked polymorphisms in taste preferences or a more recent drift in underlying genetic factors. The absence of a relationship between PROP and ethanol indicates that the bitter quality in ethanol may be more highly related to other bitter compounds that are mediated by different genetic influences.     

The small-scale spatial distribution of male and female plants

Summary There are many reports of dioecious flowering plants with positive spatial association of gender, such that males and females tend to occur at different sites. This pattern has been interpreted as demonstrating environmenal heterogeneity, the two sexes having different habitat preferences. However, it is not clear: (a) to what extent the literature reflects the greater likelihood of publishing striking positive results; and (b) whether the association of stems of like gender within habitats is caused by differences in microhabitat preference rather than by vegetative ramification. We surveyed natural populations of ten sexually heteromorphic species in southern Quebec, and found that five showed positive association and four showed no association between the genders. With one exception (Silene cucubalus) these results appeared to reflect the presence or absence of vegetative ramification. We conclude that the demonstration of spatial association cannot be used to infer the existence of microenvironmental heterogeneity except in species with no capacity for vegetative ramification. The tenth species, Silene alba, showed negative association, with an excess of neighbouring pairs of unlike gender, but we were unable to reproduce this phenomenon experimentally.     

雄性等级对布氏田鼠雌性选择的影响

利用监控录像以及特定行为记录的方法,研究了雄性等级对布氏田鼠气味选择和个体选择的影响。结果表明不论是气味选择还是个体选择,雌鼠动情状态不影响对雄鼠的选择频次,但是动情雌鼠在自我修饰行为频次上高于非动情雌鼠。此外,在气味和个体选择的优先权方面,动情雌鼠更多的优先选择优势雄鼠的气味和个体并与之交配,而非动情雌鼠更多的先选择从属雄鼠的气味和个体。总之,不论是气味选择还是个体选择,布氏田鼠不仅受到被选择雄鼠的地位影响,还与雌鼠的生理状态有关。     

双斑长跗萤叶甲的嗜食性

双斑长跗萤叶甲Monolepta hieroglyphica(Motschulsky)是一种多食性害虫。目前该虫害已成为新疆北部大部分棉区一种新的主要害虫。通过非选择性实验研究双斑长跗萤叶甲在新疆北疆的取食范围,结果表明:在25科54属58种植物中,该虫喜食植物有25种,较喜食植物有21种,完全不取食的有12种。     

韭菜迟眼蕈蚊对几种植物的产卵和取食选择性研究

为了探究韭菜迟眼蕈蚊对不同植物的选择性,本文通过室内控制实验和Y型嗅觉仪实验研究了韭菜迟眼蕈蚊成虫和3龄幼虫对7种植物的产卵和取食选择性行为。结果发现,韭菜迟眼蕈蚊对韭菜的产卵和取食选择性最高,成虫落卵数量221.67粒/盒,雌雄虫的选择系数分别为0.30和0.20,幼虫取食选择率为33.50%;对茴香和朝天椒的选择性最低,成虫落卵数量分别为81.00和23.00粒/盒,雌雄虫的选择系数分别为-0.27、-0.48和-0.27、-0.39,幼虫取食选择率分别为5%和0%。田间推荐韭菜与茴香或朝天椒间作。     

The evolution of experience-mediated plasticity in mate preferences

Experience of sexual signals can alter mate preferences and influence the course of sexual selection. Here, we examine the patterns of experience-mediated plasticity in mate preferences that can arise in response to variation in the composition of mates in the environment. We use these patterns to test hypotheses about potential sources of selection favouring experience-mediated plasticity. We manipulated signal experience of female Enchenopa treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae) in a vibrational playback experiment with the following treatments: silence; two types of non-preferred signals; preferred signals; and a mixture of preferred and non-preferred signals. This experiment revealed plasticity in mate preference selectivity, with greatest selectivity in the mixed signal treatment, followed by the preferred signal treatment. We found no plasticity in peak preference. These results suggest that females have been selected to adjust preference selectivity according to the variability of potential mates in their social environment, as well as to the presence/absence of preferred mates. We discuss how experience-mediated plasticity in mate preferences can influence the strength of selection on male signals and can result in evolutionary dynamics between variation in preferences and signals that either promote the maintenance of variation or facilitate rapid trait fixation.     

Florivores on the dioecious shrub Eurya japonica and the preferences and performances of two polyphagous geometrid moths on male and female plants

Flowers of dioecious plants have sexually dimorphic traits that may affect florivore performances, and florivores may have preferences to plant sex that are correlated with their performance on different plant sexes. We investigated the florivory on a polygamodioecious evergreen shrub Eurya japonica in Japan to reveal florivores and their feeding patterns involved in sexually biased florivory on E. japonica flowers. Flowers of E. japonica were infested by lepidopteran and dipteran larvae and hemipteran insects. Lepidopteran larvae were chewers, dipteran larvae were gall makers and hemipteran insects were suckers. Chewed flowers were most frequent among infested flowers. Of florivores, lepidopteran larvae, mostly of Geometridae, were the important florivore that damaged flowers by chewing. Florivores infested male flower buds more often than female flower buds, but only a geometrid larvae Chloroclystis excise, which exclusively uses flower buds, showed the biased infection on male flowers. Rearing experiments for two other geometrid moths which use both leaves and flowers showed that the preference and performance of Ourapteryx nivea that fed mainly leaves did not differ between the plant sexes, whereas the development of Alcis angulifera larvae which fed both leaves and flowers was slower when they fed female than male leaves and flower buds. In addition, A. angulifera larvae fed fewer flower buds on female than on male plants. These results show that the male‐biased florivory on E. japonica trees is attributed mainly to the specialist florivore and also feeding preference for male flowers in an opportunistic florivore that feed both leaves and flowers.     

水稻施用硅肥对稻纵卷叶螟幼虫取食和成虫产卵选择性的影响

采用感虫水稻品种TN1,设置3种施硅水平,即高硅(0.32 g Si/kg土壤)、低硅(0.16 g Si/kg土壤)和不施硅对照(0 g Si/kg土壤),研究了施用硅肥对稻纵卷叶螟产卵和取食选择性的影响。结果表明:稻纵卷叶螟幼虫对硅处理水稻叶片的取食选择性和成虫在硅处理水稻上的着卵量、着卵率均显著低于对照水稻。高硅处理水稻叶片中的硅含量、可溶性糖含量和碳氮比高于对照,而氮含量低于对照;低硅处理水稻叶片的碳氮比高于对照、氮含量低于对照。同时,硅处理显著降低水稻的卷叶株率和卷叶率。这些结果表明,施硅能增强稻纵卷叶螟对水稻的不选择性,从而增强水稻对稻纵卷叶螟的抗性。     

Ecological aspects of the external morphology and functionality of the psychomyiid female ovipositor (Insecta,Trichoptera)

Females of most psychomyiid species bear an elongated ovipositor enabling them to oviposit their eggs into grooves and cavities in different kinds of substrates in freshwaters. Although the preference of psychomyiid species for oviposition into distinct substrates and the subsequent larval life performance in aquatic habitats is already known, the mode of oviposition and the functional morphology of the elongated ovipositor have not been described until now. In this study we present SEM photographs of some psychomyiid species with female ovipositors of different lengths and shapes, explaining their preference for oviposition into distinct substrates. Additionally, we discuss some ecological aspects of the ovipositor shapes and the mode of egg laying for psychomyiids. The female ovipositor consists of two body segments, with an elongated IXth and a distinctly shorter Xth segment, which is flexible and can be pushed up dorsally when releasing the eggs. On the basis of SEM photographs, we suppose that the opening of the channel through which the eggs were released is located ventrally near the ovipositor tip. The ovipositor itself is characterised by a ventral cleft reaching from the gonoporus of segment IX to the tip of the last segment X. We stored adult females abdomina overnight in different aqueous dilutions of ethanol leading to different stages of swelling of the ovipositors (grade of swelling in distilled water >30% ethanol >70% ethanol). Some internal membrane-like structures, normally infolded into the ovipositor, became visible by the swelling of the ovipositor. We discuss the possible rearrangement of the organisation of segment IX resulting in the development of an ovipositor on the basis of SEM photographs of the differently swollen ovipositors.     

Male mate preference for large size overrides species recognition in allopatric flat lizards (<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Platysaurus broadleyi</Emphasis>)

Species recognition and mate preference both influence mate choice but can be in conflict with each other. In such cases the relative importance of the two functions depends on the costs of mating with heterospecifics and the frequency of such interactions. We tested whether male flat lizards (Platysaurus broadleyi) are able to discriminate between conspecific females and females of its allopatric sister species P. capensis. Given a simultaneous choice between equally sized females of both species, males courted conspecific females in 85% of trials. We then tested whether mate preference for large female body size can override species recognition. When offered a choice between a larger heterospecific female and a smaller conspecific, males showed no preference for conspecifics and courted larger heterospecific females in 58% of trials. Comparison of the two sets of trials showed a significant effect of female body size on male mate preference, supporting the hypothesis that mate quality can override species recognition.Communicated by K. Kotrschal     

Behaviour before beauty: Signal weighting during mate selection in the butterfly Papilio polytes

Mating displays often contain multiple signals. Different combinations of these signals may be equally successful at attracting a mate, as environment and signal combination may influence relative signal weighting by choosy individuals. This variation in signal weighting among choosy individuals may facilitate the maintenance of polymorphic displays and signalling behaviour. One group of animals known for their polymorphic patterning are Batesian mimetic butterflies, where the interaction of sexual selection and predation pressures is hypothesized to influence the maintenance of polymorphic wing patterning and behaviour. Males in the female‐limited polymorphic Batesian mimetic butterfly Papilio polytes use female wing pattern and female activity levels when determining whom to court. They court stationary females with mimetic wing patterns more often than stationary females with non‐mimetic, male‐like wing patterns and active females more often than inactive females. It is unclear whether females modify their behaviour to increase (or decrease) their likelihood of receiving male courtship, or whether non‐mimetic females spend more time in cryptic environments than mimetic females, to compensate for their lack of mimicry‐driven predation protection (at the cost of decreased visibility to males). In addition, relative signal weighting of female wing pattern and activity to male mate selection is unknown. To address these questions, we conducted a series of observational studies of a polymorphic P. polytes population in a large butterfly enclosure. We found that males exclusively courted active females, irrespective of female wing pattern. However, males did court active non‐mimetic females significantly more often than expected given their relative abundance in the population. Females exhibited similar activity levels, and selected similar resting environments, irrespective of wing pattern. Our results suggest that male preference for non‐mimetic females may play an active role in the maintenance of the non‐mimetic female form in natural populations, where males are likely to be in the presence of active, as well as inactive, mimetic and non‐mimetic females.     

Habitat preferences of European grayling in a medium size stream, the Ain river, France

The three grayling Thymallus thymallus age-classes had strong preferences for their local habitat in the Ain river. All age-classes preferred high water velocities between 70 and 110 cm s^-1, confirming that grayling is a typical rheophilic species. An important intraspecific segregation regarding depth occurred, as large individuals preferred deeper water than small ones (optimal ranges=50–60, 80–120 and 100–140 cm for 0+, 1+ and adults respectively). The three age-classes had similar preferences for small substratum articles, with optimal values between 0·5 and 16·0 mm. Preference curves were generally comparable between the two sites, despite important differences in habitat availability. It is emphasized that grayling needs various habitat conditions to achieve its entire life cycle. The increasing scarcity of this species underlines the urgency of protecting lotic habitat integrity and diversity.     

乙醛在小鼠酒依赖性行为中的作用研究

乙醛为酒精代谢的中间产物,但其在酒依赖中的作用不清楚.通过条件化位置偏好(CPP)和条件化味觉偏好(CTP)试验,分析乙醛对小鼠乙醇依赖性行为的影响,研究乙醛在酒依赖中的作用.研究发现,经0.8%乙醇预处理7d后,小鼠训练8次则表现出对乙醇的条件化位置偏好(n=6,P<0.01),而经乙醛训练的小鼠则对乙醛无明显条件化偏好行为(n=6,P>0.05).当用0.8%乙醇、0.4%乙醛混合训练乙醇依赖性小鼠时,其位置偏好行为减弱(n=6,P<0.01).10%乙醇预处理的小鼠味觉偏好乙醇(n=6,P<0.01),而当乙醇中加入1%乙醛时,其味觉偏好现象减弱(n=6,P<0.01).1%乙醛训练7d后的小鼠不表现对乙醇的味觉偏好,但选择摄入乙醛及乙醇、乙醛混合溶液的量有所增加.结果表明乙醛在小鼠酒依赖行为中可能存在一定促进作用.     

Object familiarization and novel-object preference in rats

We investigated whether object familiarization was related to novel-object preference in the novel-object preference (NOP) test in rats. In Experiment 1, we found that no significant correlation existed between the time spent investigating 2 identical copies of a sample object and the degree of preference for a novel object. In Experiment 2, rats investigated 2 identical sample objects for a total of 5, 30, 60, 90 or 120 s. Investigatory preference for the novel object was compared to chance expectancy as well as between the groups. Only the 90-s group and the 120-s group displayed above-chance investigatory preference for the novel object, but novel-object preference for these 2 groups did not differ from each other, suggesting that a minimal amount of sample object investigation is necessary for rats to develop a novel-object preference, beyond which no increase in novel-object preference was found. In Experiments 3 and 4, normal rats and rats with hippocampal lesions were given repeated test trials, with the same sample object presented with a different novel object, at 24-h and (Experiment 3) and 35-s intervals (Experiment 4). In both experiments, novel-object preference did not increase in magnitude with repeated sample object exposures, suggesting that increased familiarity with the sample object does not result in increased novel-object preference. Rats with lesions of the dorsal hippocampus showed an unreliable investigatory preference for the novel object. These results are discussed in terms of the potential limitations of the NOP test as a tool for the assessment of object-recognition memory in rats.     

水稻矮缩病毒对黑尾叶蝉取食及产卵偏好性的影响

水稻矮缩病毒（Rice dwarf virus, RDV）是水稻普通矮缩病（Rice dwarf disease）的病原,主要依赖黑尾叶蝉Nephotettix cincticeps经卵以持久增殖方式传播。本研究采用室内试验观测了带毒与无毒的黑尾叶蝉在健康及感病水稻间的取食、产卵选择趋性。取食偏好性试验发现,无毒叶蝉对感病水稻趋性更强,从观测的第8小时开始达显著差异水平;带毒叶蝉则对健康水稻趋性更强,在观测的第24小时开始达到显著差异水平,表明RDV侵染水稻会引起黑尾叶蝉取食偏好性的改变。产卵偏好性试验发现无毒及带毒黑尾叶蝉在健康及感病水稻间3个观测指标（每植株卵块数、每卵块的卵量及每植株上的总卵量）均无显著差异,表明RDV侵染水稻对黑尾叶蝉产卵选择偏好性无显著影响。本文初步明确RDV对黑尾叶蝉取食和产卵偏好性的影响,为揭示介体昆虫-病毒-寄主植物三者之间的互作机制提供佐证。