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Primates; Journal of Primatology Mar 2024Birth is a fundamental event in the life of animals, including our own species. More reports of wild non-human primate births and stillbirths are thus needed to better...
Birth is a fundamental event in the life of animals, including our own species. More reports of wild non-human primate births and stillbirths are thus needed to better understand the evolutionary pressures shaping parturition behaviors in our lineage. In diurnal non-human primates, births generally occur at night, when individuals are resting. Consequently, they are difficult to observe in the wild and most of the current knowledge regarding perinatal behaviors comes from rare daytime births. Information about stillbirths is even rarer and their proximate causes are generally unknown. Here, we present detailed observations of a daytime birth of a stillborn wild mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx). During this event, which lasted an entire day, we recorded the behaviors of the parturient female ad libitum, using video recordings and photos. The 5-year-old female was primiparous and of low dominance rank. The length of her pregnancy was shorter than usual and the partum phase was extremely long compared to other birth reports in non-human primates. The female disappeared shortly after this event and was assumed to have died. We discuss the possible causes of this stillbirth including the infant's presentation at birth and maternal inexperience.
Topics: Humans; Pregnancy; Animals; Female; Mandrillus; Stillbirth; Parturition; Biological Evolution
PubMed: 38133716
DOI: 10.1007/s10329-023-01112-6 -
Scientific Reports Dec 2023Resistance traits of honeybees (Apis mellifera) against their major parasite Varroa destructor have fascinated scientists and breeders for long. Nevertheless, the...
Resistance traits of honeybees (Apis mellifera) against their major parasite Varroa destructor have fascinated scientists and breeders for long. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying resistance are still largely unknown. The same applies to possible interactions between host behaviours, mite reproduction and seasonal differences. Two resistance traits, reproductive failure of mites and recapping of brood cells, are of particular interest. High rates of recapping at the colony level were found to correspond with low reproductive success of mites. However, the direct effect of recapping on mite reproduction is still controversial and both traits seem to be very variable in their expression. Thus, a deeper knowledge of both, the effect of recapping on mite reproduction and the seasonal differences in the expression of these traits is urgently needed. To shed light on this host-parasite interaction, we investigated recapping and mite reproduction in full-grown colonies naturally infested with V. destructor. Measurements were repeated five times per year over the course of 3 years. The reproductive success of mites as well as the recapping frequency clearly followed seasonal patterns. Thereby, reproductive failure of mites at the cell level was constantly increased in case of recapping. Interestingly, this did not apply to the occurrence of infertile mites. In line with this, recapping activity in fertile cells was most frequent in brood ages in which mite offspring would be expected. Our results suggest that mite offspring is the main target of recapping. This, in turn, leads to a significantly reduced reproductive success of the parasite.
Topics: Bees; Animals; Varroidae; Seasons; Reproduction; Fertility; Host-Parasite Interactions
PubMed: 38110489
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49688-9 -
PloS One 2023Allonursing is the nursing of the offspring of other mothers. Cooperation is an emergent property of evolved decision rules. Cooperation can be explained by at least...
Allonursing is the nursing of the offspring of other mothers. Cooperation is an emergent property of evolved decision rules. Cooperation can be explained by at least three evolved decision rules: 1) direct reciprocity, i.e. help someone who previously helped you, 2) kin discrimination, i.e. preferentially direct help to kin than to non-kin, and 3) generalized reciprocity, i.e. help anyone if helped by someone. We assessed if semi-domesticated reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, mothers allonursed according to the decision rules of direct reciprocity, generalized reciprocity and kin discrimination over 2 years. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the direct reciprocity decision rule, we predicted that mothers should give more help to those who previously helped them more often. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the kin discrimination decision rule, we predicted that help given should increase as pairwise genetic relatedness increased. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the generalized reciprocity decision rule, we predicted that the overall number of help given by reindeer mothers should increase as the overall number of help received by reindeer mothers increased. The number of help given i) increased as the number of help received from the same partner increased in the 2012 group but not in both 2013 groups, ii) was not influenced by relatedness, and iii) was not influenced by an interaction between the number of help received from the same partner and relatedness. iv) The overall number of help given increased as the overall number of help received increased. The results did not support the prediction that reindeer mothers allonursed according to the kin discrimination decision rule. The results suggest that reindeer mothers may allonurse according to the direct reciprocity and generalized reciprocity decision rules.
Topics: Female; Animals; Humans; Social Behavior; Cooperative Behavior; Reindeer; Mothers
PubMed: 38096314
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295497 -
Microorganisms Nov 2023Bees come into contact with bacteria and fungi from flowering plants during their foraging trips. The Western honeybee () shows a pronounced hygienic behavior with...
Bees come into contact with bacteria and fungi from flowering plants during their foraging trips. The Western honeybee () shows a pronounced hygienic behavior with social interactions, while the solitary red mason bee () lacks a social immune system. Since both visit the same floral resources, it is intriguing to speculate that the body surface of a solitary bee should harbor a more complex microbiome than that of the social honeybee. We compared the cuticular microbiomes of (including three European subspecies) and for the first time by bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal ITS gene-based high-throughput amplicon sequencing. The cuticular microbiome of the solitary was significantly more complex than that of the social . The microbiome composition of subspecies was very similar. However, we counted significantly different numbers of fungi and a higher diversity in the honeybee subspecies adapted to warmer climates. Our results suggest that the cuticular microbiome of bees is strongly affected by visited plants, lifestyle and adaptation to temperature, which have important implications for the maintenance of the health of bees under conditions of global change.
PubMed: 38004791
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11112780 -
Learning & Behavior Mar 2024Desert ant foragers are well known for their visual navigation abilities, relying on visual cues in the environment to find their way along routes back to the nest. If...
Desert ant foragers are well known for their visual navigation abilities, relying on visual cues in the environment to find their way along routes back to the nest. If the inconspicuous nest entrance is missed, ants engage in a highly structured systematic search until it is discovered. Searching ants continue to be guided by visual cues surrounding the nest, from which they derive a location estimate. The precision level of this estimate depends on the information content of the nest panorama. This study examines whether search precision is also affected by the directional distribution of visual information. The systematic searching behavior of ants is examined under laboratory settings. Two different visual scenarios are compared - a balanced one where visual information is evenly distributed, and an unbalanced one where all visual information is located on one side of an experimental arena. The identity and number of visual objects is similar over both conditions. The ants search with comparable precision in both conditions. Even in the visually unbalanced condition, searches are characterized by balanced precision on both sides of the arena. This finding lends support to the idea that ants memorize the visual scenery at the nest as panoramic views from different locations. A searching ant is thus able to estimate its location with equal precision in all directions, leading to symmetrical search paths.
Topics: Animals; Cues; Ants; Homing Behavior; Appetitive Behavior
PubMed: 37985604
DOI: 10.3758/s13420-023-00613-0 -
STAR Protocols Dec 2023Agent-based models are composed of individual agents coded for traits, such as cooperation and cheating, that interact in a virtual world based on defined rules. Here,...
Agent-based models are composed of individual agents coded for traits, such as cooperation and cheating, that interact in a virtual world based on defined rules. Here, we describe the use of an agent-based model of homologous recombination in bacteria playing a public goods game. We describe steps for software installation, setting model parameters, running and testing models, and visualization and statistical analysis. This protocol is useful in analyses of horizontal gene transfer, bacterial sociobiology, and game theory. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Lee et al..
Topics: Game Theory; Bacteria
PubMed: 37980566
DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102733 -
Journal of Evolutionary Biology Nov 2023Illustration of life-histories of phages and plasmids through horizontal and vertical transmission (see Figure 1 for more information).
Illustration of life-histories of phages and plasmids through horizontal and vertical transmission (see Figure 1 for more information).
Topics: Onions; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Plasmids; Viruses; Interspersed Repetitive Sequences
PubMed: 37975503
DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14239 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2023Honey bees are crucial for our ecosystems as pollinators, but the intensive use of plant protection products (PPPs) in agriculture poses a risk for them. PPPs do not...
Honey bees are crucial for our ecosystems as pollinators, but the intensive use of plant protection products (PPPs) in agriculture poses a risk for them. PPPs do not only affect target organisms but also affect non-targets, such as the honey bee and their microbiome. This study is the first of its kind, aiming to characterize the effect of PPPs on the microbiome of the cuticle of honey bees. We chose PPPs, which have frequently been detected in bee bread, and studied their effects on the cuticular microbial community and function of the bees. The effects of the fungicide Difcor (difenoconazole), the insecticide Steward (indoxacarb), the combination of both (mix A) and the fungicide Cantus Gold (boscalid and dimoxystrobin), the insecticide Mospilan (acetamiprid), and the combination of both (mix B) were tested. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal transcribed spacer region gene-based amplicon sequencing and quantification of gene copy numbers were carried out after nucleic acid extraction from the cuticle of honey bees. The treatment with Steward significantly affected fungal community composition and function. The fungal gene copy numbers were lower on the cuticle of bees treated with Difcor, Steward, and PPP mix A in comparison with the controls. However, bacterial and fungal gene copy numbers were increased in bees treated with Cantus Gold, Mospilan, or PPP mix B compared to the controls. The bacterial cuticular community composition of bees treated with Cantus Gold, Mospilan, and PPP mix B differed significantly from the control. In addition, Mospilan on its own significantly changed the bacterial functional community composition. Cantus Gold significantly affected fungal gene copy numbers, community, and functional composition. Our results demonstrate that PPPs show adverse effects on the cuticular microbiome of honey bees and suggest that PPP mixtures can cause stronger effects on the cuticular community than a PPP alone. The cuticular community composition was more diverse after the PPP mix treatments. This may have far-reaching consequences for the health of honey bees.
PubMed: 37965543
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1271498 -
Frontiers in Physiology 2023To obtain accurate information about the outside world and to make appropriate decisions, animals often combine information from different sensory pathways to form a...
To obtain accurate information about the outside world and to make appropriate decisions, animals often combine information from different sensory pathways to form a comprehensive representation of their environment. This process of multimodal integration is poorly understood, but it is common view that the single elements of a multimodal stimulus influence each other's perception by enhancing or suppressing their neural representation. The neuronal level of interference might be manifold, for instance, an enhancement might increase, whereas suppression might decrease behavioural response times. In order to investigate this in an insect behavioural model, the Western honeybee, we trained individual bees to associate a sugar reward with an odour, a light, or a combined olfactory-visual stimulus, using the proboscis extension response (PER). We precisely monitored the PER latency (the time between stimulus onset and the first response of the proboscis) by recording the muscle M17, which innervates the proboscis. We found that odours evoked a fast response, whereas visual stimuli elicited a delayed PER. Interestingly, the combined stimulus showed a response time in between the unimodal stimuli, suggesting that olfactory-visual integration accelerates visual responses but decelerates the olfactory response time.
PubMed: 37929207
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1257465 -
Royal Society Open Science Oct 2023Wild-type Norway rats reciprocate help received in a well-replicated experimental food-giving task, but the criteria to appraise the received help's value are unclear....
Wild-type Norway rats reciprocate help received in a well-replicated experimental food-giving task, but the criteria to appraise the received help's value are unclear. We tested whether quality or quantity of received help is more important when deciding to return help, and whether partner familiarity and own current need affect this evaluation. We experimentally varied recipients of help's hunger state, and familiar or unfamiliar partners provided either higher caloric food (enhanced quantity; carrots) or food higher in protein and fat (enhanced quality; cheese). Reciprocation of received help was our criterion for the rats' value assessment. Familiarity, food type and hunger state interacted and affected help returned by rats. Rats returned less help to familiar partners than to unfamiliar partners. With unfamiliar partners, rats returned more help to partners that had donated preferred food (cheese) than to partners that had donated less preferred food (carrots), and they returned help earlier if they were satiated and had received cheese. With familiar partners, food-deprived rats that had received cheese returned more help than satiated rats that had received carrots. Our results suggest that Norway rats assess the received help's value based on its quality, their current need and partner familiarity before reciprocating received help.
PubMed: 37885980
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231253