Personality and behavioral syndromes in insects and spiders

The field of animal behavior has experienced a surge of studies focusing on functional differences among individuals in their behavioral tendencies (‘animal personalities’) and the relationships between different axes of behavioral variation (‘behavioral syndromes’). Many important developments in this field have arisen through research using insects and other terrestrial arthropods, in part, because they present the opportunity to test hypotheses not accessible in other taxa. This chapter reviews how studies on insects and spiders have advanced the study of animal personalities by describing the mechanisms underlying the emergence of individual variation and their ecological consequences. Furthermore, studies accounting for animal personalities can expand our understanding of phenomena in insect science like metamorphosis, eusociality, and applied insect behavior. In addition, this chapter serves to highlight some of the most exciting issues at the forefront of our field and to inspire entomologists and behaviorists alike to seek the answers to these questions.

Download Full-text

Species comparison of among- and within-individual variation and correlations

10.32942/osf.io/ze8ty ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jeremy Dalos ◽

Raphaël Royauté ◽

Ann Hedrick ◽

Ned A. Dochtermann

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Responses ◽

Animal Personality ◽

Single Species ◽

Comparative Approach ◽

Behavioral Syndromes ◽

Evolutionary Relationships ◽

Species Comparison ◽

Behavioral Variation ◽

Animal Personalities

Individuals frequently differ consistently from one another in their average behaviors (i.e. “animal personality”) and in correlated suites of consistent behavioral responses (i.e. “behavioral syndromes”). However, understanding the evolutionary basis of this (co)variation has lagged behind demonstrations of its presence. This lag partially stems from comparative methods rarely being used in the field. Consequently, much of the research on animal personality has relied on “adaptive stories” focused on single species and populations. Here we used a comparative approach to examine the role of phylogeny in shaping patterns of average behaviors, behavioral variation, and behavioral correlations. In comparing the behaviors and behavioral variation for five species of Gryllid crickets we found that phylogeny shaped average behaviors and behavioral (co)variation. Variation in average exploratory behavior and response to cues of predator presence attributable to phylogeny was greater or comparable to the magnitude of “personality variation”. Likewise, magnitudes of variation were concordant with evolutionary relationships and behavioral correlations were consistent across species. These results suggest that phylogenetic constraints play an important role in the expression of animal personalities and behavioral syndromes and emphasize the importance of examining evolutionary explanations within a comparative framework.

Download Full-text

Consistent Individual Behavioral Variation: The Difference between Temperament, Personality and Behavioral Syndromes

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani5030366 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 455-478 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Jill MacKay ◽

Marie Haskell

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Syndromes ◽

Behavioral Variation ◽

The Difference

Download Full-text

Individual differences: Variation by design

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x00343436 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 676-677 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anthony J. Greene ◽

William B. Levy

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Genetic Variation ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Natural Selection ◽

Individual Variation ◽

Mate Selection ◽

Behavioral Variability ◽

Behavioral Variation ◽

Absolute Necessity

Stanovich & West (S&W) appear to overlook the adaptivity of variation. Behavioral variability, both between and within individuals, is an absolute necessity for phylogenetic and ontological adaptation. As with all heritable characteristics, inter-individual behavioral variation is the foundation for natural selection. Similarly, intra-individual variation allows a broad exploration of potential solutions. Variation increases the likelihood that more optimal behaviors are available for selection. Four examples of the adaptivity of variation are discussed: (a) Genetic variation as it pertains to behavior and natural selection; (b) behavioral and cognitive aspects of mate selection which may facilitate genetic diversity; (c) variation as a strategy for optimizing learning through greater exploration; and (d) behavioral variation coupled with communication as a means to propagate individually discovered behavioral success.

Download Full-text

Individual differences in aggressive and peaceful behavior: new insights and future directions

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/1568539x-00003400 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 153 (9-11) ◽

pp. 1139-1169 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Christine E. Webb ◽

Peter Verbeek

Keyword(s):

Biological Sciences ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Individual Variation ◽

Social Systems ◽

Personality Research ◽

Social Species ◽

Post Conflict ◽

Variation Patterns ◽

Animal Personalities ◽

Future Work

Consistent individual differences in animal behaviour are an increasingly common focus of research across various behavioural and biological sciences. Such ‘animal personalities’ comprise a diverse repertoire of behavioural tendencies, recently expanding to incorporate the social domain. Aggression and peace, hallmarks of many social systems including that of humans, warrant integration with this literature. Specifically, animal personality research should consider the potential role of stable conflict and post-conflict behavioural tendencies. We focus our discussion primarily on examples in nonhuman primates and humans, but suggest that individual variation patterns are relevant for any social species in which these phenomena exist. In highly gregarious species, an individual’s conflict and post-conflict tendencies can affect the strength and stability of its social bonds. Because social relationships in turn impact survival and reproductive success, we also encourage future work to investigate the ultimate (i.e., fitness-relevant) consequences of individual variation in aggressive and peaceful behaviour.

Download Full-text

The ecological consequences of temperament in spiders

Current Zoology ◽

10.1093/czoolo/58.4.589 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 589-596 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Jonathan N. Pruitt ◽

Susan E. Riechert

Keyword(s):

Interspecific Interactions ◽

Model Systems ◽

Behavioral Syndromes ◽

Ecological Communities ◽

Ecological Consequences ◽

Behavioral Trait ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Evolutionary Studies ◽

Front Running ◽

Trait Correlations

Abstract Ecological and evolutionary studies on spiders have been featured prominently throughout the contemporary behavioral syndromes movement. Here we review the behavioral syndromes literature devoted to spiders, and identify some ways in which behavioral syndromes can impact the function of spiders in ecological communities. We further highlight three general themes within the behavioral syndromes literature for which spiders have served as front running model systems: (1) how trait correlations beget performance trade-offs, (2) the influence that behavioral trait variants have on interspecific interactions and (3) mechanisms that aid in maintaining behavioral variation withinand among-populations. Research on behavioral syndromes continues to grow at an impressive rate, and we feel the success of behavioral syndromes studies in spiders bodes well for their continued prominence.

Download Full-text

Behavioral Syndromes in the Sagebrush Cricket: A Pilot Study to Quantify Individual Variation in Male Calling Behavior

The UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports ◽

10.13001/uwnpsrc.2011.3871 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 105-110

Author(s):

J. Johnson ◽

Gina Hupton

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Behavioral Ecology ◽

Individual Variation ◽

National Park ◽

Calling Behavior ◽

Behavioral Syndromes ◽

Behavioral Expression ◽

School Research ◽

Male Calling ◽

High School Research

The field of behavioral ecology has recently been reinvigorated by the addition of the notion of behavioral syndromes (a.k.a. animal personality). Behavioral syndromes imply the existence of individual variation in behavioral expression that is consistent across distinct functional contexts (e.g. foraging, mating, anti-predator). The syndromes paradigm suggests that the behavioral phenotype is best viewed as an integrated phenomenon wherein any given behavior can only be fully understood by studying selection pressures in all contexts. Here we report on a pilot study on behavioral syndromes in the Sagebrush cricket (Cyphoderrris strepitans), an acoustic Orthopteran insect that inhabits high altitude sagebrush meadows of Grand Teton National Park. The results of our preliminary analysis suggest very little consistent repeatability in the mating behavior of C. strepitans. In addition, we make note of the synergistic collaboration in our group between faculty researchers and graduate, undergraduate and high school research collaborators.

Download Full-text

Model and Data Concur and Explain the Coexistence of Two Very Distinct Animal Behavioral Types

Biology ◽

10.3390/biology9090241 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 241

Author(s):

Jordi Moya-Laraño ◽

Rubén Rabaneda-Bueno ◽

Emily Morrison ◽

Philip Crowley

Keyword(s):

Natural Populations ◽

Strong Support ◽

Female Aggression ◽

Behavioral Syndromes ◽

Behavioral Variability ◽

Behavioral Types ◽

In The Wild ◽

Using Data ◽

Genetically Determined ◽

Animal Personalities

Behaviors may enhance fitness in some situations while being detrimental in others. Linked behaviors (behavioral syndromes) may be central to understanding the maintenance of behavioral variability in natural populations. The spillover hypothesis of premating sexual cannibalism by females explains genetically determined female aggression towards both prey and males: growth to a larger size translates into higher fecundity, but at the risk of insufficient sperm acquisition. Here, we use an individual-based model to determine the ecological scenarios under which this spillover strategy is more likely to evolve over a strategy in which females attack approaching males only once the female has previously secured sperm. We found that a classic spillover strategy could never prevail. However, a more realistic early-spillover strategy, in which females become adults earlier in addition to reaching a larger size, could be maintained in some ecological scenarios and even invade a population of females following the other strategy. We also found under some ecological scenarios that both behavioral types coexist through frequency-dependent selection. Additionally, using data from the spider Lycosa hispanica, we provide strong support for the prediction that the two strategies may coexist in the wild. Our results clarify how animal personalities evolve and are maintained in nature.

Download Full-text