scholarly journals Heterospecific eavesdropping in ant-following birds of the Neotropics is a learned behaviour

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1865) ◽  
pp. 20171785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry S. Pollock ◽  
Ari E. Martínez ◽  
J. Patrick Kelley ◽  
Janeene M. Touchton ◽  
Corey E. Tarwater
Keyword(s):  
Close Association ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Signal Recognition ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Army Ant ◽  
Eciton Burchellii ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Mixed Species Flocks ◽  
Heterospecific Eavesdropping

Animals eavesdrop on other species to obtain information about their environments. Heterospecific eavesdropping can yield tangible fitness benefits by providing valuable information about food resources and predator presence. The ability to eavesdrop may therefore be under strong selection, although extensive research on alarm-calling in avian mixed-species flocks has found only limited evidence that close association with another species could select for innate signal recognition. Nevertheless, very little is known about the evolution of eavesdropping behaviour and the mechanism of heterospecific signal recognition, particularly in other ecological contexts, such as foraging. To understand whether heterospecific eavesdropping was an innate or learned behaviour in a foraging context, we studied heterospecific signal recognition in ant-following birds of the Neotropics, which eavesdrop on vocalizations of obligate ant-following species to locate and recruit to swarms of the army ant Eciton burchellii , a profitable food resource. We used a playback experiment to compare recruitment of ant-following birds to vocalizations of two obligate species at a mainland site (where both species are present) and a nearby island site (where one species remains whereas the other went extinct approx. 40 years ago). We found that ant-following birds recruited strongly to playbacks of the obligate species present at both island and mainland sites, but the island birds did not recruit to playbacks of the absent obligate species. Our results strongly suggest that (i) ant-following birds learn to recognize heterospecific vocalizations from ecological experience and (ii) island birds no longer recognize the locally extinct obligate species after eight generations of absence from the island. Although learning appears to be the mechanism of heterospecific signal recognition in ant-following birds, more experimental tests are needed to fully understand the evolution of eavesdropping behaviour.

Insectivorous birds in the Neotropics: Ecological radiations, specialization, and coexistence in species-rich communities

The Auk ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W Sherry ◽  
Cody M Kent ◽  
Natalie V Sánchez ◽  
Çağan H Şekercioğlu
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Insectivorous Birds ◽  
Ecological Diversification ◽  
Arthropod Predators ◽  
Speciation Rates ◽  
Mixed Species Flocks

Abstract Insectivorous birds reach their highest diversity in the tropics and represent a striking variety of morphological and behavioral specializations for foraging, yet explanations for these patterns are inadequate because of both our limited understanding of the drivers of ecological diversification within and among clades and of coexistence mechanisms in particular. Here we synthesize recent information on Neotropical insectivorous birds, including their diversity, evolutionary ages and locations of origin, phylogenies, and both competitive and predator–prey species interactions. We propose a novel evolutionary hypothesis for the origin and coexistence of the phenotypic diversity of insectivore foraging morphologies in species-rich communities, based on their extraordinary food-resource specializations. Specifically, we develop the Biotic Challenge Hypothesis to explain the evolution of these specializations, and we provide preliminary evidence in support of this hypothesis based on a synopsis of both Neotropical insectivore specializations by family and arthropod antipredator adaptations by category. We argue that, from the perspective of tropical insectivorous birds, and particularly in the most species-rich, mainland Neotropical communities, the environment is an arthropod desert. Coexistence with all of the other insectivores requires feeding specialization to compete exploitatively and diffusely against evolutionarily diverse species and far less frequently against sister species. The arthropod desert arises primarily because of (1) the tactical diversity of arthropod predators as insectivore competitors and (2) the evolutionary arms races involving arthropod predators with their prey, which render many arthropods inaccessible to most insectivorous predators. Our idea provides an explicit mechanism for pervasive, diffuse tropical interspecific competition, for evolutionary specialization, and for positive feedback on speciation rates at low latitudes, thereby generating new predictions and insights into tropical life histories and the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient. Other recent ideas concerning the coexistence of Neotropical insectivores, including positive species interactions within mixed species flocks, are recognized and evaluated. We discuss ways to test predictions resulting from the new view of communities developed here, including a case study of diet specialization by Costa Rican tyrannid flycatchers. Our synthesis of the origin and nature of Neotropical insectivore communities injects new life into the “zombie” idea that evolution works differently in the species-rich tropics.

Method Review: Estimation of Colony Densities of the Army Ant Eciton burchellii in Costa Rica

Biotropica ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Vidal-Riggs ◽  
Johel Chaves-Campos
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Army Ant ◽  
Eciton Burchellii

scholarly journals Antbird Guilds in the Lowland Caribbean Rainforest of Southeast Nicaragua

The Condor ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 784-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin L. Cody
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Logarithmic Scale ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Army Ants ◽  
Army Ant ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Mixed Species Flocks ◽  
Species Flocks

Abstract Some 20 species of antbirds occur in lowland Caribbean rainforest in southeast Nicaragua where they form five distinct guilds on the basis of habitat preferences, foraging ecology, and foraging behavior. Three guilds are habitat-based, in Edge, Forest, and Gaps within forest; two are behaviorally distinct, with species of army ant followers and those foraging within mixed-species flocks. The guilds each contain 3–6 antbird species. Within guilds, species are segregated by body size differences between member species, and in several guilds are evenly spaced on a logarithmic scale of body mass. Among guilds, the factors by which adjacent body sizes differ vary between 1.25 and 1.75. Body size differences may be related to differences in preferred prey sizes, but are influenced also by the density of the vegetation in which each species customarily forages. Resumen. Unas 20 especies de aves hormigueras viven en el bosque tropical perennifolio, sureste de Nicaragua, donde se forman cinquo gremios distinctos estribando en preferencias de habitat, ecologia y comportamiento de las costumbres de alimentacion. Las diferencias entre las varias especies son cuantificadas por caractaristicas del ambiente vegetal y por la ecologia y comportamiento de la alimentación, y usados para definir cinco grupos o gremios (“guilds”). Tres gremios se designan por las relaciones de habitat: edge (margen), forest (selva), y gaps (aberturas adentro la selva); dos mas por comportamiento, partidarios de army ants (hormigas armadas) y mixed-species flocks (forrejando en bandadas de especies mexcladas). Estos gremios contenien 3–6 especies hormiguera. Dentro de grupos hay diferencias regulares en peso de cuerpo entre las especies; diferencias que igualmente existen entre los gremios diferentes, con razónes medios de 1.25 a 1.75 en peso de cuerpo. Las diferencias en el tamaño de especies individuales probablemente estan relaciónadas con las diferencias entre los tamaños de las presas preferidas, pero quizas son influenciadas por la densidad de la vegetacion en donde se alimentan.

A reassessment of the mating system characteristics of the army ant Eciton burchellii

2006 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 402-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. C. Kronauer ◽  
Stefanie M. Berghoff ◽  
Scott Powell ◽  
A. Jay Denny ◽  
Keith J. Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Army Ant ◽  
Eciton Burchellii ◽  
System Characteristics

Evolution and phylogeny of behavioural manipulation of insect hosts by parasites

Parasitology ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 116 (S1) ◽  
pp. S3-S11 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Poulin
Keyword(s):  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
The Many ◽  
Adaptive Nature ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Host Behaviour ◽  
Behavioural Manipulation

SummaryThe literature contains many examples of changes induced by parasites in the behaviour and/or other phenotypic traits of insects. From an evolutionary perspective, the nature of these changes is usually difficult to assess. Parasite-induced changes in host behaviour can be adaptations of either host or parasite, or they can be mere pathological consequences of infection. Of the many criteria and experimental tests necessary to distinguish between adaptations and non-selected consequences, two are particularly important: the demonstration of fitness benefits for either host or parasite associated with the behavioural change, and the elucidation of the proximate mechanism responsible for the behavioural change. Another approach can serve to identify adaptive changes in behaviour: mapping specific behavioural alterations on a phylogeny of either hosts or parasites. The usefulness of this approach is illustrated with two examples, acanthocephalan- cockroach associations and insect-fungus associations. The adaptive nature of parasite-induced behavioural changes will always be difficult to evaluate because they are the product of two distinct but interacting genotypes. However, experimental and phylogenetic approaches can provide valuable insights into the evolutionary history of insect-parasite interactions.

scholarly journals Diplogastrellus nematodes are sexually transmitted mutualists that alter the bacterial and fungal communities of their beetle host

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (42) ◽  
pp. 10696-10701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina C. Ledón-Rettig ◽  
Armin P. Moczek ◽  
Erik J. Ragsdale
Keyword(s):  
Close Association ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Biomass Degradation ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Onthophagus Taurus ◽  
Health And Development ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Nongenetic Inheritance

A recent accumulation of studies has demonstrated that nongenetic, maternally transmitted factors are often critical to the health and development of offspring and can therefore play a role in ecological and evolutionary processes. In particular, microorganisms such as bacteria have been championed as heritable, symbiotic partners capable of conferring fitness benefits to their hosts. At the same time, parents may also pass various nonmicrobial organisms to their offspring, yet the roles of such organisms in shaping the developmental environment of their hosts remain largely unexplored. Here, we show that the nematode Diplogastrellus monhysteroides is transgenerationally inherited and sexually transmitted by the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus. By manipulating artificial chambers in which beetle offspring develop, we demonstrate that the presence of D. monhysteroides nematodes enhances the growth of beetle offspring, empirically challenging the paradigm that nematodes are merely commensal or even detrimental to their insect hosts. Finally, our research presents a compelling mechanism whereby the nematodes influence the health of beetle larvae: D. monhysteroides nematodes engineer the bacterial and fungal communities that also inhabit the beetle developmental chambers, including specific taxa known to be involved in biomass degradation, possibly allowing larval beetles better access to their otherwise recalcitrant, plant-based diet. Thus, our findings illustrate that nongenetic inheritance can include intermediately sized organisms that live and proliferate in close association with, and in certain cases enhance, the development of their hosts’ offspring.

scholarly journals Worker caste determination in the army ant Eciton burchellii

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 513-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Jaffé ◽  
Daniel J.C Kronauer ◽  
F Bernhard Kraus ◽  
Jacobus J Boomsma ◽  
Robin F.A Moritz
Keyword(s):  
Social Insects ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Test System ◽  
Caste Differentiation ◽  
Caste Determination ◽  
Task Specialization ◽  
Army Ant ◽  
Genetic Components ◽  
Eciton Burchellii ◽  
Worker Caste

Elaborate division of labour has contributed significantly to the ecological success of social insects. Division of labour is achieved either by behavioural task specialization or by morphological specialization of colony members. In physical caste systems, the diet and rearing environment of developing larvae is known to determine the phenotype of adult individuals, but recent studies have shown that genetic components also contribute to the determination of worker caste. One of the most extreme cases of worker caste differentiation occurs in the army ant genus Eciton , where queens mate with many males and colonies are therefore composed of numerous full-sister subfamilies. This high intracolonial genetic diversity, in combination with the extreme caste polymorphism, provides an excellent test system for studying the extent to which caste determination is genetically controlled. Here we show that genetic effects contribute significantly to worker caste fate in Eciton burchellii . We conclude that the combination of polyandry and genetic variation for caste determination may have facilitated the evolution of worker caste diversity in some lineages of social insects.

scholarly journals Alarm Calling in Sri Lankan Mixed-Species Bird Flocks

The Auk ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eben Goodale ◽  
Sarath W. Kotagama
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Call ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Species Flock ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Natural Stimuli ◽  
Mixed Species Flocks ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Species Flocks

Abstract Vocal alarm calls are important to the vigilance and likely the organization of mixed-species flocks, but community-wide studies of alarm calling in flocks are lacking. We investigated which species alarm-call, and the characteristics of their calls, in a large flock system of a Sri Lankan rainforest. We recorded naturally elicited alarm calls during several attacks by Accipiter hawks and while following flocks for 10 h. We then artificially elicited alarms by throwing a stick to the side of the flock, in a total of 70 trials at 30 flock sites. The Orange-billed Babbler (Turdoides rufescens) was the most frequent caller to both the artificial and natural stimuli, followed by the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus). Several other species also called, and multiple species often called to the same stimulus (in 23 trials, and in all of the hawk attacks). The species differed in their rapidity of response and in their sensitivity to different natural stimuli. Calls of the gregarious babbler usually provided a first, unreliable warning of an incoming threat, whereas later calls of other species emphasized the seriousness of the threat. We suggest that birds in mixed-species flocks may be particularly aware of aerial predators for two reasons: (1) a “numbers effect,” whereby nongregarious species are more aware of predators when surrounded by large numbers of other species; and (2) an “information effect,” whereby species differ in the information available in their alarm calls, leading to an accumulation of information in a mixed-species flock. Llamadas de Alarma en Bandadas Mixtas de Aves en Sri Lanka

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