Habitat-conditioned feeding behaviour in Barbitistes constrictus (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kaňuch ◽  
Anna Sliacka ◽  
Anton Krištín
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Plant Defence ◽  
Chemical Compounds ◽  
Beech Forest ◽  
Plant Chemical ◽  
Feeding Adaptations ◽  
Forest Habitats ◽  
Bush Crickets ◽  
Bush Cricket

AbstractSome insect herbivores can regulate their nourishment intake by different feeding behaviour. This mechanism allows them to persist with utilising different food resources according to the composition of the vegetation within their habitats. Using a two-choice experiment, we analysed foraging behaviour in females of the tree-dwelling bush-cricket Barbitistes constrictus (Orthoptera), which originated from two different forest habitats, spruce and beech forest. We found that individuals from the spruce forest mainly foraged on needle tips, and thus they nibbled more needles per day than individuals from the beech forest (medians 106.0 vs. 42.5; p < 0.0001). However, when the contents of droppings were dissected, the volume of consumed spruce was similar in both groups of bush-crickets (median > 90%), which is explained by the different feeding techniques of bush-crickets from different habitats. We propose possible scenarios for bush-cricket feeding adaptations to the deleterious effects of the host plant chemical compounds serving as a plant defence against herbivores.

Influence of selected plant amines on probing behaviour of bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.)

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Sempruch ◽  
S. Goławska ◽  
P. Osiński ◽  
B. Leszczyński ◽  
P. Czerniewicz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Rhopalosiphum Padi ◽  
Plant Defence ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Electrical Penetration Graphs ◽  
Defence Responses ◽  
Plant Defence Responses ◽  
Common Plant ◽  
Probing Behaviour

AbstractThe study aimed to quantify the influence of common plant polyamines and tyramine on probing behaviour in the bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.). Electrical penetration graphs (DC) were used to monitor the probing and feeding behaviour of R. padi exposed to the amines agmatine, cadaverine, putrescine, spermidine, spermine and tyramine. The study results showed that the analyzed amines tended to shorten the stylet activity of aphids in the gels (as indicated by the g-C pattern), prolong the duration of non-probing behaviour (g-np pattern) and decrease salivation into the gels (g-E1pattern) and ingestion from the gels (g-G pattern). The 10 mM concentration of the studied amines, especially cadaverine, reduced or completely inhibited aphid ingestion. The obtained results demonstrate that plant amines participate in plant defence responses to R. padi through disturbance of its probing behaviour and the intensity of such effects is concentration dependent.

Diets and foraging behaviour of red and eastern grey kangaroos in arid shrub land: is feeding behaviour involved in the range expansion of the eastern grey kangaroo into the arid zone?

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 169 ◽  
Author(s):  
TJ Dawson ◽  
KJ McTavish ◽  
BA Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Foraging Patterns ◽  
Grey Kangaroo ◽  
Macropus Rufus ◽  
Dietary Niche ◽  
Domestic Stock ◽  
Total Feeding

Eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) have expanded into arid areas usually the habitat of red kangaroos (Macropus rufus). Extra watering sites for domestic stock is the suggested reason. However, changes in vegetation also have occurred due to grazing from domestic stock. We investigated the foraging strategies of M. giganteus and M. rufus in arid rangeland to see if these are involved in the range changes. Foraging patterns were similar, with both species mostly foraging at night; total feeding times were the same. M. giganteus and M. rufus had differing diets, though there was considerable overlap of 81 - 87%. Both species were highly selective, having similar narrow dietary niche breaths. Differences in plant preferences occurred and though both species had a preference for grass that of M. giganteus was higher. A larger foregut in M. giganteus reinforces its focus on grass. M. rufus also selected dicot forbs and malvaceous sub-shrubs. Both kangaroos showed avoidance of abundant chenopod shrubs (saltbushes and bluebushes) and trees. It is likely that the changes to arid-zone vegetation, with a shift to grass and annual dicot forbs, has been important for the expansion of M. giganteus, possibly combined with the greater availability of water.

Description of Harpactea popovi sp. n. from Bulgaria with further taxonomic notes on related species (Araneae, Dysderidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4568 (3) ◽  
pp. 593 ◽  
Author(s):  
DRAGOMIR DIMITROV ◽  
CHRISTO DELTSHEV ◽  
STOIAN LAZAROV
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Beech Forest ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Fagus Orientalis ◽  
Forest Habitats

Harpactea popovi sp. n. is described and illustrated based on males. It was collected in beech forest habitats (Fagus orientalis) in Strandzha Mountain, Southeastern Bulgaria. The new species belongs to the Harpactea rubicunda species group as defined by Deeleman-Reinhold (1993) and is closely related to H. ice Komnenov & Chatzaki, 2016 and H. sturanyi (Nosek, 1905). The following synonymies were established: H. camenarum Brignoli, 1977 = H. sturanyi (Nosek, 1905) syn. n., H. lyciae Brignoli, 1978 = H. sturanyi (Nosek, 1905) syn. n. New illustrations and photographs for the discussed species are also presented. 

scholarly journals Cuttlefish show flexible and future-dependent foraging cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 20190743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Billard ◽  
Alexandra K. Schnell ◽  
Nicola S. Clayton ◽  
Christelle Jozet-Alves
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Foraging Strategy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Experimental Conditions

Some animals optimize their foraging activity by learning and memorizing food availability, in terms of quantity and quality, and adapt their feeding behaviour accordingly. Here, we investigated whether cuttlefish flexibly adapt their foraging behaviour according to the availability of their preferred prey. In Experiment 1, cuttlefish switched from a selective to an opportunistic foraging strategy (or vice versa ) when the availability of their preferred prey at night was predictable versus unpredictable. In Experiment 2, cuttlefish exhibited day-to-day foraging flexibility, in response to experiencing changes in the proximate future (i.e. preferred prey available on alternate nights). In Experiment 1, the number of crabs eaten during the day decreased when shrimp (i.e. preferred food) were predictably available at night, while the consumption of crabs during the day was maintained when shrimp availability was unpredictable. Cuttlefish quickly shifted from one strategy to the other, when experimental conditions were reversed. In Experiment 2, cuttlefish only reduced their consumption of crabs during the daytime when shrimps were predictably available the following night. Their daytime foraging behaviour appeared dependent on shrimps' future availability. Overall, cuttlefish can adopt dynamic and flexible foraging behaviours including selective, opportunistic and future-dependent strategies, in response to changing foraging conditions.

scholarly journals Human eating behaviour in an evolutionary ecological context

2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley J. Ulijaszek
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Eating Behaviour ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Economic Transformations ◽  
Feeding Adaptations

Present-day human eating behaviour in industrialised society is characterised by the consumption of high-energy-density diets and often unstructured feeding patterns, largely uncoupled from seasonal cycles of food availability. Broadly similar patterns of feeding are found among advantaged groups in economically-emerging and developing nations. Such patterns of feeding are consistent with the evolutionary ecological understanding of feeding behaviour of hominids ancestral to humans, in that human feeding adaptations are likely to have arisen in the context of resource seasonality in which diet choice for energy-dense and palatable foods would have been selected by way of foraging strategies for the maximisation of energy intake. One hallmark trait of human feeding behaviour, complex control of food availability, emerged with Homo erectus (19 × 106-200 000 years ago), who carried out this process by either increased meat eating or by cooking, or both. Another key trait of human eating behaviour is the symbolic use of food, which emerged with modernHomo sapiens(100 000 years ago to the present) between 25 000 and 12 000 years ago. From this and subsequent social and economic transformations, including the origins of agriculture, humans have come to use food in increasingly elaborate symbolic ways, such that human eating has become increasingly structured socially and culturally in many different ways.

scholarly journals Diurnal feeding strategies of the Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) in Lake Tonga (Northeastern Algeria)

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalil Draidi ◽  
Badis Bakhouche ◽  
Naouel Lahlah ◽  
Imed Djemadi ◽  
Mourad Bensouilah
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Northeastern Algeria ◽  
Foraging Time ◽  
Minor Activity

Abstract Although the Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) has thoroughly been studied, the foraging behaviour of this species is still not completely known. In the present paper we studied the diurnal feeding behaviour of ducks. We monitored the annual cycle of birds through two fieldtrips per month. The instantaneous behaviour of birds was recorded in regular 30-minute intervals from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., amounting a total of 456 observation hours. Food searching activity corresponds to a quarter of the total diurnal time budget of the Ferruginous Duck. Foraging behaviour was classified into five categories dominated by the “diving”, which is almost 45.61% of the total search time. Foraging activities at the water surface considered to be secondary activities, including feeding by “bill”, “neck and head”, and “beak and head” in a rate of 19.86%, 14.53%, and 13.98%, respectively. The “toggle” remains a minor activity and represents only 5.99% of foraging time. The feeding behaviour of this species correlated to several environmental parameters (rainfall, temperature and wind velocity), and linked to the group size of ducks visiting the lake. Regarding the food intensity, our results show the highest values for “bill and head” behaviour. “Diving” has the longest feeding interval (16.16±14.1 minutes), while foraging by “bill” has the shortest (0.69 ± 0.48 minutes).

Salivary proteins of plant-feeding hemipteroids – implication in phytophagy

2013 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sharma ◽  
A.N. Khan ◽  
S. Subrahmanyam ◽  
A. Raman ◽  
G.S. Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Tissue ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Acyrthosiphon Pisum ◽  
Plant Defence ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Microbial Pathogens ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Defence Mechanisms ◽  
Degrading Enzymes ◽  
Plant Defence Mechanisms

AbstractMany hemipteroids are major pests and vectors of microbial pathogens, infecting crops. Saliva of the hemipteroids is critical in enabling them to be voracious feeders on plants, including the economically important ones. A plethora of hemipteroid salivary enzymes is known to inflict stress in plants, either by degrading the plant tissue or by affecting their normal metabolism. Hemipteroids utilize one of the following three strategies of feeding behaviour: salivary sheath feeding, osmotic-pump feeding and cell-rupture feeding. The last strategy also includes several different tactics such as lacerate-and-flush, lacerate-and-sip and macerate-and-flush. Understanding hemipteroid feeding mechanisms is critical, since feeding behaviour directs salivary composition. Saliva of the Heteroptera that are specialized as fruit and seed feeders, includes cell-degrading enzymes, auchenorrhynchan salivary composition also predominantly consists of cell-degrading enzymes such as amylase and protease, whereas that of the Sternorhyncha includes a variety of allelochemical-detoxifying enzymes. Little is known about the salivary composition of the Thysanoptera. Cell-degrading proteins such as amylase, pectinase, cellulase and pectinesterase enable stylet entry into the plant tissue. In contrast, enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase, laccase and trehalase detoxify plant chemicals, enabling the circumvention of plant-defence mechanisms. Salivary enzymes such as M1-zinc metalloprotease and CLIP-domain serine protease as inAcyrthosiphon pisum(Aphididae), and non-enzymatic proteins such as apolipophorin, ficolin-3-like protein and ‘lava-lamp’ protein as inDiuraphis noxia(Aphididae) have the capacity to alter host-plant-defence mechanisms. A majority of the hemipteroids feed on phloem, hence Ca++-binding proteins such as C002 protein, calreticulin-like isoform 1 and calmodulin (critical for preventing sieve-plate occlusion) are increasingly being recognized in hemipteroid–plant interactions. Determination of a staggering variety of proteins shows the complexity of hemipteroid saliva: effector proteins localized in hemipteran saliva suggest a similarity to the physiology of pathogen–plant interactions.

scholarly journals Exploring evolutionary theories of plant defence investment using field populations of the deadly carrot

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (5) ◽  
pp. 737-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Martinez-Swatson ◽  
Rasmus Kjøller ◽  
Federico Cozzi ◽  
Henrik Toft Simonsen ◽  
Nina Rønsted ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Defence ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Multiple Models ◽  
Chemical Defences ◽  
Plant Chemical ◽  
Ideal System ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Defence Strategy ◽  
Thapsia Garganica

Abstract Background and Aims There are a number of disparate models predicting variation in plant chemical defences between species, and within a single species over space and time. These can give conflicting predictions. Here we review a number of these theories, before assessing their power to predict the spatial–temporal variation of thapsigargins between and within populations of the deadly carrot (Thapsia garganica). By utilizing multiple models simultaneously (optimum defence theory, growth rate hypothesis, growth–differentiation balance hypothesis, intra–specific framework and resource exchange model of plant defence), we will highlight gaps in their predictions and evaluate the performance of each. Methods Thapsigargins are potent anti-herbivore compounds that occur in limited richness across the different plant tissues of T. garganica, and therefore represent an ideal system for exploring these models. Thapsia garganica plants were collected from six locations on the island of Ibiza, Spain, and the thapsigargins quantified within reproductive, vegetative and below-ground tissues. The effects of sampling time, location, mammalian herbivory, soil nutrition and changing root-associated fungal communities on the concentrations of thapsigargins within these in situ observations were analysed, and the results were compared with our model predictions. Key Results The models performed well in predicting the general defence strategy of T. garganica and the above-ground distribution of thapsigargins, but failed to predict the considerable proportion of defences found below ground. Models predicting variation over environmental gradients gave conflicting and less specific predictions, with intraspecific variation remaining less understood. Conclusion Here we found that multiple models predicting the general defence strategy of plant species could likely be integrated into a single model, while also finding a clear need to better incorporate below-ground defences into models of plant chemical defences. We found that constitutive and induced thapsigargins differed in their regulation, and suggest that models predicting intraspecific defences should consider them separately. Finally, we suggest that in situ studies be supplemented with experiments in controlled environments to identify specific environmental parameters that regulate variation in defences within species.

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