scholarly journals Defence behaviour of reindeer in response to flying parasitic Diptera

Rangifer ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Karter ◽  
Ivar Folstad
Keyword(s):  
Parasite Species ◽  
Attack Angle ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Defence Responses ◽  
Defence Behaviour ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Cephenemyia Trompe ◽  
Hypoderma Tarandi

<p>Similar defence behaviours were exhibited by a reindeer when experimentally exposed to three different species of tethered, flying parasitic Diptera, Cephenemyia trompe (Modeer), Hypoderma tarandi (L) and Tabanid. Defencive behavioural responses appeared to be related to attack angle, and were not elicited by auditory stimuli. These observations raise questions about the validity of parasite species-specific defence responses in reindeer.</p><p>Forsvars-adferd hos rein angrepet av flyvende, parasittiske diptera.</p><p>Abstract in Norwegian / Sammendrag: Likeartet forsvars-adferd ble utvist av en rein som ble eksperimentelt utsatt for tre forskjellige arter av bundne, flyvende parasittiske diptera, Cephenemyia trompe (Modeer), Hypoderma tarandi (L) og Tabanid. Den forsvarsmessige adferd syntes &aring; ha sammenheng med parasittenes angreps-vinkel og ble ikke utl&oslash;st av lydstimuli. Disse observasjoner reiser sp&oslash;rsm&aring;l om gyldigheten av parasitt&aelig;re artsspesifikke forsvarsreaksjoner hos rein.</p><p>Poron puolustusk&agrave;ytt&agrave;ytyminen lent&agrave;vi&agrave; kaksisiipisi&agrave; (Diptera) hy&ocirc;nteisi&agrave; vastaan.</p><p>Abstract in Finnish / Yhteenveto: Poro k&agrave;ytt&agrave;ytyi samalla tavalla kun se joutui tekemisiin kolmen kiinniolevan lent&agrave;v&acirc;n kaksisiipisen hy&ocirc;nteisen: saulakan {Cephenemyia trompe Modeer), kurumupaarman {Hypoderma tarandi L) ja parman kanssa. Puolustusk&agrave;ytt&agrave;ytyminen riippui hy&ocirc;nteisen l&agrave;hestymiskulv&agrave;t kysymyksi&agrave; lajispesifisen puolustusk&agrave;ytt&agrave;ytymisen esiintymisest&agrave; proolla hy&ocirc;nteisi&agrave; vastaan.</p>

scholarly journals Experimental Tests for Measuring Individual Attentional Characteristics in Songbirds

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2233
Author(s):  
Loïc Pougnault ◽  
Hugo Cousillas ◽  
Christine Heyraud ◽  
Ludwig Huber ◽  
Martine Hausberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
European Starling ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
The Core ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
Individual Variations ◽  
Species Specific

Attention is defined as the ability to process selectively one aspect of the environment over others and is at the core of all cognitive processes such as learning, memorization, and categorization. Thus, evaluating and comparing attentional characteristics between individuals and according to situations is an important aspect of cognitive studies. Recent studies showed the interest of analyzing spontaneous attention in standardized situations, but data are still scarce, especially for songbirds. The present study adapted three tests of attention (towards visual non-social, visual social, and auditory stimuli) as tools for future comparative research in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), a species that is well known to present individual variations in social learning or engagement. Our results reveal that attentional characteristics (glances versus gazes) vary according to the stimulus broadcasted: more gazes towards unusual visual stimuli and species-specific auditory stimuli and more glances towards species-specific visual stimuli and hetero-specific auditory stimuli. This study revealing individual variations shows that these tests constitute a very useful and easy-to-use tool for evaluating spontaneous individual attentional characteristics and their modulation by a variety of factors. Our results also indicate that attentional skills are not a uniform concept and depend upon the modality and the stimulus type.

Preliminary investigations of behavioural and physiological responses to castration in horses

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
R. A. Eager ◽  
J. Price ◽  
E. Welsh ◽  
N. K. Waran
Keyword(s):  
Pain Assessment ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Physiological Indicators ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Welfare Issue ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
Equine Welfare ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Pain Responses

Behavioural responses to pain are highly species specific and reflect varying strategies for survival. As prey animals, horses may fail to show obvious pain responses, instead masking pain to reduce predation through selection as the weakest of a group (Anil et al., 2002). Price et al. (2002) identified disagreement amongst vets regarding pain assessment and management in horses. This was highlighted by recent debate concerning the existence of post-castration pain and the necessity for analgesia in equines (e.g., Capner 2001; Green 2001). While optimal assessment and management of pain is an important equine welfare issue, the behaviours of horses in response to pain are poorly defined (Raekallio et al. 1997) and the relevance of physiological indicators not confirmed. Palpation or human interaction tests, used in other species (e.g. Holton et al 1998), have yet to be validated in horses. This study aimed to identify and quantify potential behavioural indicators of post-castration pain in horses.

scholarly journals Detection and quantification of house mouse Eimeria at the species level – challenges and solutions for the assessment of Coccidia in wildlife

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Hugo Jarquín-Díaz ◽  
Alice Balard ◽  
Jenny Jost ◽  
Julia Kraft ◽  
Mert Naci Dikmen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
House Mouse ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Host Population ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Additional Indication ◽  
Tissue Samples ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Apicoplast Genome ◽  
Detection And Quantification

AbstractDetection and quantification of coccidia in studies of wildlife can be challenging. Therefore, the prevalence of coccidia is often not assessed at the parasite species level in non-livestock animals. Parasite species-specific prevalences are especially important when studying evolutionary questions in wild populations. We tested whether increased host population density increases the prevalence of individual Eimeria species at the farm level, as predicted by epidemiological theory. We studied free-living commensal populations of the house mouse (Mus musculus) in Germany and established a strategy to detect and quantify Eimeria infections. We show that a novel diagnostic primer targeting the apicoplast genome (Ap5) and coprological assessment after flotation provide complementary detection results increasing sensitivity. Genotyping PCRs confirm detection in a subset of samples and cross-validation of different PCR markers does not indicate a bias towards a particular parasite species in genotyping. We were able to detect double infections and to determine the preferred niche of each parasite species along the distal-proximal axis of the intestine. Parasite genotyping from tissue samples provides an additional indication for the absence of species bias in genotyping amplifications. Three Eimeria species were found infecting house mice at different prevalences: Eimeria ferrisi (16.7%; 95% CI 13.2 – 20.7), E. falciformis (4.2%; 95% CI 2.6 – 6.8) and E. vermiformis (1.9%; 95% CI 0.9 – 3.8). We also find that mice in dense populations are more likely to be infected with E. falciformis and E. ferrisi.We provide methods for the assessment of prevalences of coccidia at the species level in rodent systems. We show and discuss how such data can help to test hypotheses in ecology, evolution and epidemiology on a species level.

Hearing with the mouthparts: behavioural responses and the structural basis of ultrasound perception in acherontiine hawkmoths

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (8) ◽  
pp. 909-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.C. Gopfert ◽  
L.T. Wasserthal
Keyword(s):  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Sensory Organ ◽  
Structural Basis ◽  
Flight Pattern ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Tethered Flight ◽  
Hearing Organ ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Auditory Functions ◽  
Species Specific

In contrast to previous assumptions, mouthparts form hearing organs not only in choerocampine hawkmoths but also in some distantly related acherontiine hawkmoth species. Four of the six acherontiine species studied revealed responses to ultrasonic sounds when stimulated during tethered flight. The responses included changes in flight speed and non-directional turns. Individuals from two species also responded by emitting sound. The minimum thresholds of the flight pattern changes were approximately 70 dB in all species studied, with species-specific best frequencies between 30 and 70 kHz. Some acherontiine species also move their tongue in a stereotyped way when stimulated acoustically. The activity of the muscles involved in this tongue reflex was characterized in the present study and used in combination with ablation experiments to localize the hearing organ. These experiments revealed auditory functions of the labial palps and the labral pilifers similar to those found in Choerocampina. The palp contributes a 20–25 dB rise in sensitivity, whereas the pilifer appears to contain the sensory organ. Structural differences suggest a convergent evolution of hearing in hawkmoths: in the place of the swollen palps of Choerocampina, acherontiine species capable of hearing possess a scale-plate of the palps that interacts with an articulating pilifer, while this modification is absent in closely related non-hearing species.

Ectoparasites of the whitespotted rabbitfish, Siganus sutor (Valenciennes, 1835) off the Kenyan Coast: distribution within the host population and site selection on the gills

Parasitology ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. GEETS ◽  
H. COENE ◽  
F. OLLEVIER
Keyword(s):  
Parasite Species ◽  
Parasite Load ◽  
Host Population ◽  
Site Preferences ◽  
Microhabitat Choice ◽  
Kenyan Coast ◽  
Gill Filaments ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Gill Parasites

Different populations of the whitespotted rabbitfish, Siganus sutor, were examined for ectoparasites: adults from the Mombasa area (sampled in December 1990) and different age classes (adult, subadult and juveniles) from Gazi Bay (sampled in December 1992 and August 1993). The most common gill parasites were: the monogeneans Pseudohaliotrema sp., Tetrancistrum sigani and Microcotyle mouwoi, the copepods Hatschekia sp., Pseudolepeophtheirus sp. and juvenile Caligidae, and prazina larvae of the isopod Gnathia sp. Adult siganids had a higher parasite load than subadults. Juvenile rabbitfish did not harbour any gill parasites. Temporal differences in the parasite load of subadult rabbitfish were observed for M. mouwoi (highest in the December samples) and for juvenile Caligidae (highest in August). The microhabitat of the 5 most common gill parasites was species specific. Most parasite species showed distinct site preferences with respect to both gill arches and gill sectors, within the gill arches. Niche breadth of the different gill parasite species was independent of the abundance of any of the other species present. However, niche breadths of M. mouwoi, Tetrancistrum sp. and Hatschekia sp. increased with their own abundance. This suggests that interspecific competition for space is low and that intraspecific factors could play an important role in the microhabitat choice of these gill parasites. The hypothesis that niche restriction leads to higher intraspecific contact and an enhancement of chances to mate was tested on 2 monogenean species, Pseudohaliotrema sp. and Tetrancistrum sigani. Their highly aggregated distribution over the gill filaments, leading to increased intraspecific contact, is consistent with the hypothesis.

Population distribution of Ochoterenella digiticauda (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) and Mesocoelium monas (Digenea: Brachycoeliidae) in naturally infected Bufo marinus (Amphibia: Bufonidae) from Jamaica

Parasitology ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Wong ◽  
D. A. P. Bundy
Keyword(s):  
Worm Burden ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
Probability Model ◽  
Bufo Marinus ◽  
Binomial Probability ◽  
Host Interaction ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Species Specific

The worm burden distributions of a macrofilarial nematode, Ochoterenella digiticauda, and a gastroenteric digenean, Mesocoelium monas, were examined in a naturally infected population of Bufo marinus from Jamaica. Both parasite species had over-dispersed distributions which were well described by the negative binomial probability model (k = 0·35 for 0. digiticauda; and k = 0·59 for M. monas). The intensity distributions of the two parasites were uncorrelated: there was no significant association between the intensity (whether absolute or relative) of infection of either parasite in individual hosts. It is suggested that different, and parasite species-specific, factors of the host interaction are involved in generating the separate distributions of the two parasite species.

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