Learning predator promotes coexistence of prey species in host-parasitoid systems

Ecological theory suggests that frequency-dependent predation, in which more common prey types are disproportionately favored, promotes the coexistence of competing prey species. However, many of the earlier empirical studies that investigated the effect of frequency-dependent predation were short-term and ignored predator-prey dynamics and system persistence. Therefore, we used long-term observation of population dynamics to test how frequency-dependent predation influences the dynamics and coexistence of competing prey species using insect laboratory populations. We established two-host-one-parasitoid populations with two bruchid beetles, Callosobruchus chinensis and C. maculatus, as the hosts and the pteromalid wasp Anisopteromalus calandrae as their common parasitoid. When the parasitoid was absent, C. chinensis was competitively excluded in ～20 wk. Introducing the parasitoid greatly enhanced the coexistence time to a maximum of 118 wk. In the replicates of long-lasting coexistence, the two host species C. maculatus and C. chinensis exhibited periodic antiphase oscillations. Behavioral experiments showed frequency-dependent predation of A. calandrae that was caused by learning. Females of A. calandrae learned host-related olfactory cues during oviposition and increased their preference for the common host species. Numerical simulations showed that parasitoid learning was the essential mechanism that promoted persistence in this host-parasitoid system. Our study is an empirical demonstration that frequency-dependent predation has an important role in greatly enhancing the coexistence of prey populations, suggesting that predator learning affects predator-prey population dynamics and shapes biological communities in nature.     

大隐翅虫生物学特性及其对蝇类捕食作用的观察

在22～25℃室温条件下,大隐翅虫卵期约4天、幼虫期约14天、蛹期约16天。大隐翅虫主要孳生与活动于禽类尸体堆、皮毛堆、杂骨堆等有肉食类蝇幼孳生的场所,但成虫栖息于附近的潮湿土壤中,栖息深度3～8 cm,群居,每群有成虫5～10只。成虫产卵于1.5cm 深的潮湿土中,每次产卵约40粒,一生产卵3～5次。在食物不足时,成虫捕食其幼虫,幼虫之间相互捕食。实验室内观察,在加以肉质情况下,对其成虫捕食蝇幼影响不大。饥饿24小时的成虫每只24小时平均捕食丝光绿蝇3龄幼虫13～15条。幼虫喜食蝇蛹,在加肉质条件下,每只24小时平均食丝光绿蝇蛹3.8条。     

中国南海软体动物及其食源生物的化学、化学生态学和生物活性研究

海洋软体动物色彩艳丽、行动缓慢,主要依赖次生代谢产物形成的化学防御机制对抗天敌的捕食.多数软体动物可以通过选择适当的食物并将其中有用的代谢物质经过进一步的生物转化或积累到身体的特定部位而用作化学防御物质,以保护自己不受天敌的捕食;少数软体动物能够生物合成自身所需要的化学物质,从而建立起化学防御体系.研究软体动物及其食源生物的化学组成可以揭示它们之间的食物链关系,并进一步阐明这些化学物质的生态学作用.同时,这种进化的化学防御体系也能为我们提供一种从自然界寻找生物活性物质的新方法.近年来,我们研究小组对中国南海软体动物及其相关食源生物海绵、珊瑚和海藻等常见海洋生物物种之间的食物链关系进行了系统研究,获得了这些海洋生物的化学及生物学等方面的知识,并对这些化学物质的药理活性进行了系统考察,为更加系统、深入地开展中国海洋天然产物研究、开发具有自主知识产权的海洋新药打下了坚实的基础.     

Single tracheal inoculation of Aspergillus fumigatus conidia induced aspergillosis in juvenile falcons (Falco spp.)

Aspergillosis is a common and life-threatening respiratory disease in raptors with acute and chronic courses. Among raptors, gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) and their hybrids are often declared to be highly susceptible with juvenile individuals being the most susceptible. However, species- and age-specific experimental studies are lacking and minimal infective doses (IDs) for Aspergillus spp. conidia are unknown.Therefore, 8-week-old, healthy gyr-hybrid falcons (F. rusticolus X F. cherrug) (N?=?18) were experimentally infected with Aspergillus fumigatus using a single intratracheal inoculation with varying dosages of conidia (10² to 10⁷ conidia). Over 28 days, clinical signs were monitored as well as haematological and serological parameters. Following euthanasia, necropsy, histopathology, bacteriology, and mycology were performed. Re-isolated fungi were compared to the inoculum using microsatellite length polymorphisms. During the trial, clinical signs and dyspnoea correlated significantly with the ID. Necropsy revealed fungal lesions in the upper and lower airways of 10/18 inoculated falcons, but not in the control birds. In 9/18 inoculated falcons, fungal granulomas were confirmed in histopathology and A. fumigatus was re-isolated from these granulomas. Except one nasal isolate all re-isolated fungal strains were identical to the inoculum strain. Based on mycology and histopathology a minimal ID of 50% was calculated to be MID_{50% (±S.E.)}?=?10^4.52±0.67 for a single tracheal inoculation of A. fumigatus conidia. This study demonstrates for the first time that a single exposure is able to cause acute aspergillosis in juvenile falcons.     

Recruitment of striatonigral disinhibitory and nigrotectal inhibitory GABAergic pathways during the organization of defensive behavior by mice in a dangerous environment with the venomous snake Bothrops alternatus (Reptilia,Viperidae)

The neuropsychopharmacological basis of fear‐ or panic‐related behavior has been the focus of several studies. Some mesencephalic tectum (MT) structures, such as the superior colliculus (SC) and dorsal periaqueductal gray matter (dPAG), are considered to be responsible for the control of defensive responses evoked during threatening situations. Furthermore, the pars reticulata of the substantia nigra (SNpr) sends inputs to the SC that can work as a sensory channel to MT neurons fundamental for the elaboration of defensive responses. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of striato‐nigral GABAergic inputs in the activity of nigro‐tectal outputs during the elaboration of defensive behavior using a GABA_A receptor selective blockade in the MT of mice confronted pre‐treated with Bothrops alternatus. Mice with injections of physiological saline into the SNpr and treated with a GABA_A receptor selective antagonist in the MT displayed an increase in panic‐related behavior, expressed by an increase in the duration of freezing, frequency of nonoriented escape and frequency of total escape responses during the confrontation with the snake. However, intra‐SNpr injections of cobalt chloride followed by MT injections of bicuculline caused a significant decrease in the duration of freezing and total escape responses. In addition, intra‐SNpr injections of lidocaine followed by MT injections of bicuculline caused an increase in panic‐related behavior. The results highlight the involvement of SNpr and MT structures in the organization of defensive behaviors and suggest an inhibitory control of striatonigral‐nigrotectal pathways during the elaboration of fear‐ and panic‐related behavior. Synapse 69:299–313, 2015 . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electric Eels Wield a Functional Venom Analogue

In this paper, I draw an analogy between the use of electricity by electric eels (Electrophorus electricus) to paralyze prey muscles and the use of venoms that paralyze prey by disrupting the neuromuscular junction. The eel’s strategy depends on the recently discovered ability of eels to activate prey motor neuron efferents with high-voltage pulses. Usually, eels use high voltage to cause brief, whole-body tetanus, thus preventing escape while swallowing prey whole. However, when eels struggle with large prey, or with prey held precariously, they often curl to bring their tail to the opposite side. This more than doubles the strength of the electric field within shocked prey, ensuring maximal stimulation of motor neuron efferents. Eels then deliver repeated volleys of high-voltage pulses at a rate of approximately 100 Hz. This causes muscle fatigue that attenuates prey movement, thus preventing both escape and defense while the eel manipulates and swallows the helpless animal. Presumably, the evolution of enough electrical power to remotely activate ion channels in prey efferents sets the stage for the selection of eel behaviors that functionally “poison” prey muscles.     

Venom Use in Eulipotyphlans: An Evolutionary and Ecological Approach

Venomousness is a complex functional trait that has evolved independently many times in the animal kingdom, although it is rare among mammals. Intriguingly, most venomous mammal species belong to Eulipotyphla (solenodons, shrews). This fact may be linked to their high metabolic rate and a nearly continuous demand of nutritious food, and thus it relates the venom functions to facilitation of their efficient foraging. While mammalian venoms have been investigated using biochemical and molecular assays, studies of their ecological functions have been neglected for a long time. Therefore, we provide here an overview of what is currently known about eulipotyphlan venoms, followed by a discussion of how these venoms might have evolved under ecological pressures related to food acquisition, ecological interactions, and defense and protection. We delineate six mutually nonexclusive functions of venom (prey hunting, food hoarding, food digestion, reducing intra- and interspecific conflicts, avoidance of predation risk, weapons in intraspecific competition) and a number of different subfunctions for eulipotyphlans, among which some are so far only hypothetical while others have some empirical confirmation. The functions resulting from the need for food acquisition seem to be the most important for solenodons and especially for shrews. We also present several hypotheses explaining why, despite so many potentially beneficial functions, venomousness is rare even among eulipotyphlans. The tentativeness of many of the arguments presented in this review highlights our main conclusion, i.e., insights regarding the functions of eulipotyphlan venoms merit additional study.     

Specialized photoreceptor composition in the raptor fovea

The retinae of many bird species contain a depression with high photoreceptor density known as the fovea. Many species of raptors have two foveae, a deep central fovea and a shallower temporal fovea. Birds have six types of photoreceptors: rods, active in dim light, double cones that are thought to mediate achromatic discrimination, and four types of single cones mediating color vision. To maximize visual acuity, the fovea should only contain photoreceptors contributing to high‐resolution vision. Interestingly, it has been suggested that raptors might lack double cones in the fovea. We used transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry to evaluate this claim in five raptor species: the common buzzard (Buteo buteo), the honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus), the Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), the red kite (Milvus milvus), and the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). We found that all species, except the Eurasian sparrowhawk, lack double cones in the center of the central fovea. The size of the double cone‐free zone differed between species. Only the common buzzard had a double cone‐free zone in the temporal fovea. In three species, we examined opsin expression in the central fovea and found evidence that rod opsin positive cells were absent and violet‐sensitive cone and green‐sensitive cone opsin positive cells were present. We conclude that not only double cones, but also single cones may contribute to high‐resolution vision in birds, and that raptors may in fact possess high‐resolution tetrachromatic vision in the central fovea.     

Antipredator responses and defensive behavior: ecological and ethological approaches for the neurosciences

In nature, animals are exposed to a wide range of threats and dangers with predators being amongst the more prominent and intensely studied of these. The responses of prey to predators and various predator avoidance and antipredator behaviors have been extensively evaluated from ecological and ethological perspectives and more recent ethopharmacological and neuroscience approaches. Unfortunately, there has been relatively little interchange between the ecological–ethological and neuroscience areas with the latter often using responses to predators just simply as another ‘model’ system. There is, however, now a growing realization that integrative approaches incorporating ecological, evolutionary and neurobiological explanations are required for the understanding of behavior and its functions. This necessitates an incorporation of ecological and ethological concepts and validity with neuroscience approaches to the analysis of antipredator responses and defensive behavior. A number of selected ecological approaches that are used for the investigation of predator avoidance mechanisms and antipredator defensive behavior patterns are briefly reviewed here. These include examinations of how predation risk and its variation affect decision making in animals and how learning affects these responses. The trade-offs that are involved, how the risk of predation affects decisions concerning foraging behavior, mating and reproduction, as well as how varying levels of risk affect decisions relative to the type of defensive mechanisms utilized are briefly outlined. The utility of these approaches and their relevance to the design and interpretation of various neuroscience studies is addressed here.     

贪食库蚊捕食蚊幼虫的初步研究

目的　探讨贪食库蚊幼虫捕食致倦库蚊幼虫的数量及其对其它蚊虫孳生的影响。方法　人工单个和群体饲养贪食库蚊幼虫 ,计算平均每条捕食的数量 ,并对有和无贪食库蚊孳生的积水进行幼虫密度计数。结果　单个和集体饲养每条四龄贪食库蚊幼虫 2 4h平均捕食四龄致倦库蚊幼虫分别为 5.6和 6 .0条 ;贪食库蚊幼虫不食四龄致倦库蚊幼虫的头壳和呼吸管 ;三龄贪食库蚊幼虫可捕食与之等大的其它蚊幼虫 ,贪食库蚊幼虫之间有相互厮咬现象 ;有贪食库蚊孳生的积水其幼虫密度为 3.3条 /勺 ,且只有一、二龄幼虫 ;无贪食库蚊孳生的积水其幼虫密度为 2 9.7条 /勺 ,可见各期幼虫及蛹。结论　贪食库蚊幼虫可抑制甚至中断其它蚊幼虫的孳生