Sexual differences in the behavioural response to a variation in predation risk

Ethology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (9) ◽  
pp. 603-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Grignolio ◽  
Francesca Brivio ◽  
Nicoletta Sica ◽  
Marco Apollonio
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Sexual Differences

scholarly journals Wound treatment and selective help in a termite-hunting ant

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1872) ◽  
pp. 20172457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik T. Frank ◽  
Marten Wehrhahn ◽  
K. Eduard Linsenmair
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Wound Treatment ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Hunting ◽  
Termite Soldiers ◽  
Help System

Open wounds are a major health risk in animals, with species prone to injuries likely developing means to reduce these risks. We therefore analysed the behavioural response towards open wounds on the social and individual level in the termite group-hunting ant Megaponera analis . During termite raids, some ants get injured by termite soldiers (biting off extremities), after the fight injured ants get carried back to the nest by nest-mates. We observed treatment of the injury by nest-mates inside the nest through intense allogrooming at the wound. Lack of treatment increased mortality from 10% to 80% within 24 h, most likely due to infections. Wound clotting occurred extraordinarily fast in untreated injured individuals, within 10 min. Furthermore, heavily injured ants (loss of five extremities) were not rescued or treated; this was regulated not by the helper but by the unresponsiveness of the injured ant. Interestingly, lightly injured ants behaved ‘more injured’ near nest-mates. We show organized social wound treatment in insects through a multifaceted help system focused on injured individuals. This was not only limited to selective rescuing of lightly injured individuals by carrying them back (thus reducing predation risk), but, moreover, included a differentiated treatment inside the nest.

Sexually differentiated effects of radio transmitters on predation risk and behaviour in kangaroo rats Dipodomys merriami

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 1851-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daly ◽  
Margo I. Wilson ◽  
Philip R. Behrends ◽  
Lucia F. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Sex Difference ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Differentiated Effects ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rats

In a 12-year study involving 191 radio-tracked Merriam's kangaroo rats and 337 subcutaneous radio implantations, females were killed by predators at a rate of 0.0054 per radio-bearing night and males at a rate of 0.0116. Both the mortality rate and the sex difference therein declined over the course of several nights after radio implantation. Females reduced their excursions from the day burrow for the first few nights after radio implantation, whereas males exhibited little if any such inhibition of movement. This sexually differentiated behavioural response to the transmitters is a likely source of the sexually differentiated mortality patterns.

Response of juvenile rainbow trout to varying concentrations of chemical alarm cue: response thresholds and survival during encounters with predators

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reehan S Mirza ◽  
Douglas P Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Rainbow Trout ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Juvenile Rainbow Trout ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cue ◽  
Alarm Cue ◽  
Risk Of Predation

Prey animals may mediate the intensity of their behavioural responses to predators to reflect their risk of predation. However, in the absence of an overt (observable) behavioural response to a particular predation-risk cue, we need to ask whether or not prey animals are still using the cue to assess predation risk. Behavioural responses that are not readily observable within the time frame of the experiment are considered covert. In this study we exposed juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to varying concentrations of conspecific chemical alarm cue to determine their observable response threshold. In a subsequent experiment we exposed the trout to alarm-cue concentrations above and below their behavioural-response threshold and allowed them to interact with an unknown predator (northern pike, Esox lucius). Trout exposed to concentrations below the observable response threshold were able to evade the predator equally as well as trout exposed to alarm-cue concentrations above the observable response threshold. This study illustrates the sophistication with which prey animals employ chemosensory risk assessment. We must use caution when relying on overt behavioural responses for assessing whether prey are utilizing specific cues to mediate their risk of predation.

Behavioural Response of Bats to Perceived Predation Risk While Foraging

Ethology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 977-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. M. Baxter ◽  
Jennifer M. Psyllakis ◽  
Michael P. Gillingham ◽  
Erin L. O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Perceived Predation Risk

Elevated nest predation risk promotes offspring size variation in birds with prolonged parental care.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen F. Wagner ◽  
Emeline Mourocq ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Reproductive Cycle ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Natural Predation ◽  
Risk Spreading

Predation of offspring is the main cause of reproductive failure in many species, and the mere fear of offspring predation shapes reproductive strategies. Yet, natural predation risk is ubiquitously variable and can be unpredictable. Consequently, the perceived prospect of predation early in a reproductive cycle may not reflect the actual risk to ensuing offspring. An increased variance in investment across offspring has been linked to breeding in unpredictable environments in several taxa, but has so far been overlooked as a maternal response to temporal variation in predation risk. Here, we experimentally increased the perceived risk of nest predation prior to egg-laying in seven bird species. Species with prolonged parent-offspring associations increased their intra-brood variation in egg, and subsequently offspring, size. High risk to offspring early in a reproductive cycle can favour a risk-spreading strategy particularly in species with the greatest opportunity to even out offspring quality after fledging.

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