scholarly journals Selective recruitment for pollen and nectar sources in honeybees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Arenas ◽  
Rocío Lajad ◽  
Walter Farina
Keyword(s):  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Feeding Site ◽  
Sucrose Solutions ◽  
Efficient Resource ◽  
Resource Collection ◽  
Resource Type ◽  
Low Probability ◽  
First Time ◽  
Intermediate Preferences

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) use cues and signals to recruit nestmates to profitable food sources. Here we investigate whether the type of resource advertised within the colony (i.e., pollen or nectar) correlates with the recruits’ choices at the feeding site. We observed that pollen recruits preferred to collect pollen once arrived for the first time at the feeding site, while nectar recruits preferred to forage sucrose solutions. Bees recruited by foragers carrying both resources show intermediate preferences. Studying the plasticity of this response, we found that nectar recruits have a low probability of switching to pollen collection, yet pollen recruits were likely to switch to sucrose solution of increasing concentrations. Our results show that cues associated with the advertised resource type correlate with recruits foraging tendency for pollen and sucrose solution, a feature that would guarantee an efficient resource collection.

scholarly journals Sucrose solution as a new viscous test fluid with tunable viscosities up to 2 Pas for micromixing characterization by the Villermaux–Dushman reaction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias Arian ◽  
Werner Pauer
Keyword(s):  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Viscous Medium ◽  
Stirred Tank ◽  
Test Fluid ◽  
Tank Reactor ◽  
Experimental Implementation ◽  
Sucrose Solutions ◽  
Viscous Solution ◽  
First Time ◽  
Dushman Reaction

AbstractFor the first time, micromixing characterization for the Villermaux–Dushman reaction could be performed with a non-reactive viscous medium at viscosities up to 2 Pas. As viscous medium, sucrose solution was used with the benefit of being a Newtonian fluid with tuneable viscosity. Due to the higher viscosities in comparison to established media for micromixing investigations, a new protocol for the experimental implementation was developed. Micromixing experiments were conducted and the applicability of viscous sucrose solutions was proven in a stirred tank reactor. Major challenges in characterizing micromixing efficiency in high viscous solution were consolidated.

Exploring the plant environmental DNA diversity in soil from two sites on Deception Island (Antarctica, South Shetland Islands) using metabarcoding

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Micheline Carvalho-Silva ◽  
Luiz Henrique Rosa ◽  
Otávio H.B. Pinto ◽  
Thamar Holanda Da Silva ◽  
Diego Knop Henriques ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Crater Lake ◽  
Environmental Dna ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Deception Island ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Operational Taxonomic Units ◽  
First Time ◽  
Impacted Site

Abstract The few Antarctic studies to date to have applied metabarcoding in Antarctica have primarily focused on microorganisms. In this study, for the first time, we apply high-throughput sequencing of environmental DNA to investigate the diversity of Embryophyta (Viridiplantae) DNA present in soil samples from two contrasting locations on Deception Island. The first was a relatively undisturbed site within an Antarctic Specially Protected Area at Crater Lake, and the second was a heavily human-impacted site in Whalers Bay. In samples obtained at Crater Lake, 84% of DNA reads represented fungi, 14% represented Chlorophyta and 2% represented Streptophyta, while at Whalers Bay, 79% of reads represented fungi, 20% represented Chlorophyta and < 1% represented Streptophyta, with ~1% of reads being unassigned. Among the Embryophyta we found 16 plant operational taxonomic units from three Divisions, including one Marchantiophyta, eight Bryophyta and seven Magnoliophyta. Sequences of six taxa were detected at both sampling sites, eight only at Whalers Bay and two only at Crater Lake. All of the Magnoliophyta sequences (flowering plants) represent species that are exotic to Antarctica, with most being plausibly linked to human food sources originating from local national research operator and tourism facilities.

scholarly journals Learning a non-neutral conditioned stimulus: place preference in the crab Neohelice granulata

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martín Klappenbach ◽  
Candela Medina ◽  
Ramiro Freudenthal
Keyword(s):  
Conditioned Stimulus ◽  
Food Pellet ◽  
Place Preference ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Target Area ◽  
Neohelice Granulata ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
First Time

AbstractIn the wild, being able to recognize and remember specific locations related to food sources and the associated attributes of landmarks is a cognitive trait important for survival. In the present work we show that the crab Neohelice granulata can be trained to associate a specific environment with an appetitive reward in a conditioned place preference task. After a single training trial, when the crabs were presented with a food pellet in the target quadrant of the training arena, they were able to form a long-term memory related to the event. This memory was evident at least 24 h after training and was protein-synthesis dependent. Importantly, the target area of the arena proved to be a non-neutral environment, given that animals initially avoided the target quadrant. In the present work we introduce for the first time an associative one-trial memory paradigm including a conditioned stimulus with a clear valence performed in a crustacean.

Pinpointing food sources: olfactory and anemotactic orientation in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis

2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (5) ◽  
pp. 857-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Wolf ◽  
R. Wehner
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Video Tracking ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Integration Scheme ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Feeding Site ◽  
Desert Ants ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Visually Based ◽  
Cataglyphis Fortis

Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, search for a repeatedly visited food source by employing a combined olfactory and anemotactic orientation strategy (in addition to their visually based path-integration scheme). This behaviour was investigated by video-tracking consecutive foraging trips of individually marked ants under a variety of experimental conditions, including manipulations of the olfactory and wind-detecting systems of the ants. If the wind blows from a constant direction, ants familiar with the feeding site follow outbound paths that lead them into an area 0.5-2.5 m downwind of the feeding station. Here, the ants apparently pick up odour plumes emanating from the food source and follow these by steering an upwind course until they reach the feeder. If the food is removed, foragers usually concentrate their search movements within the area downwind of the feeding site. Only when the wind happens to subside or when tail-wind conditions prevail do the ants steer direct courses towards the food. Elimination of olfactory input by clipping the antennal flagella, or of wind perception by immobilising the bases of the antennae, altered the foraging behaviour of the ants in ways that supported these interpretations. Ants with clipped flagella were never observed to collect food items.

Lipids that contain arsenic in the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana P. Freitas ◽  
Georg Raber ◽  
Kenneth B. Jensen ◽  
António J. A. Nogueira ◽  
Kevin A. Francesconi
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Mytilus Galloprovincialis ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Tissue Type ◽  
Unicellular Algae ◽  
Molecular Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Mediterranean Mussel ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
First Time

Environmental contextAlthough arsenic-containing lipids are widespread in marine environments, their origin remains unknown. We show that the arsenolipids in a filter-feeding bivalve mollusc closely match those found in marine food sources, including unicellular algae and bacteria. The results demonstrate the role of lower trophic levels in determining the forms of arsenic found in higher organisms. AbstractArsenic-containing lipids, arsenolipids, are widely found among marine organisms, but their origin and possible biochemical roles remain unknown This work describes the diversity and abundance of arsenolipids in the digestive gland and mantle of nine specimens of the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. By using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to both elemental and high-resolution molecular mass spectrometry, we identified 36 arsenolipids including arsenic derivatives of fatty acids, hydrocarbons, sugar-phospholipids and sugar-phytol; 21 of these arsenolipids were identified for the first time and included a new group comprising ether-phospholipids. The arsenic compounds in the mussels show distinct profiles depending on the tissue type, which provide insight into the arsenolipid origin. The results suggest that the presence of some arsenolipids in the mussels is from direct uptake of the compounds, presumably from food, rather than biogenesis within the mussels.

Taste Responsiveness of Spider Monkeys to Dietary Ethanol

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 631-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dausch Ibañez ◽  
Laura Teresa Hernandez Salazar ◽  
Matthias Laska
Keyword(s):  
Short Duration ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Preference Test ◽  
Taste Preference ◽  
Ateles Geoffroyi ◽  
Spider Monkeys ◽  
Taste Preferences ◽  
Additional Source ◽  
Ethanol Mixture ◽  
Sucrose Solutions

Abstract Recent studies suggest that frugivorous primates might display a preference for the ethanol produced by microbia in overripe, fermenting fruit as an additional source of calories. We, therefore, assessed the taste responsiveness of 8 spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) to the range of ethanol concentrations found in overripe, fermenting fruit (0.05–3.0%) and determined taste preference thresholds as well as relative taste preferences for ethanol presented in sucrose solutions and in fruit matrices, respectively. Using a 2-bottle preference test of short duration (1 min), we found that spider monkeys are able to detect ethanol concentrations as low as 0.5%, that they prefer ethanol concentrations up to 3% over water, and that they prefer sucrose solutions and pureed fruit spiked with ethanol over equimolar sucrose solutions and pureed fruit without ethanol. However, when presented with an ethanol-spiked sucrose solution and a higher-concentrated sucrose solution without ethanol, the animals clearly preferred the latter, even when the sucrose–ethanol mixture contained 3 times more calories. These results demonstrate that spider monkeys are more sensitive to the taste of ethanol than rats and humans and that they prefer ecologically relevant suprathreshold concentrations of ethanol over water. Tests with sucrose solutions and pureed fruits that were either spiked with ethanol or not suggest that sweetness may be more important for the preferences displayed by the spider monkeys than the calories provided by ethanol. The present results, therefore, do not support the notion that dietary ethanol might be used by frugivorous primates as a supplemental source of calories.

Adaptations to Intraperitoneal Sucrose Solutions in the Rat

1956 ◽  
Vol 184 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-395
Author(s):  
P. F. Iampietro
Keyword(s):  
Peritoneal Cavity ◽  
Urine Output ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Tubular Reabsorption ◽  
Sucrose Solutions

Rats injected intraperitoneally with sucrose solution (1.5 m) two or more times at weekly intervals adapt by increasing the concentration of sucrose in the urine at 1–3 hours and by increasing urine output at the end of 6 hours. The adaptation appears within 2 days after the first injection and disappears after 13 days of no injections. There is no adaptation in absorption from the peritoneal cavity. The adaptation in excretion may therefore be the result of reduced tubular reabsorption of sucrose. Adaptations were observed also in drinking responses and in survival when toxic doses were administered.

scholarly journals Do city cachers store less? The effect of urbanization and exploration on spatial memory in individual scatter hoarders

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Joy Thompson ◽  
Julie Morand-Ferron
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Spatial Task ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Urban Gradient ◽  
Supplemental Food ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
Bird Feeders ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
First Time

Urbanization has been shown to affect a variety of traits in animals, including their physiology, morphology, and behaviour, but it is less clear how cognitive traits are modified. Urban habitats contain artificially elevated food sources, such as bird feeders, that are known to affect the foraging behaviours of urban animals. As of yet however, it is not known whether urbanization and the abundance of supplemental food during the winter reduce caching behaviours and spatial memory in scatter hoarders. We aimed to examine individual variation in caching and spatial memory between and within urban and rural habitats to determine i) whether urban individuals cache less frequently and perform less accurately on a spatial task, and ii) explore, for the first time in scatter hoarders, whether slower explorers perform more accurately on a spatial task, indicating a speed-accuracy trade-off within individuals. We assessed spatial memory of wild-caught black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus; N = 96) from 14 sites along an urban gradient. While the individuals that cached more food in captivity were all from rural environments, we find no clear evidence that caching intensity and spatial memory accuracy differ along an urban gradient, and find no significant relationship between spatial cognition and exploration of a novel environment within individuals. However, individuals that performed more accurately also tended to cache more frequently, suggesting for the first time that the specialization of spatial memory in scatter hoarders may also occur at the level of the individual in addition to the population and species levels.

scholarly journals One-predicate interrogative conditional constructions in Catalan (in comparison with Spanish and French)

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-115
Author(s):  
Tatiana V. Repnina
Keyword(s):  
Main Clause ◽  
Separate Study ◽  
Low Probability ◽  
First Time

The article deals with mononuclear interrogative conditional constructions in Catalan (in comparison with Spanish and French), a topic addressed for the first time in a separate study. The tense and voice uses in these constructions, their transformations into two-predicate constructions, and their meanings are examined in detail. Conclusions about the differences in tense use are made, constructions with positive and negative meanings are analyzed. The following conclusions are made: 1. One-predicate conditional constructions are characteristic of interrogative, but not of declarative utterances. 2. One-predicate conditional constructions can be split into those that elide the main clause and those that do not. Elliptical constructions imply the meaning of consequence, while non-elliptical constructions do not. 3. One-predicate interrogative conditional constructions normally begin with a special marker, a conjunction combination – i si in Catalan, y si in Spanish, and et si in French. 4. Interrogative conditional constructions with main clause ellipsis can express both real and unreal condition in the present, past or future by means of tenses and moods. The use of tenses and moods in constructions with main clause ellipsis in the three targeted languages mostly coincide. The differences can be summed up as follows. In Catalan and Spanish, the imperfect of the conjunctive generally corresponds to the imperfect of the indicative in French. In Catalan and Spanish, the pluperfect of the conjunctive is opposed to the pluperfect of the indicative in French. The same difference is also true of non-interrogative conditional constructions. 5. In Catalan and Spanish, non-elliptical interrogative conditional constructions use imperfect subjunctives as opposed to French where imperfect indicatives occur instead. 6. Elliptical one-predicate interrogative conditional constructions address events whose realization or consequences are not obvious to the speaker, or low-probability events. Such constructions mostly express negative meaning. Non-elliptical one-predicate interrogative conditional constructions express request, suggestion, or advice.

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