Ovary structure, fecundity and mating receptivity in Umbonia crassicornis Amyot and Serville 1843 (Hemiptera: Membracidae)

2009 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-189
Author(s):  
Robert V. Dowell ◽  
Thomas K. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Umbonia Crassicornis ◽  
Mating Receptivity

Female mating receptivity after injection of male-derived extracts in Callosobruchus maculatus

2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (12) ◽  
pp. 1522-1527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Yamane ◽  
Takahisa Miyatake ◽  
Yoshinobu Kimura
Keyword(s):  
Callosobruchus Maculatus ◽  
Female Mating ◽  
Mating Receptivity

OFFSPRING-PARENT COMMUNICATION IN A SUBSOCIAL TREEHOPPER (HEMIPTERA: MEMBRACIDAE: UMBONIA CRASSICORNIS)

Behaviour ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reginald Cocroft
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Defensive Behavior ◽  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Parent Communication ◽  
Umbonia Crassicornis ◽  
Vibrational Signals ◽  
Predator Signals

Parental care of post-hatching offspring is widespread in insects, but the role of communication in parent-offspring interactions remains largely unknown. I have found that, in the subsocial treehopper Umbonia crassicornis , aggregated nymphal offspring produce substrate-borne, vibrational signals in synchronized bursts that elicit the mother's antipredator behavior. In this study I describe the signals used by nymphs and explore their role in mother-offspring interactions and within-brood communication. Nymphs were stimulated to signal in the laboratory in response to light contact, simulating the approach of a predator. Signals of nymphs at the site of disturbance triggered a rapid wave of signaling by many individuals within the aggregation. This coordinated signaling was associated with the mother's defensive behavior. Signaling was limited to the vibrational channel: when transmission of vibrations was blocked between signaling nymphs and the mother, the mothers' response was abolished. Nymphs signaled not only in response to contact, but also in response to playback of signals from their siblings. Nymphs in otherwise undisturbed aggregations signaled only in response to signals coordinated into synchronized, group displays, and not to signals in random temporal patterns. However, nymphal signaling thresholds were lowered after a recent experience of simulated predation. After a period in which nymphs were stimulated to signal (by light contact simulating a predator's approach), playback of one individual signal could trigger a coordinated burst within the aggregation. It remains unknown if coordination among siblings to produce synchronized, group signals is completely cooperative, or if siblings compete for the mother's proximity. But it is clear that a complex system of communication among siblings, and between siblings and their parent, is an important feature of maternal care in these subsocial insects.

scholarly journals Negative feedback from maternal signals reduces false alarms by collectively signalling offspring

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1743) ◽  
pp. 3820-3826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Hamel ◽  
Reginald B. Cocroft
Keyword(s):  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Collective Behaviour ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Perceptual Range ◽  
Animal Groups ◽  
Umbonia Crassicornis ◽  
Maternal Communication

Within animal groups, individuals can learn of a predator's approach by attending to the behaviour of others. This use of social information increases an individual's perceptual range, but can also lead to the propagation of false alarms. Error copying is especially likely in species that signal collectively, because the coordination required for collective displays relies heavily on social information. Recent evidence suggests that collective behaviour in animals is, in part, regulated by negative feedback. Negative feedback may reduce false alarms by collectively signalling animals, but this possibility has not yet been tested. We tested the hypothesis that negative feedback increases the accuracy of collective signalling by reducing the production of false alarms. In the treehopper Umbonia crassicornis , clustered offspring produce collective signals during predator attacks, advertising the predator's location to the defending mother. Mothers signal after evicting the predator, and we show that this maternal communication reduces false alarms by offspring. We suggest that maternal signals elevate offspring signalling thresholds. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to show that negative feedback can reduce false alarms by collectively behaving groups.

scholarly journals On the Cytology of Umbonia crassicornis (Amyot and Serville) (Homoptera: Membracidae: Hoplophorioninae)

1969 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-247
Author(s):  
Jaime Escudero ◽  
Niilo Virkki
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Chiasma Frequency ◽  
Rapid Adaptation ◽  
Umbonia Crassicornis

Karyotype of the Membracid Umbonia crassicornis is 9 II + XO; 2n = 20 in female, 2n = 19 in male. It is presumably a fusion derivative from the basic Membracid 10 II + XO Accordingly, one of the autosomal pairs of U. crassicornis is notably large. All chromosomes are metacentric; and, except for the X chromosome, euchromatic. In the male, chiasma frequency is only 9.40 per nucleus. Chiasmata are confined to distal halves of the arms. Such a karyotype forms a conservative recombination apparatus that may have helped the species in its rapid adaptation to the Puerto Rican habitat, which presumably does not differ much from the habitat of the mother population.

Modeling the Rapid Transmission of Information Within a Social Group of Insects: Emergent Patterns in the Antipredator Signals

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Borduin ◽  
Karthik Ramaswamy ◽  
Ashwin Mohan ◽  
Rex Cocroft ◽  
Satish S. Nair
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Group Behavior ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Predator Attack ◽  
Behavioral Rules ◽  
Umbonia Crassicornis ◽  
Transmission Of Information ◽  
Rapid Transmission ◽  
Available Information

The study of group behavior in animals emerging from social interactions among individuals using agent based models has gained momentum in recent years. Although most of the individuals in a group of the treehopper Umbonia crassicornis do not have information about where the predator is, the signaling behavior of the group yields an emergent pattern that provides the defending adult with information about predator presence and location. Offspring signal synchronously to warn a defending parent of a predator attack. We develop a computational model of rapid signaler-receiver interactions in this group-living insect. We test the emergence of informative global patterns by providing interacting juvenile nymphs with limited locally available information with this agent based model. Known parameters such as size of the aggregation and spatial distribution are estimated from experimental recordings. Further, the model investigates the behavioral rules underlying group signaling patterns that reveal the predator’s location. We also show how variation in these behavioral rules can bring about variation in group signals, demonstrating the potential for natural selection to shape these rules.

Sex Ratio in Umbonia crassicornis Amyot and Serville (Homoptera: Membracidae)

1984 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas K. Wood ◽  
Robert Dowell
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Umbonia Crassicornis
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