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opencc-zeroApr 2024View details →

Conspecific brood parasitism and nest predation in moorhens

Conspecific brood parasitism was investigated in three species of moorhens on three different continents: common moorhens in the United Kingdom, lesser moorhens in Namibia, and American moorhens in Panama. These are nest data used to summarize population-level rates of conspecific brood parasitism and nest predation. The data reported here were collected using similar field methods, and include nest dates, clutch sizes (number of host eggs), number of parasitic eggs, and nest fates.

opencc-zeroApr 2024View details →

Data from: Yellowtail damselfish Chrysiptera parasema can associate predation risk with the acoustic call of a heterospecific damselfish following pairing with conspecific alarm cues

The ability to detect and respond to the presence of predation risk is under intense selection, especially for small-bodied fishes that coexist with predators. Fish use visual, olfactory, and auditory cues to assess predation risk. Damselfishes (Pomacentridae) use auditory vocalizations during inter- and intrasexual interactions, but it is not known if they can use vocalizations in the context of predator-prey interactions. Here, we test if yellowtail damselfish, Chrysiptera parasema, can learn to associate the territorial vocalization of heterospecific humbug damselfish Dascyllus aruanus with predation risk. In conditioning trials of yellowtail damselfish we played the territorial call of humbug damselfish while introducing either blank water (control treatment) or chemical alarm cue derived from damaged skin of conspecific yellowtail damselfish. In conditioning trials, fish exposed to alarm cue increased activity and spent more time in the water column relative to fish that received the control treatment. After a single conditioning trial, conditioned fish were exposed again to the territorial call. Fish conditioned with the call + alarm cue increased activity and time in the water column relative to fish that had been conditioned with the control treatment. These data indicate associative learning of an auditory stimulus with predation risk in a species that regularly uses auditory signaling in other contexts. Recordings of conditioning and test trials failed to detect any acoustic calls produced by test fish in response to the perception of predation risk. Thus, although yellowtail damselfish can associate risk with auditory stimuli, we found no evidence that they produce an alarm call.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2024View details →

Social clues in risky pools: Perceived conspecific rivals modify individual mosquito oviposition decisions in response to larval predation and competition

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opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Does the presence of a conspecific increase or decrease fear? Neophobia and habituation in zebra finches

Neophobia, defined as the fear of novelty, can be exhibited when individuals encounter unfamiliar stimuli in their environment. Neophobia has been shown to both increase and decrease when individuals are with conspecifics. An increase in latency to contact new objects can be explained by the negotiation hypothesis which proposes that individuals in groups will negotiate who will approach novelty first, thereby delaying the first contact. This negotiation process could co-occur with and mask a potential effect of risk dilution, where individuals in groups should approach novel objects faster due to lower perceived risk in a social than non-social context. Here, we aim to test the risk dilution hypothesis using an experimental set-up that precluded negotiation among group members by physically separating dyads during social trials. We presented zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) with different novel objects in both social and non-social contexts. We also repeated the presentation of each object to investigate, for the first time to our knowledge, the effect of social context on the change in neophobia over repeated encounters (i.e., habituation). We found that social context increased the latency to approach a novel object upon first presentation of objects (i.e., increased neophobia), but these latencies decreased faster over repeated presentations of the objects (i.e., faster habituation) compared to the non-social context. These results do not provide support for the risk dilution hypothesis regarding first encounters with objects (neophobia) but seem to support it over repeated object presentations (habituation). This suggests that the effect of social context is different on neophobia and habituation, possibly because they recruit different cognitive mechanisms. Future studies should investigate the impact of ecological and social conditions on decision-making upon first versus subsequent encounters with a novel object in social animals, as both processes can impact fitness costs and benefits of novelty responses.

opennotspecifiedAug 2011View details →

Distribution. Java. Several biogeographic reviews failed to list the genus for Bali, an island directly east of Java with strong biogeographic affinities to the latter. A sighting was, however, reported from Bali Barat National Park, in a birdwatching trip report. Given the live-animal trade of this species on Java, further records are needed to confirm whether or not there is a native population of the genus on Bali. If there is, biogeographic considerations suggest it would be most closely related to the Javan population and quite probably conspecific. in Tragulidae

Distribution. Java. Several biogeographic reviews failed to list the genus for Bali, an island directly east of Java with strong biogeographic affinities to the latter. A sighting was, however, reported from Bali Barat National Park, in a birdwatching trip report. Given the live-animal trade of this species on Java, further records are needed to confirm whether or not there is a native population of the genus on Bali. If there is, biogeographic considerations suggest it would be most closely related to the Javan population and quite probably conspecific.

opencc-zeroJan 2022View details →

Conspecific attraction for conservation and management of terrestrial breeding birds: current knowledge and future research directions

Conspecific presence can indicate the location or quality of resources, and animals settling near conspecifics often gain fitness benefits. This can result in adaptive conspecific attraction during breeding habitat selection as demonstrated in numerous terrestrial, territorial birds. There is growing interest in using simulated conspecific social cues (e.g., decoys, broadcasted vocalizations) to manage bird distributions, yet it remains unclear when this approach is likely to succeed. We reviewed published studies to evaluate whether the strength of conspecific attraction in terrestrial birds is mediated by characteristics of species (life history traits), simulated cues (e.g., timing and duration), sites (e.g., quality), and how conspecific attraction was measured. We identified 31 experiments that simulated social cues and compared conspecific settlement between treatment and control sites. We then used phylogenetically controlled meta-regression to assess impacts of 19 moderators on settlement. Nearly all species included in these experiments were migratory passerines, and social cues generally had a strong, positive influence on their settlement decisions, as the odds of site occupancy were 3.12× (95% CI = 0.81, 11.69) greater in treatment sites relative to control sites. Within this group, conspecific attraction was evolutionarily conserved with ≥ 25.5% (CI = 5.1%, 65.4%) of the variance in treatment effects explained by phylogenetic relatedness. However, we found no evidence that any covariates influenced the response to social cues, and we posit this stems from limited research specifically designed to identify the mechanisms mediating conspecific attraction. We therefore developed a research agenda that provides a framework for testing mechanistic hypotheses regarding how cue characteristics, species traits, and spatial contexts may mediate attraction to conspecifics. Evaluating these hypotheses will greatly advance the field by helping managers understand when, where, and why simulating social cues can be used to enhance populations of species that are of conservation concern.

opencc-zeroMar 2022View details →

Observational evidence of herbivore-specific associational effects between neighboring conspecifics in natural, dimorphic populations of Datura wrightii

Associational effects – in which the vulnerability of a plant to herbivores is influenced by its neighbors – have been widely implicated in mediating plant-herbivore interactions. Studies of associational effects typically focus on interspecific interactions or pest-crop dynamics. However, associational effects may also be important for species with intraspecific variation in defensive traits. In this study, we observed hundreds of Datura wrightii – which exhibits dimorphism in its trichome phenotype – from over 30 dimorphic populations across California. Our aim was to determine whether a relationship existed between the trichome phenotype of neighboring conspecifics and the likelihood of being damaged by four species of herbivorous insects. We visited plants at three timepoints to assess how these effects vary both within and between growing seasons. We hypothesized that the pattern of associational effects would provide rare-morphs (i.e. focal plants that are a different morph than their neighbors) with an advantage in the form of reduced herbivory, thereby contributing to the negative frequency-dependent selection previously documented in this system. We found the best predictor of herbivory/herbivore presence on focal plants was the phenotype of the focal plant. However, we also found some important neighborhood effects. The total number of plants near a focal individual predicted the likelihood and/or magnitude of herbivory by Tupiochoris notatus, Lema daturaphila, and Manduca sexta. We also found that velvety focal plants with primarily sticky neighbors are more susceptible to infestation by Tupiochoris notatus and Lema daturaphila. This does not align with the hypothesis that associational effects at the near-neighbor scale contribute to a rare-morph advantage in this system. Overall the results of our study show that the number and trichome-morph composition of neighboring conspecifics impact interactions between D. wrightii and insect herbivores.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

Perception of dead conspecifics increases reproductive investment in fruit flies

Adaptive plasticity in life-history traits is often critical to maximize fitness in the face of environmental heterogeneity. For example, many organisms respond to a threat to their survival (and hence residual reproductive value) by adaptively increasing their investment into current reproduction (i.e. "terminal investment"). A key to successful terminal investment is the use of adequate environmental cues to extrinsic mortality sources. In species that live at high population densities, the presence of dead conspecifics could potentially act as a reliable cue to extrinsic mortality sources (e.g. via pathogens). We experimentally tested this idea using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, a pest species that experiences marked demographic shifts. We monitored the reproductive output of young mated females during repeated bouts of egg-laying in the presence (i.e. dead-exposed) or absence (i.e. controls) of dead conspecifics, interspersed by mating periods where dead conspecifics were always absent. Dead-exposed females produced more offspring than controls when in the presence of dead conspecifics but fewer offspring than controls when dead conspecifics were subsequently removed (i.e. during mating periods). These changes were repeatable across time, and are thus indicative of high plasticity in reproductive behaviour. Flies responded equally to starvation-induced and flash-frozen dead conspecifics, indicating that the cause of death is irrelevant to trigger the plastic response observed, and that females respond to the presence of dead conspecifics per se. Finally, we found that dead-exposed females produced heavier daughters (but not sons) than controls when in the presence of dead conspecifics, but not during mating periods (when dead conspecifics were absent). In this species body size correlates more strongly with female (than male) fitness, so higher investment in daughter weight is congruent with terminal investment. Altogether, our results show that perception of dead conspecifics leads to highly plastic life-history adjustments in the form of increased investment in both the quantity and the quality of offspring. We discuss these results in the context of terminal investment and other alternative hypotheses.

opennotspecifiedJul 2018View details →

Distribution. Known definitely from two areas in N &W Sumatra (Mt Tujuh and Bukit Lawan), but if morphologically and genetically similar specimens from Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia prove to be conspecifics, its distribution might be more extensive across the Sundaland. in Soricidae

Distribution. Known definitely from two areas in N &W Sumatra (Mt Tujuh and Bukit Lawan), but if morphologically and genetically similar specimens from Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia prove to be conspecifics, its distribution might be more extensive across the Sundaland.

openother-openJul 2022View details →

Coexistence is stabilized by conspecific negative density dependence via fungal pathogens more than oomycete pathogens

No description provided.

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

Plant growth over one growing season of Medicago truncatula in competition with conspecifics of different genetic relatedness

Kin recognition and kin selection have long been known to occur in animals where it shapes altruistic behavior towards relatives. More recently, studies have found that kin recognition and altered behavior towards kin can also occur in plants. However, inferring the underlying mechanism responsible for variation in plant performance in experimental studies is challenging as often, results can be explained by alternative and non-exclusive mechanisms such as niche differences, kin competition avoidance, and genetic variation in growth rate and competitive ability. Plant-plant interactions may change with the life stage of plants, and competition is often most intense towards the end of plants growing season. However, changes in plant-plant interaction intensity across plants life cycle are rarely considered in kin interaction studies. Here, we adapt a model of plant growth over time modified to specifically include effects of kin and non-kin competition. The model decompose competitive interactions at different stages during plant growth from initial growth to the end of the growing season. It estimates genotype specific variation in growth rate, and how sensitive individual genotypes are to competition neighbors. Furthermore, it estimates size asymmetry among plants accounting for both variation in growth rate, neighbor relatedness, and resource variation (here water availability). We use this model to analyze the results from a competition experiment where plants grew in mini-communities with neighbor plants that were either kin or non-kin. We find that when applied to our experiments, this approach can disentangle kin effects from other effects caused by genotypic variation in growth rate and competitive response to neighbors, and thus significantly help to detect whether plants exhibit kin-cooperative behavior

opencc-by-nd-4.0Aug 2020View details →

Figure 1 in Conspecific oophagy by the jumping spider Brettus cingulatus (Araneae: Salticidae: Spartaeini) in Karnataka, India

Figure 1. Handicapped (missing left legs I and II) female Brettus cingulatus guarding her nest.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2015View details →

Supplementary material 1 from: Arriaga-Jiménez A, Roy L (2015) Co1 DNA supports conspecificity of Geomyphilus pierai and G. barrerai (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Aphodiinae) and is a good marker for their phylogeographic investigation in Mexican mountains. ZooKeys 512: 77-88. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.512.9646

EMBL accession numbers of beetle DNA sequences: Explanation note: accession numbers (EMBL) of each Co1 and ITS DNA sequence obtained from beetle individuals and integrated into analyses in the present study.

FIGURE 30 in Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

FIGURE 30. Perixerus triqui sp. nov. HOLOTYPE MALE SPECIMEN: A. HABITUS, RIGHT LATERAL VIEW (LEFT LEG MISSING); B. THORAX, DORSAL VIEW.

FIGURE 36 in Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

FIGURE 36. KNOWN GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONS OF Dasyscirtus, Perixerus AND Liladownsia SPECIES INDICATING THE MEXICAN BIOGEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES WHERE THEY ARE RESTRICTED. BRB, BALSAS RIVER BASIN; GM, GULF OF MEXICO COAST; MVB, MEXICAN VOLCANIC BELT; PC, PACIFIC COAST, SMS, SIERRA MADRE DEL SUR; SO, SIERRA DE OAXACA.

FIGURE 33 in Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

FIGURE 33. Perixerus triqui sp. nov. PARATYPE FEMALE SPECIMEN: A. HABITUS, LEFT LATERAL VIEW; B. THORAX, DORSAL VIEW.

FIGURE 27 in Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

FIGURE 27. Perixerus obscurus sp. nov. HOLOTYPE MALE SPECIMEN: INTERNAL GENITALIA (KOH-CLEARED): A. COMPLETE PHALLIC COMPLEX, DORSAL VIEW; B. EPIPHALLUS, DORSAL VIEW; C. ECTOPHALLUS/ENDOPHALLUS, LEFT LATERAL VIEW; D. ECTOPHALLUS/ENDOPHALLUS, DORSAL VIEW.

FIGURE 26 in Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

FIGURE 26. Perixerus obscurus sp. nov. HOLOTYPE MALE SPECIMEN: EXTERNAL GENITALIA: A. LEFT LATERAL VIEW; B. DORSAL VIEW; INTERNAL GENITALIA (DRY): C. LEFT LATERAL VIEW; D. DORSAL VIEW.

FIGURE 23 in Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

FIGURE 23. Perixerus squamipennis CURATED FEMALE SPECIMEN: A. HABITUS, LEFT LATERAL VIEW; B. THORAX, DORSAL VIEW.

FIGURE 22 in Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

FIGURE 22. Perixerus squamipennis CURATED MALE SPECIMEN: INTERNAL GENITALIA (KOH-CLEARED): A. COMPLETE PHALLIC COMPLEX, DORSAL VIEW; B. EPIPHALLUS, DORSAL VIEW; C. ECTOPHALLUS/ENDOPHALLUS, LEFT LATERAL VIEW; D. ECTOPHALLUS/ENDOPHALLUS, DORSAL VIEW.