Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Heather K. E. Ward, Amanda J. Moehring
Summary: Surface chemical compounds play a crucial role in the survival and reproduction of insects, with CHCs being essential for desiccation resistance and chemical communication. Understanding the genetic basis of species variation in CHCs is important for reproductive success and isolation between species. The gene CG5946 has been identified as a new candidate locus contributing to species-specific variation in CHC profiles.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hajar Faal, Peter J. Silk, Peter D. Mayo, Stephen A. Teale
Summary: The study describes the courtship behavior and identification of sex pheromones in Ibalia leucospoides, revealing that four straight-chain alkanes in female body wash are attractive to male I. leucospoides.
Article
Neurosciences
Nobuaki K. Tanaka, Takashi Hirao, Hikaru Chida, Aki Ejima
Summary: The study revealed that the courtship behavior in male fruit flies is mediated by specific neurons, which respond to multimodal sensory stimuli and lead to a fixed sequence of behaviors. Furthermore, male flies are able to suppress or promote their courtship actions by receiving specific olfactory stimuli through neurons when in contact with females.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Z. C. Hamida, J. P. Farine, J. F. Ferveur, N. Soltani
Summary: The study found that spiromesifen exhibited insecticidal activity on D. melanogaster, prolonging the developmental periods of larvae and pupae while shortening the lifespan of exposed males. Additionally, pre-imaginal exposure to spiromesifen affected fatty acids and modified cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in exposed flies, impacting their sexual behavior and reproductive capacity.
COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY C-TOXICOLOGY & PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Entomology
Glen Ray Hood, Jackson H. Jennings, Daniel J. Bruzzese, Melanie Beehler, Thomas Schmitt, Jeffrey L. Feder, William J. Etges
Summary: The study found variation in epicuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) as a potential factor in mate choice among adults of six Rhagoletis taxa, including the apple and hawthorn-infesting host races. Gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry revealed 36 repeatable and quantifiable hydrocarbon components across all six fly taxa, with at least 53 different CHC compounds present, consisting of n-alkanes, mono-, dimethyl-, and trimethyl-alkanes, alkenes, and alkadienes. The results suggest that CHC variation may contribute to patterns of premating isolation between Rhagoletis taxa, potentially driven by sexual and host-related selection.
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Soo Min Oh, Kyunghwa Jeong, Jeong Taeg Seo, Seok Jun Moon
Summary: Through studying fruit flies, we have found that multimodal sensory integration plays a role in feeding behavior, particularly the contributions of olfactory and mechanical inputs to taste-evoked feeding behavior. Controlled delivery of three different sensory cues can produce a supra-additive reflex. Fruit flies serve as a versatile model system for studying multisensory integration related to feeding, which likely also exists in vertebrates.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jie Sun, Wen-Kan Liu, Calder Ellsworth, Qian Sun, Yufeng Pan, Yi-Chun Huang, Wu-Min Deng
Summary: Fru(COM) is a crucial factor for pheromone biosynthesis in hepatocyte-like oenocytes in fruit flies, playing a significant role in sexual attraction.
Article
Biology
Max Jameson Aragon, Aaron T. Mok, Jamien Shea, Mengran Wang, Haein Kim, Nathan Barkdull, Chris Xu, Nilay Yapici
Summary: A multiphoton imaging method was developed to capture neural structure and activity in behaving flies through the intact cuticle, revealing high transmission at wavelengths >900nm. By compressing or removing air sacs, multiphoton imaging of the fly brain through the intact cuticle was achieved with superior results using 3-photon imaging in deeper regions. This through-cuticle imaging method extends the time limits of in vivo imaging in flies and offers new ways to study neural structure and activity in the fly brain.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cassondra L. Vernier, Nicole Leitner, Kathleen M. Zelle, Merrin Foltz, Sophia Dutton, Xitong Liang, Sean Halloran, Jocelyn G. Millar, Yehuda Ben-Shahar
Summary: In Drosophila, the production and perception of mating signals are co-regulated by Gr8a, a member of the Gustatory receptor gene family, providing a simple molecular explanation for the robustness of mating signaling systems at the population and species levels.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Karen Rihani, Jean-Francois Ferveur, Loic Briand
Summary: OBPs are a family of odorant-binding proteins that play a crucial role in chemoreception of insects. Apart from their function in transporting hydrophobic stimuli to chemoreceptors, OBPs also have roles in buffering odorant level changes and hygro-reception. The physiological roles of OBPs expressed in other body tissues remain to be investigated.
Article
Ecology
Subhash Rajpurohit, Vladimir Vrkoslav, Robert Hanus, Allen G. Gibbs, Josef Cvacka, Paul S. Schmidt
Summary: The insect cuticle acts as a barrier between internal homeostasis and the external environment, with cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) playing a key role in stress response and communication. Exposure to different temperatures post-eclosion resulted in significant changes in CHCs profiles among Drosophila melanogaster populations, with variations observed in chain length and effects varying between populations and sexes. The differences in CHCs were linked to desiccation tolerance, highlighting the genetic and plasticity effects in response to environmental temperatures during the adult stage.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Colleen M. Palmateer, Catherina Artikis, Savannah G. Brovero, Benjamin Friedman, Alexis Gresham, Michelle N. Arbeitman
Summary: Reproductive behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster are controlled by fruitless neurons. Single-cell RNA sequencing on pupal neurons revealed sex-specific gene expression patterns, with over 113 distinct clusters identified. Marker gene analyses showed enrichment of specific functional groups, including circadian clock neurons, mushroom body Kenyon cells, neurotransmitter-producing neurons, and those expressing doublesex. The presence of both male and female neurons in most clusters suggests common gene expression programs, with sex-specific differences overlaying these programs to generate diverse behaviors.
Article
Ecology
Chelsea S. Sinclair, Suriya F. Lisa, Alison Pischedda
Summary: In many species, including fruit flies, males exhibit preferences for certain females based on traits like species, mating history, age, and condition. The males' previous sexual experiences can also influence their preferences. Despite the general preference for larger females, sexually inexperienced males show a strong preference for larger females that is not affected by previous experiences.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Elena G. Belkina, Alexander Shiglik, Natalia G. Sopilko, Sergey N. Lysenkov, Alexander Markov
Summary: Under experimental conditions, female mate choice copying in fruit flies appears to be less robust than previously suggested, indicating a need for further research to assess its prevalence in different laboratory lines and natural populations.
Article
Ecology
Stefan Jungwirth, Joachim Ruther, Tamara Pokorny
Summary: In a study on parasitoid wasps, it was found that males and females of one species produce the same set of cuticular hydrocarbons in similar relative amounts. Despite this similarity, males were able to use these hydrocarbons for close range mate recognition. Male wasps only showed copulation behavior towards dead females, indicating the importance of cuticular lipids in sexual recognition.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
James A. Klarevas-Irby, Damien R. Farine
Summary: Little is known about how animals overcome temporal constraints on movement during dispersal. This study used GPS tracking of vulturine guineafowl and found that dispersers showed the greatest increase in movement at the same times of day when they moved the most prior to dispersal. These findings suggest that individuals face the same ecological constraints during dispersal as they do in daily life and achieve large displacements by maximizing movement when conditions are most favorable.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Simone Ciaralli, Martina Esposito, Stefano Francesconi, Daniela Muzzicato, Marco Gamba, Matteo Dal Zotto, Daniela Campobello
Summary: Male cuckoos may transfer nest location information to females as a nonmaterial nuptial gift through specific postures and behaviors, potentially influencing mating choices of female cuckoos.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Anne E. Aulsebrook, Rowan Jacques-Hamilton, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: Accelerometry and machine learning have been used to quantify mating behaviors of captive male ruffs. Different machine learning methods were compared and evaluated for their classification performance. The study highlights the challenges and potential pitfalls in classifying mating behaviors using accelerometry and provides recommendations and considerations for future research.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Maria G. Smith, Joshua B. LaPergola, Christina Riehl
Summary: This study analyzed individual contributions to parental care in the greater ani bird and found that workload inequality varied between groups of two and three pairs. However, there was no clear evidence of division of labour within the groups, suggesting individual differences in overall work performed.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Noah M. T. Smith, Reuven Dukas
Summary: Winner and loser effects are observed in many animals, and recent experiments suggest that they may also occur in humans. In two experiments involving video games and reading comprehension, participants who won in the first phase performed significantly better in the second phase compared to those who lost. The effect size was larger in the video game experiment, and men and women showed similar magnitudes of winner and loser effects.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Bianca J. L. Marcellino, Peri Yee, Shannon J. Mccauley, Rosalind L. Murray
Summary: This study examines the trade-off between mating effort and thermoregulatory behavior in dragonflies in response to temperature changes, and investigates the effect of wing melanin on these behaviors. The results indicate that as temperature increases, dragonflies reduce their mating effort and increase their thermoregulatory behavior.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Rafael Rios Moura, Paulo Inacio Prado, Joao Vasconcellos-Neto
Summary: This study examined the escape behavior and decision-making of Aglaoctenus castaneus spiders on different substrates. It was found that spiders inhabiting injurious substrates displayed shorter flight initiation distances and lower sensitivity to predators.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Luigi Baciadonna, Cwyn Solvi, Francesca Terranova, Camilla Godi, Cristina Pilenga, Livio Favaro
Summary: In this study, it was found that African penguins could use ventral dot patterns to recognize their lifelong partner and nonpartner colonymates. This challenges the previous assumption of limited visual involvement in penguin communication, highlighting the complex and flexible recognition process in birds.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Nick A. R. Jones, Jade Newton-Youens, Joachim G. Frommen
Summary: Environmental conditions, particularly temperature, have a significant impact on animal behavior. This study focused on aggression in Neolamprologus pulcher fish and found that aggression rates increased with temperature at lower levels, but decreased after reaching a peak. Additionally, the influence of high temperatures on aggression changed over time during the trials. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the short-term effects of temperature on aggression and highlight the importance of considering non-linear changes in thermal performance.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Bruno Herlander Martins, Andrea Soriano-Redondo, Aldina M. A. Franco, Ines Carry
Summary: Human activities have affected the availability of resources for wildlife, particularly through the provision of anthropogenic food subsidies at landfill sites. This study explores the influence of age on landfill attendance and foraging behavior in white storks. Adult storks visit landfills more frequently and show dominance over juveniles in food acquisition. Juveniles have limited access to landfill resources and are forced to use lower quality areas.