Behavioral Consistency Checking between Requirements and Implementations

Checking if the implementations conform to the requirement models is challenging. Most existing techniques for consistency checking either focus on requirement models（e.g., requirements consistency checking）, or on the implementations（e.g., code-based testing） only. In this paper we propose an approach to checking behavioral consistency of implementations against requirement models directly to overcome these limitations. Our approach extracts two behavioral models represented by Labelled Transition Systems（LTS） from requirement models and implementations respectively, and checks the behavioral consistency between these two models based on behavioral simulation relation of LTS. The checking results of our approach provide evidence for behavioral inconsistency as well as inconsistent localization. A research prototype called BCCH and a case study are presented to give initial validation of this approach.

Elusive workers are more likely to differentiate into replacement reproductives than aggressive workers in a lower termite

One of the most intriguing questions in eusocial insects is to understand how the overt reproductive conflict in the colony appears limited when queens or kings are senescent or lost because the morphologically similar individuals in the colony are reproductively totipotent.Whether there are some individuals who preferentially differentiate into replacement reproductives or not has received little attention.The consistent individual behavioral differences(also termed“animal personality”)of individuals from the colony can shape cunningly their task and consequently affect the colony fitness but have been rarely investigated in eusocial insects.Here,we used the termite Reticulitermes labralis to investigate if variations in individual personalities(elusiveness and aggressiveness)may predict which individuals will perform reproductive differentiation within colonies.We observed that when we separately reared elusive and aggressive workers,elusive workers differentiate into reproductives significantly earlier than aggressive workers.When we reared them together in the proportions 12:3,10:5,and 8:7(aggressive workers:elusive workers),the first reproductives mostly differentiated from the elusive workers,and the reproductives differentiated from the elusive workers significantly earlier than from aggressive workers.Furthermore,we found that the number of workers participating in reproductive differentiation was significantly lower in the groups of both types of workers than in groups containing only elusive workers.Our results demonstrate that the elusiveness trait was a strong predictor of workers’differentiation into replacement reproductives in R.labralis.Moreover,our results suggest that individual personalities within the insect society could play a key role in resolving the overt reproductive conflict.

Consistent differences in foraging behavior in 2 sympatric harvester ant species may facilitate coexistence

The co-occurrence of 2 similar species depends on their ability to occupy different ecological niches. Here, we compared the consistency of different aspects of foraging behavior in 2 cooccurring harvester ant species （Messor ebeninus and Messor arenarius）, under field conditions. The 2 species are active concomitantly and display a similar diet, but M. arenarius features smaller colonies, larger workers on average, and a broader range of foraging strategies than M. ebeninus. We characterized the flora in the 2 species＇ natural habitat, and detected a nesting preference by M. arenarius for more open, vegetation-free microhabitats than those preferred by M. ebeninus. Next, we tested the food preference of foraging colonies by presenting 3 non-native seed types. Messor arenarius was more selective in its food choice. Colonies were then offered 1 type of seeds over 3 days in different spatial arrangements from the nest entrance （e.g., a seed plate close to the nest entrance, a seed plate blocked by an obstacle, or 3 plates placed at increasing distances from the nest entrance）. While both species were consistent in their foraging behavior, expressed as seed collection, under different treatments over time, M. ebeninus was more consistent than M. arenarius. These differences between the species may be expxained by their different colony size, worker size, and range of foraging strategies, among other factors. We suggest that the differences in foraging, such as in food preference and behavioral consistency while foraging, could contribute to the co-occurrence of these 2 species in a similar habitat.

Environmental temperature during early life affects the personality of mosquitofish in adulthood

Personality has been observed in a variety of animal taxa with important implications in ecology and evolution.Exploring the influence of environmental temperature during early life on personality could help to understand the ontogeny of this phenotypic trait in animals.In this study,we reared newborn mosquitofish Gambusia affinis at high(30C)and low(25C)water temperatures and measured their shyness and exploration upon sexual maturity.We tested the repeatability of each behavioral trait;the correlation between them;and the effects of rearing temperature,sex,and body length on the behaviors.When growing up at low temperatures,female fish exhibited repeatability in shyness and exploration,and males exhibited marginal repeatability in shyness.However,neither of the 2 behaviors were repeatable when the fish were reared at high temperatures.There was a negative correlation between shyness and exploration,indicating that the 2 behaviors comprise a behavioral syndrome in this species.Mosquitofish reared at high temperatures were more explorative than those reared at low temperatures,while there was no difference in shyness between the 2 treatments.Body length and sex had no significant effects on the average values of the 2 behaviors.The results indicate that environmental temperature during early life could shape the personality of mosquitofish and modify the average of the behavioral traits.These findings might provide insights to understand the ontogeny of animal personality and how changes in environmental temperature influence animal dispersal by shaping their personality.

Behavior-Consistent Service Substitutions in Dynamic Environments

In this paper, a novel approach for service substitutions based on the service type in terms of its interface type and behavior semantics is proposed. In order to analyze and verify behavior-consistent service substitutions in dynamic environments, we first present a formal language to describe services from control-flow perspective, then introduce a type and effect system to infer conservative approximations of all possible behaviors of these services. The service behaviors are represented by concurrent behavior expressions （CBEs）. Built upon the interpretation of CBEs, behavior-consistent service substitutions are defined and analyzed by subtyping technology. The correctness of the analysis approach is guaranteed by type safety theorem, which is mechanically proved in the Coq proof assistant. Finally, applications in web services show that our method is effective and feasible.