Toxic insects advertise their defended state to potential predators using warning displays. Frequently these displays use cues through more than one sensory modality, and combine color, smell and sound to produce a mu...Toxic insects advertise their defended state to potential predators using warning displays. Frequently these displays use cues through more than one sensory modality, and combine color, smell and sound to produce a multimodal warning display. Signalling through more than one sensory pathway may enhance the rate of avoidance learning, and the memorability of the learned avoidance. A common insect warning odor, pyrazine, has previously been shown to increase the rate of learned avoidance of unpalatable yellow prey by domestic chicks （GaUus gallus domesticus）, and the odor also improved memory of this learned avoidance. However, to date no research has examined this response to pyrazine odor using wild birds under natural conditions. This study used wild robins （Erithacus rubecula） to investigate whether wild birds avoided yellow baits that smelled of pyrazine more strongly than those presented with no odor. The results provide some evidence that pyrazine odor does increase the level of protection an aposematic insect gains from a wild avian predator, but that the effect of pyrazine on learned avoidance was much weaker than was found with domestic chicks .展开更多
Previous studies have confirmed that both honeybee and Drosophila are capable of learning and memory. This study aimed to investigate whether the house fly （Aldrichina grahami）, with strong instincts to adapt their ...Previous studies have confirmed that both honeybee and Drosophila are capable of learning and memory. This study aimed to investigate whether the house fly （Aldrichina grahami）, with strong instincts to adapt their living environment, have the learning ability to associate odor stimulus to avoid electric shock in free flying state using a device developed by the authors. The result showed the learning ability ofA. grahami at the electric shock voltages of 5 V, 25 V and 45 V AC. When 60 V was used, the flies were frequently injured. Our results indicate that A. grahami is a good model to study the neural mechanism of learning and memory. The paradigm in this study has some advantages that can be used in future studies of free insects.展开更多
Many aposematic insect species advertise their toxicity to potential predators using olfactory and auditory signals, in addition to visual signals, to produce a multimodal warning display. The olfactory signals in the...Many aposematic insect species advertise their toxicity to potential predators using olfactory and auditory signals, in addition to visual signals, to produce a multimodal warning display. The olfactory signals in these displays may have interesting effects, such as eliciting innate avoidance against novel colored prey, or improving learning and memory of defended prey. However, little is known about the effects of such ancillary signals when they are auditory rather than olfactory. The few studies that have investigated this question have provided conflicting results. The current study sought to clarify and extend understanding of the effects of prey auditory signals on avian predator responses. The domestic chick Gallus gallus domesticus was used as a model avian predator to examine how the defensive buzzing sound of a bumblebee Bombus terrestris affected the chick＇s innate avoidance behavior, and the learning and memory of prey avoidance. The results demonstrate that the buzzing sound had no effect on the predator＇s responses to unpalatable aposematically colored crumbs, suggesting that the agitated buzzing of B. terrestris may provide no additional protection from avian predators .展开更多
文摘Toxic insects advertise their defended state to potential predators using warning displays. Frequently these displays use cues through more than one sensory modality, and combine color, smell and sound to produce a multimodal warning display. Signalling through more than one sensory pathway may enhance the rate of avoidance learning, and the memorability of the learned avoidance. A common insect warning odor, pyrazine, has previously been shown to increase the rate of learned avoidance of unpalatable yellow prey by domestic chicks （GaUus gallus domesticus）, and the odor also improved memory of this learned avoidance. However, to date no research has examined this response to pyrazine odor using wild birds under natural conditions. This study used wild robins （Erithacus rubecula） to investigate whether wild birds avoided yellow baits that smelled of pyrazine more strongly than those presented with no odor. The results provide some evidence that pyrazine odor does increase the level of protection an aposematic insect gains from a wild avian predator, but that the effect of pyrazine on learned avoidance was much weaker than was found with domestic chicks .
文摘Previous studies have confirmed that both honeybee and Drosophila are capable of learning and memory. This study aimed to investigate whether the house fly （Aldrichina grahami）, with strong instincts to adapt their living environment, have the learning ability to associate odor stimulus to avoid electric shock in free flying state using a device developed by the authors. The result showed the learning ability ofA. grahami at the electric shock voltages of 5 V, 25 V and 45 V AC. When 60 V was used, the flies were frequently injured. Our results indicate that A. grahami is a good model to study the neural mechanism of learning and memory. The paradigm in this study has some advantages that can be used in future studies of free insects.
文摘Many aposematic insect species advertise their toxicity to potential predators using olfactory and auditory signals, in addition to visual signals, to produce a multimodal warning display. The olfactory signals in these displays may have interesting effects, such as eliciting innate avoidance against novel colored prey, or improving learning and memory of defended prey. However, little is known about the effects of such ancillary signals when they are auditory rather than olfactory. The few studies that have investigated this question have provided conflicting results. The current study sought to clarify and extend understanding of the effects of prey auditory signals on avian predator responses. The domestic chick Gallus gallus domesticus was used as a model avian predator to examine how the defensive buzzing sound of a bumblebee Bombus terrestris affected the chick＇s innate avoidance behavior, and the learning and memory of prey avoidance. The results demonstrate that the buzzing sound had no effect on the predator＇s responses to unpalatable aposematically colored crumbs, suggesting that the agitated buzzing of B. terrestris may provide no additional protection from avian predators .
