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Pre-roost murmuration displays by European starlings Sturnus vulgaris are a spectacular example of collective animal behaviour. To date, empirical research has focussed largely on flock movement and biomechanics whereas research on... more
Pre-roost murmuration displays by European starlings Sturnus vulgaris are a spectacular example of collective animal behaviour. To date, empirical research has focussed largely on flock movement and biomechanics whereas research on possible causal mechanisms that affect flock size and murmuration duration has been limited and restricted to a small number of sites. Possible explanations for this behaviour include reducing predation through the dilution, detection or predator confusion effects (the "safer together" hypotheses) or recruiting more birds to create larger (warmer) roosts (the "warmer together" hypothesis). We collected data on size, duration, habitat, temperature and predators from >3,000 murmurations using citizen science. Sightings were submitted from 23 countries but UK records predominated. Murmurations occurred across a range of habitats but there was no association between habitat and size/duration. Size increased significantly from October to...
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Interactions between leaf-cutting ants, their fungal symbiont (Leucoagaricus) and the endophytic fungi within the vegetation they carry into their colonies are still poorly understood. If endophytes antagonistic to Leucoagaricus were... more
Interactions between leaf-cutting ants, their fungal symbiont (Leucoagaricus) and the endophytic fungi within the vegetation they carry into their colonies are still poorly understood. If endophytes antagonistic to Leucoagaricus were found in plant material being carried by these ants, then this might indicate a potential mechanism for plants to defend themselves from leaf-cutter attack. In addition, it could offer possibilities for the management of these important Neotropical pests. Here, we show that, for Atta sexdens rubropilosa, there was a significantly greater incidence of Trichoderma species in the vegetation removed from the nests-and deposited around the entrances-than in that being transported into the nests. In a no-choice test, Trichoderma-infested rice was taken into the nest, with deleterious effects on both the fungal gardens and ant survival. The endophytic ability of selected strains of Trichoderma was also confirmed, following their inoculation and subsequent reis...
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables in vivo imaging of organisms. The recent development of the magnetic resonance microscope (MRM) has enabled organisms within the size range of many insects to be imaged. Here, we introduce the... more
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables in vivo imaging of organisms. The recent development of the magnetic resonance microscope (MRM) has enabled organisms within the size range of many insects to be imaged. Here, we introduce the principles of MRI and MRM and review their use in entomology. We show that MRM has been successfully applied in studies of parasitology, development, metabolism, biomagnetism and morphology, and the advantages and disadvantages relative to other imaging techniques are discussed. In addition, we illustrate the images that can be obtained using MRM. We conclude that although MRM has significant potential, further improvements to the technique are still desirable if it is to become a mainstream imaging technology in entomology.
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Nest ectoparasites have been linked previously to patterns of nest-site choice and breeding success in birds. Recent research has shown nestboxes facing south-southwest are occupied less frequently by great tits (Parus major) than... more
Nest ectoparasites have been linked previously to patterns of nest-site choice and breeding success in birds. Recent research has shown nestboxes facing south-southwest are occupied less frequently by great tits (Parus major) than identical boxes facing other directions, and are associated with reduced offspring condition. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that these findings are due to ectoparasite load being directionally nonuniform, possibly because of nonuniformity in nestbox internal temperature. Nests contained, in order of prevalence, hen fleas (Ceratophyllus gallinae), haematophagous blowflies (Protocalliphoraspp.), biting lice (Ischnocera), and ticks/mites (Acari). Although southwest-facing nestboxes were significantly warmer than other boxes, there was no directional difference in total ectoparasite load or abundance of particular species. Similarly, there was no relationship between abundance of any ectoparasite species (either per-nest or per-chick) and avian offspring...
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Volunteer data collection can be valuable for research. However, accuracy of such data is often a cause for concern. If clear, simple methods are used, volunteers can monitor species presence and abundance in a similar manner to... more
Volunteer data collection can be valuable for research. However, accuracy of such data is often a cause for concern. If clear, simple methods are used, volunteers can monitor species presence and abundance in a similar manner to professionals, but it is unknown whether volunteers could collect accurate data on animal behaviour. In this study, visitors at a Wetlands Centre were asked to record behavioural data for a group of captive otters by means of a short questionnaire. They were also asked to provide information about themselves to determine whether various factors would influence their ability to collect data. Using a novel analysis technique based on PCA, visitor data were compared to baseline activity budget data collected by a trained biologist to determine whether visitor data were accurate. Although the response rate was high, visitors were unable to collect accurate data. The principal reason was that visitors exceeded the observation time stated in the instructions, rath...
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Research Interests: Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Population Dynamics, and 15 moreBiodiversity, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Bees, Animals, Data Collection, PLoS one, Great Britain, Ecosystem, Public Interest, Conservation of Natural Resources, Community Composition, Cooperative Behavior, Internet, and Social Network
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Research Interests: Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Science, Developmental Biology, and 15 moreClimate Change, Computational Biology, Biotechnology, Cancer, Biology, Cell Cycle, Ecology, Drug Discovery, Evolution, Astrophysics, Functional Genomics, Astronomy, DNA, Cell Signalling, and Earth Science
Honey bee foragers transfer their nectar loads to receiver bees within the nest. Surprisingly, they often transfer to more than one receiver (published values range from 1.9 to 2.7). Several adaptive hypotheses have been proposed to... more
Honey bee foragers transfer their nectar loads to receiver bees within the nest. Surprisingly, they often transfer to more than one receiver (published values range from 1.9 to 2.7). Several adaptive hypotheses have been proposed to explain why multiple transfer occurs. One hypothesis, information improvement, states that multiple transfer arises as an adaptive forager-driven process. Foragers use the delay in finding a receiver to assess the relative work capacities of foragers and receivers, performing recruitment dances when appropriate. Multiple transferring improves their delay information. We used a stochastic simulation model to investigate the non-adaptive partial loads hypothesis. We determined the extent to which partial crop loads and receiver filling and emptying rules (i.e. how much nectar to accept before leaving the transfer area) can cause multiple transfer. As many as 1.9 nectar transfers per returning forager were generated within biologically realistic parameter space. We suggest that much multiple transfer arises as a non-adaptive consequence of partitioning nectar foraging between foragers and receivers, but that this will also result in foragers having better information about the relative work capacities of foragers and receivers as a useful consequence. We suggest that the number of transfers caused by partial loads could also be increased by an adaptive forager-driven effort to improve their information concerning the balance of foragers and receivers and we outline a framework wherein the information improvement hypothesis can be directly tested.
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Zoology, Reproduction, Altruism, Hymenoptera, and 14 moreComputer Simulation, Kin Selection, Tragedy of the Commons, Animals, Biological evolution, Multiple Mating, Inclusive Fitness, Biological systems, Social Insect, Worker Reproduction, Social Dominance, Honeybee, Worker Policing, and Evolutionarily Stable Strategy
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Social network sites can provide useful resources for scientific research, especially in engaging citizen scientists in research. However, much citizen science work in biodiversity can be inaccurate due to poor identification and... more
Social network sites can provide useful resources for scientific research, especially in engaging citizen scientists in research. However, much citizen science work in biodiversity can be inaccurate due to poor identification and misreporting of information. ...
Research Interests: History, Social Networking, Meteorology, Biodiversity, Global Positioning System, and 10 moreMobile Computing, Citizen Science, Image recognition, Scientific Research, Social Photo Sharing, Himaye i Etfal Society In Turkey, Social Network, Social Networking Sites, Global position ing system, and Environmental factor
... Two different types of behavioural observations were made: first, during 7 consecutive days, the number of workers present on the surface of the dump was determined by scan sampling once an hour for seven 8-hr periods. ...