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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Encyclopedia Of Animal Behavior, A. Payne, P. Starks, Aviva Liebert Jun 2013

Encyclopedia Of Animal Behavior, A. Payne, P. Starks, Aviva Liebert

Aviva E Liebert

The Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior has engaged-with great success-the efforts of many of the best behavioral biologists of the 21st century. Section editors drawn from the most accomplished behavioral scientists of their generation have enrolled an international cast of highly respected thinkers and writers-all of whom have taken great care and joy in illuminating every imaginable corner of animal behavior. This comprehensive work covers not only the usual topics such as communication, learning, sexual selection, navigation, and the history of the field, but also emerging topics in cognition, animal welfare, conservation, and applications of animal behavior. The large section on …


Taming Of The Skew: Transactional Models Fail To Predict Reproductive Partitioning In The Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Philip Starks Feb 2013

Taming Of The Skew: Transactional Models Fail To Predict Reproductive Partitioning In The Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Philip Starks

Aviva E Liebert

Female Polistes paper wasps can initiate colonies either solitarily or in cooperative groups. Reproduction is often distributed unequally in groups, even to the point of complete monopolization of breeding by the dominant group member. Transactional models of reproductive skew predict the degree of reproductive partitioning, assuming that the dominant controls group membership and will yield a proportion of reproduction to a subordinate as an incentive to stay peacefully in the group. Using a combination of demographic, genetic and morphological data from a population of P. dominulus, we test predictions of 'classical' two-person skew models as well as more complex …


Sexual Interactions And Nestmate Recognition In Invasive Populations Of Polistes Dominulus Wasps, Aviva Liebert, N Wilson-Rich, C Johnson, Philip Starks Feb 2013

Sexual Interactions And Nestmate Recognition In Invasive Populations Of Polistes Dominulus Wasps, Aviva Liebert, N Wilson-Rich, C Johnson, Philip Starks

Aviva E Liebert

Many social insect species have mating systems or recognition abilities that minimize the chance of inbreeding. In haplodiploid systems, inbreeding is especially costly due to the production of sterile offspring such as diploid males. Diploid males (and their triploid offspring) have been identified in invasive populations of the paper wasp, Polistes dominulus, but to date have not been reported in its native populations. Due to the degree of genetic diversity in the invasive populations, it is unlikely that the production of these genetic ‘misfits’ is the result of a genetic bottleneck alone, but rather that errors in nestmate recognition may …


Nest Hydrocarbons As Cues For Philopatry In A Paper Wasp, Annagiri Sumana, Aviva Liebert, Anne Berry, Ghislaine Switz, Colin Orians, Philip Starks Feb 2013

Nest Hydrocarbons As Cues For Philopatry In A Paper Wasp, Annagiri Sumana, Aviva Liebert, Anne Berry, Ghislaine Switz, Colin Orians, Philip Starks

Aviva E Liebert

Philopatric behavior has been demonstrated in a wide taxonomic spread of animals. In temperate environments, overwintered Polistes wasp foundresses often return to their natal nest prior to initiating colony construction. Previous research has shown that these spring foundresses can identify the natal nest in the absence of landmark and gross morphological cues. Hydrocarbons are essential recognition cues for Polistes nest and nestmate discrimination, but cuticular hydrocarbon profiles can become homogenized when foundresses overwinter in mixed colony groups. We examined the hydrocarbon profiles of Polistes dominulus foundresses and nests before and after an overwintering period, and found that the hydrocarbon profiles …


Extreme Polygyny: Multi-Seasonal “Hypergynous” Nesting In The Introduced Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Julia Hui, Peter Nonacs, Philip Starks Feb 2013

Extreme Polygyny: Multi-Seasonal “Hypergynous” Nesting In The Introduced Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Julia Hui, Peter Nonacs, Philip Starks

Aviva E Liebert

In temperate climates, female paper wasps typically initiate new colonies in the spring. Several nest-founding tactics have been documented in Polistes species, including solitary nest initiation, joining a cooperative association, usurping an existing nest, or adopting an abandoned nest. Occasionally, exceptionally large groups of females have also been found reusing nests from the previous season. Here we report this phenomenon in introduced populations of the Eurasian species Polistes dominulus. We describe in detail the demographic and genetic characteristics of one such spring colony from Los Angeles, California, USA, which was collected with 84 associated adults and all stages of developing …


Solitary Nesting And Reproductive Success In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer, Aviva Liebert, Peter Nonacs, Robert Wayne Feb 2013

Solitary Nesting And Reproductive Success In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer, Aviva Liebert, Peter Nonacs, Robert Wayne

Aviva E Liebert

Female Polistes paper wasps are capable of independent nesting, yet many populations demonstrate a mixture of solitary and cooperative nest foundation. Previous studies of Polistes have found survival and/or productivity advantages of cooperative nest foundation compared to solitary nesting, and reproductive skew models have been designed to predict the dynamics of such flexible cooperation. In this paper, we examine the success of different nesting strategies in a previously unstudied population of Polistes aurifer in southern California. The colony cycle of this population is less synchronous than that of other temperate species, and the frequency of solitary nesting averages 86.2%. Our …


Ground Nesting In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), Aviva Liebert Feb 2013

Ground Nesting In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), Aviva Liebert

Aviva E Liebert

Polistes paper wasp species vary in their nest site selection, with some nesting in relatively exposed areas and others in protected cavities. Locating the nest sites of cavity dwelling species in natural habitat can prove difficult, and most behavioral studies on these species are therefore conducted using human-built structures. Since Hungerford and Williams (1912) and Rau (1929) noted the location of several P. fuscatus (Fabricius) nests in rodent burrows, there have been no published accounts of ground nesting Polistes species. I report the occurrence of a large, dense cluster of P. aurifer (Saussure) nests located within cracks in the dried …


Phylogeny And Historical Biogeography Of The Spider Genus Lutica (Araneae, Zodariidae), Richard Beckwitt, Richard Beckwitt Feb 2013

Phylogeny And Historical Biogeography Of The Spider Genus Lutica (Araneae, Zodariidae), Richard Beckwitt, Richard Beckwitt

Richard D Beckwitt

Spiders of the genus Lutica from 19 populations in southern California and Baja California, including all the California Channel Islands except Anacapa, were compared electrophoretically on the basis of variability at 15 gene loci. Fixed allelic differences clearly define two species: new species A [Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, northern Channel Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz), southern Channel Islands (San Nicolas, Santa Barbara, Santa Catalina)] and new species C [Guerrero Negro, central Baja California], while morphological features define two others: new species B [Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties, northern Baja California] and clementea [San Clemente Island]. …