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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity In A Free-Ranging Mammal: Effects Of Dominance Rank And Personality, Elodie F. Briefer, James A. Oxley, Alan G. Mcelligott Sep 2016

Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity In A Free-Ranging Mammal: Effects Of Dominance Rank And Personality, Elodie F. Briefer, James A. Oxley, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Modulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity allows animals to effectively respond to internal and external stimuli in everyday challenges via changes in, for example, heart and respiration rate. Various factors, ranging from social such as dominance rank to internal such as personality or affective states can impact animal physiology. Our knowledge of the combinatory effects of social and internal factors on ANS basal activity and reactivity, and of the importance that each factor has in determining physiological parameters, is limited, particularly in nonhuman, free-ranging animals. In this study, we tested the effects of dominance rank and personality (assessed …


Responses Of Four Arthropod Prey Species To Mechanosensory, Chemosensory And Visual Cues From An Arachnid Predator: A Comparative Approach, Scott Kight Dec 2015

Responses Of Four Arthropod Prey Species To Mechanosensory, Chemosensory And Visual Cues From An Arachnid Predator: A Comparative Approach, Scott Kight

Scott Kight

Comparisons of multiple invertebrate prey species to direct predator sensory cues are relatively uncommon. We compared prey responses to arachnid predators (Araneae: Lycosidae) of four species: Blattella germanica (Blattodea: Blattellidae), Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllinae), Armadillidium vulgare (Oniscidea: Armadillidae), and Porcellio laevis (Oniscidea: Porcellionidae). Prey experienced combinations of direct mechanosensory, chemosensory or visual cues. All species responded to all cues, but response structure differed among species. Mechanosensory and chemosensory predator cues elicited frequent shifts between behaviors, whereas visual stimuli tended to diminish responses. Mechanosensory stimuli produced the most extreme responses, particularly in crickets and cockroaches, but responses to mechanosensory stimuli diminished …