Courtship behavior of the meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius).
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Brem EA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8291725 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:A laboratory-housed, wild-caught, subadult, male meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius) presented with extensive scaling of the face, limbs, and tail and severe edema of the paws. Postmortem examination revealed marked distal limb edema with focal digital hematomas and white scales, scabs, and crusts affecting the majority of nonhaired skin. Histopathologic analysis revealed severe, multifocal, chronic-active exudative and proliferative dermatitis characterized by multilaminated crusts covering the epidermis. The epidermis was expanded by hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, and hyperplasia. The superficial dermis contained moderate edema, hemorrhage, and pigmentary incontinence, and was infiltrated by granulocytes and mononuclear cells. The laminated crusts contained numerous branching filaments of gram-positive coccoid bodies arranged in parallel rows, consistent with cutaneous Dermatophilus congolensis infection. This diagnosis was confirmed through bacterial culture and 16S rRNA PCR analysis. In the presented case, factors that might have contributed to disease progression include climatic conditions at the capture site and stress associated with trapping and laboratory housing.
| S-EPMC5824136 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hibernating mammals exhibit unique metabolic and physiological phenotypes that have potential applications in medicine or spaceflight, yet our understanding of the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of hibernation is limited. The meadow jumping mouse, a small North American hibernator, exhibits traits-including a short generation time-that would facilitate genetic approaches to hibernation research. Here we report the collection, captive breeding, and laboratory hibernation of meadow jumping mice. Captive breeders in our colony produced a statistically significant excess of male offspring and a large number of all-male and all-female litters. We confirmed that short photoperiod induced pre-hibernation fattening, and cold ambient temperature facilitated entry into hibernation. During pre-hibernation fattening, food consumption exhibited non-linear dependence on both body mass and temperature, such that food consumption was greatest in the heaviest animals at the coldest temperatures. Meadow jumping mice exhibited a strong circadian rhythm of nightly activity that was disrupted during the hibernation interval. We conclude that it is possible to study hibernation phenotypes using captive-bred meadow jumping mice in a laboratory setting.
| S-EPMC8109813 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hibernation is a key life history feature that can impact many other crucial aspects of a species' biology, such as its survival and reproduction. I examined the timing of hibernation and reproduction in the federally endangered New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus), which occurs across a broad range of latitudes and elevations in the American Southwest. Data from museum specimens and field studies supported predictions for later emergence and shorter active intervals in montane populations relative to lower elevation valley populations. A low-elevation population located at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR) in the Rio Grande valley was most similar to other subspecies of Z. hudsonius: the first emergence date was in mid-May and there was an active interval of 162 days. In montane populations of Z. h. luteus, the date of first emergence was delayed until mid-June and the active interval was reduced to ca 124-135 days, similar to some populations of the western jumping mouse (Z. princeps). Last date of immergence into hibernation occurred at about the same time in all populations (mid to late October). In montane populations pregnant females are known from July to late August and evidence suggests that they have a single litter per year. At BANWR two peaks in reproduction were expected based on similarity of active season to Z. h. preblei. However, only one peak was clearly evident, possibly due to later first reproduction and possible torpor during late summer. At BANWR pregnant females are known from June and July. Due to the short activity season and geographic variation in phenology of key life history events of Z. h. luteus, recommendations are made for the appropriate timing for surveys for this endangered species.
| S-EPMC4540022 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Male courtship display is common in many animals; in some cases, males engage in courtship indiscriminately, spending significant time and energy courting heterospecifics with whom they have no chance of mating or producing viable offspring. Due to high costs and few if any benefits, we might expect mechanisms to evolve to reduce such misdirected courtship (or 'reproductive interference'). In Habronattus jumping spiders, males frequently court heterospecifics with whom they do not mate or hybridize; females are larger and are voracious predators, posing a severe risk to males who court indiscriminately. In this study, we examined patterns of misdirected courtship in a natural community of four sympatric Habronattus species (H. clypeatus, H. hallani, H. hirsutus, and H. pyrrithrix). We used direct field observations to weigh support for two hypotheses (differential microhabitat use and species recognition signaling) to explain how these species reduce the costs associated with misdirected courtship. We show that, while the four species of Habronattus do show some differences in microhabitat use, all four species still overlap substantially, and in three of the four species individuals equally encountered heterospecifics and conspecifics. Males courted females at every opportunity, regardless of species, and in some cases, this led to aggression and predation by the female. These results suggest that, while differences in microhabitat use might reduce misdirected courtship to some extent, co-existence of these four species may be possible due to complex communication (i.e. species-specific elements of a male's courtship display). This study is the first to examine misdirected courtship in jumping spiders. Studies of misdirected courtship and its consequences in the field are limited and may broaden our understanding of how biodiversity is maintained within a community.
| S-EPMC5381776 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The courtship behavior of Drosophila melanogaster serves as an excellent model system to study how complex innate behaviors are controlled by the nervous system. To understand how the underlying neural network controls this behavior, it is not sufficient to unravel its architecture, but also crucial to decipher its logic. By systematic analysis of how variations in sensory inputs alter the courtship behavior of a naïve male in the single-choice courtship paradigm, we derive a model describing the logic of the network that integrates the various sensory stimuli and elicits this complex innate behavior. This approach and the model derived from it distinguish (i) between initiation and maintenance of courtship, (ii) between courtship in daylight and in the dark, where the male uses a scanning strategy to retrieve the decamping female, and (iii) between courtship towards receptive virgin females and mature males. The last distinction demonstrates that sexual orientation of the courting male, in the absence of discriminatory visual cues, depends on the integration of gustatory and behavioral feedback inputs, but not on olfactory signals from the courted animal. The model will complement studies on the connectivity and intrinsic properties of the neurons forming the circuitry that regulates male courtship behavior.
| S-EPMC2636894 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIn recent years, there have been extensive studies aimed at decoding the DNA. Identifying the genetic cause of specific changes in a simple organism like Drosophila may help scientists recognize how multiple gene interactions may make some people more susceptible to heart disease or cancer. Investigators have devised experiments to observe changes in the gene networks in mutant Drosophila that responds differently to light, or have lower or higher locomotor activity. However, these studies focused on the behavior of the individual fly or on pair-wise interactions in the study of aggression or courtship. The behavior of these activities has been captured on film and inspected by a well-trained researcher after repeatedly watching the recorded film. Some studies also focused on ways to reduce the inspection time and increase the accuracy of the behavior experiment.MethodologyIn this study, the behavior of drosophila during courtship was analyzed automatically by machine vision. We investigated the position and behavior discrimination during courtship using the captured images. Identification of the characteristics of drosophila, including sex, size, heading direction, and wing angles, can be computed using image analysis techniques that employ the Gaussian mixture model. The behavior of multiple drosophilae can also be analyzed simultaneously using the motion-prediction model and the variation constraint of heading direction.ConclusionsThe overlapped fruit flies can be identified based on the relationship between body centers. Moreover, the behaviors and profiles can be correctly recognized by image processing based on the constraints of the wing angle and the size of the body. Therefore, the behavior of the male fruit flies can be discriminated when two or three fruit flies form a close cluster. In this study, the courtship behavior, including wing songs and attempts, can currently be distinguished with accuracies of 95.8% and 90%, respectively.
| S-EPMC3319603 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Drosophila melanogaster courtship, although stereotypical, continually changes based on cues received from the courtship subject. Such adaptive responses are mediated via rapid and widespread transcriptomic reprogramming, a characteristic now widely attributed to microRNAs (miRNAs), along with other players. Here, we conducted a large-scale miRNA knockout screen to identify miRNAs that affect various parameters of male courtship behavior. Apart from identifying miRNAs that impact male-female courtship, we observed that miR-957 mutants performed significantly increased male-male courtship and "chaining" behavior, whereby groups of males court one another. We tested the effect of miR-957 reduction in specific neuronal cell clusters, identifying miR-957 activity in Doublesex (DSX)-expressing and mushroom body clusters as an important regulator of male-male courtship interactions. We further characterized the behavior of miR-957 mutants and found that these males court male subjects vigorously, but do not elicit courtship. Moreover, they fail to lower courtship efforts toward females with higher levels of antiaphrodisiac pheromones. At the level of individual pheromones, miR-957 males show a reduced inhibitory response to both 7-Tricosene (7-T) and cis-vaccenyl acetate, with the effect being more pronounced in the case of 7-T. Overall, our results indicate that a single miRNA can contribute to the regulation of complex behaviors, including detection or processing of chemicals that control important survival strategies such as chemical mate-guarding, and the maintenance of sex- and species-specific courtship barriers.
| S-EPMC6404249 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The decision to engage in courtship depends on external cues from potential mates and internal cues related to maturation, health, and experience. Hormones allow for coordinated conveyance of such information to peripheral tissues. Here, we show Ecdysis-Triggering Hormone (ETH) is critical for courtship inhibition after completion of copulation in Drosophila melanogaster. ETH deficiency relieves post-copulation courtship inhibition (PCCI) and increases male-male courtship. ETH appears to modulate perception and attractiveness of potential mates by direct action on primary chemosensory neurons. Knockdown of ETH receptor (ETHR) expression in GR32A-expressing neurons leads to reduced ligand sensitivity and elevated male-male courtship. We find OR67D also is critical for normal levels of PCCI after mating. ETHR knockdown in OR67D-expressing neurons or GR32A-expressing neurons relieves PCCI. Finally, ETHR silencing in the corpus allatum (CA), the sole source of juvenile hormone, also relieves PCCI; treatment with the juvenile hormone analog methoprene partially restores normal post-mating behavior. We find that ETH, a stress-sensitive reproductive hormone, appears to coordinate multiple sensory modalities to guide Drosophila male courtship behaviors, especially after mating.
| S-EPMC9439213 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The evolution of adaptive behavior often requires changes in sensory systems. However, rapid adaptive changes in sensory traits can adversely affect other fitness-related behaviors. In the German cockroach, a gustatory polymorphism, 'glucose-aversion (GA)', supports greater survivorship under selection with glucose-containing insecticide baits and promotes the evolution of behavioral resistance. Yet, sugars are prominent components of the male's nuptial gift and play an essential role in courtship. Behavioral and chemical analyses revealed that the saliva of GA females rapidly degrades nuptial gift sugars into glucose, and the inversion of a tasty nuptial gift to an aversive stimulus often causes GA females to reject courting males. Thus, the rapid emergence of an adaptive change in the gustatory system supports foraging, but it interferes with courtship. The trade-off between natural and sexual selection under human-imposed selection can lead to directional selection on courtship behavior that favors the GA genotype.
| S-EPMC9098494 | biostudies-literature
