Browsing by Subject "Behavioral ecology"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    Colony-level immunity benefits and behavioral mechanisms of resin collection by honey bees.
    (2010-10) Simone, Michael Dominick
    The general goal of this thesis is to understand the proximate and ultimate mechanisms of resin collection and use in honey bees, Apis mellifera. While there has been significant research on bee-collected resins with respect to human health and various chemical component analyses, this thesis provides the first review and studies on the direct implications of the role of resin in regard to honey bee health, and thus, pioneers a new area of research. I also provide novel information concerning the stimuli that may be involved in the recruitment of foragers and initiation of resin foraging. Overall my thesis provides the first evidence that resin collection is a form of social immunity in honey bees and may both have direct and indirect effects on individual immunity and colony health. I have also shed new light on the behavioral mechanisms that may be mediating this behavior at both the colony level (self-medication) and individual level (assessment of tactile information). I tested original hypotheses that led to new questions and opportunities for further research that will be conducted by me and others for a long period of time.
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    The costs (and benefits) of standing out: Alternative reproductive behavior and novel trait evolution in the Pacific field cricket
    (2021-07) Olzer, Rachel
    Conspicuous animal signals are often under conflicting selection, with higher performance in one fitness component of life history diminishing performance in another component. The diversity of animal signals in nature suggests that novelty- a new structure or property of an organism that allows it to perform a different function, thus opening a new ‘adaptive zone’ is an important, but often overlooked aspect of signal evolution. The evolution of novelty has largely been absent from conversations about how diversity arises and how it can be maintained. This work seeks to examine both the causes and consequences of novel trait evolution. From individual behaviors to population-level dynamics, I have employed various methodologies for answering a decades-long question in evolutionary biology: how are novel traits accommodated in natural populations?