Orientador: Ana Maria Costa Leonardo / Banca: José Chaud Netto / Banca: Maria Santina de Castro Morini / Resumo: O forrageamento ou busca por alimento nos cupins subterrâneos envolve os operários, os soldados e em menor número as ninfas. O presente estudo foi realizado visando esclarecer aspectos da biologia do forrageamento de ninfas, o qual é pouco conhecido na espécie exótica Coptotermes gestroi. O monitoramento por meio de coletas periódicas em um período de 22 meses em 7 diferentes colônias mostrou que as ninfas forrageiras são produzidas durante todos os meses do ano. Provavelmente, devido à influência tanto de fatores externos como internos, cada colônia de Coptotermes gestroi possui uma dinâmica diferente de formação desses indivíduos. O estudo da biometria das ninfas forrageiras foi realizado para determinar os ínstares presentes nas colônias, sendo que as variáveis analisadas foram largura da cabeça, largura do pronoto, comprimento do broto alar, comprimento da tíbia, região de crescimento da antena e comprimento do corpo. Entretanto, as variáveis região de crescimento da antena e comprimento do corpo, inicialmente propostas, não se mostraram viáveis para a discriminação dos ínstares. Os dados foram submetidos à Análise dos Componentes Principais (ACP) e plotados em diagramas de dispersão para a discriminação dos ínstares. Das 533 ninfas forrageiras coletadas, 34 eram de 3° instar, 280 eram de 4° instar e 219 eram de 5° instar. Apesar de terem sido coletadas ninfas de 3° instar, provavelmente, estas não participam das atividades de forrageamento uma vez que foram coletadas em apenas uma colônia e em quantidade ínfima. O 5° instar ninfal foi coletado nas 8 colônias estudadas, contudo o 4° instar ninfal foi mais numeroso, mesmo tendo sido coletado em apenas 4 das colônias... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The foraging or search for food in subterranean termites involves workers, soldiers and in a small number nymphs. The present study was carried out aimed at clarifying aspects of the nymph foraging biology, which is little known in the exotic species Coptotermes gestroi. The monitoring through regular collections in 7 different colonies for a period of 22 months showed a production of forager nymphs all year round. Probably due to the influence of both internal and external factors each colony of Coptotermes gestroi has a different formation dynamic of these individuals. The biometric study of the forager nymphs was conducted to determine the instars present in the colonies, and the variables head width, pronotum width, wing bud length, right hind tibia length, antennal growing region and body length were measured. However, the variables antennal growing region and body length, originally proposed, were not feasible to instars discrimination. The data were submitted to the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and plotted on a scatter diagram to determine the instars. Of the 533 forager nymphs collected, 34 were from 3rd - instar, 280 were from 4th - instar and 219 were from 5th - instar. Although 3rd - instar nymphs have been collected, probably, they do not participate in the foraging activities since they were collected only in one colony and in small quantity. The 5th - nymphal instar was collected in 8 colonies, however the 4th - nymphal instar was more numerous, even being collected in only 4 of all colonies. In order to characterize the instars, the eye color and the number of antennal segments in the of forager nymphs were recorded. These individuals may have light brown or white eyes, the nymphs with white eyes appeared in larger number and were present in all colonies. The sex determination of male and female nymphs was conducted... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

abstract: The coordination of group behavior in the social insects is representative of a broader phenomenon in nature, emergent biological complexity. In such systems, it is believed that large-scale patterns result from the interaction of relatively simple subunits. This dissertation involved the study of one such system: the social foraging of the ant Temnothorax rugatulus. Physically tiny with small population sizes, these cavity-dwelling ants provide a good model system to explore the mechanisms and ultimate origins of collective behavior in insect societies. My studies showed that colonies robustly exploit sugar water. Given a choice between feeders unequal in quality, colonies allocate more foragers to the better feeder. If the feeders change in quality, colonies are able to reallocate their foragers to the new location of the better feeder. These qualities of flexibility and allocation could be explained by the nature of positive feedback (tandem run recruitment) that these ants use. By observing foraging colonies with paint-marked ants, I was able to determine the `rules' that individuals follow: foragers recruit more and give up less when they find a better food source. By altering the nutritional condition of colonies, I found that these rules are flexible - attuned to the colony state. In starved colonies, individual ants are more likely to explore and recruit to food sources than in well-fed colonies. Similar to honeybees, Temmnothorax foragers appear to modulate their exploitation and recruitment behavior in response to environmental and social cues. Finally, I explored the influence of ecology (resource distribution) on the foraging success of colonies. Larger colonies showed increased consistency and a greater rate of harvest than smaller colonies, but this advantage was mediated by the distribution of resources. While patchy or rare food sources exaggerated the relative success of large colonies, regularly (or easily found) distributions leveled the playing field for smaller colonies. Social foraging in ant societies can best be understood when we view the colony as a single organism and the phenotype - group size, communication, and individual behavior - as integrated components of a homeostatic unit. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Biology 2014

Este trabalho foi dividido em dois capítulos em formato de artigo científico, que fornecem informações sobre diversidade e ecologia de vespas sociais (Polistinae) em três áreas de floresta amazônica no estado de Rondônia. No primeiro capítulo comparamos índices de diversidade de áreas com diferentes níveis de interferência antrópica e apresentamos uma lista de espécies para a região. No segundo observamos a relação de alguns fatores ambientais abióticos (temperatura, umidade relativa do ar e intensidade luminosa) com o forrageio das vespas sociais durante a fotofase (06:00 18:00 h). Foram realizadas 42 coletas ativas com auxílio de solução atrativa (água, sal, açúcar), totalizando 504 horas de coleta de dados. Foram coletadas 2983 espécimes de vespas sociais, distribuídas em 76 espécies de Polistinae, sendo um dos trabalhos com maior diversidade de vespas sociais coletadas no Brasil. As vespas mais abundantes foram Agelaia Lepeletier e com maior riqueza de espécies Polybia Lepeletier. A área com maior interferência antrópica teve os índices de diversidade similares aos da área com menor interferência, com isto, concluímos que a diversidade de vespas sociais (Polistinae) não é um bom parâmetro para indicar o nível de preservação ambiental de fragmentos de floresta, uma vez que estes resultados já foram observados em áreas de Mata Atlântica. Quanto aos fatores abióticos, apenas a temperatura foi significante (P<0.05) e observamos que as atividades de forrageio de Polistinae ocorrem durante todo o período da fotofase, não priorizando horários específicos. / This study was divided into two chapters in format of scientific papers, which provide information about ecology and diversity of social wasps (Polistinae) in three areas of Amazon rainforest in state of Rondônia. In the first chapter we compare diversity indices of areas with different levels of human interference as well show a list of species for the region. In the second we present the relation between the abiotic environmental factors (temperature, relative humidity and light intensity) during the photophase (06:00 to 18:00 h) with the foraging of social wasps through statistical analysis. This study was conducted using active collection with an attractive solution (water, salt, sugar) in 42 collections, totaling 504 hours of data collection. We collected 2983 specimens of social wasps, distributed in 76 species of Polistine, being a survey with the greatest diversity of wasps collected in Brazil. The more abundant wasps were Agelaia Lepeletier and the greater richness was Polybia Lepeletier. Samples were taken in the area with the highest anthropogenic interference had diversity indexes near the area with less interference, it concluded with the diversity of social wasps (Polistine) is not a good parameter to indicate the level of environmental preservation of forest fragments, as well has been observed in surveys in the Atlantic forest. Regarding abiotic factors only temperature was significant (P<0.05), and we observed that the activities of Polistine occur throughout the entire photophase period do not prioritizing any specific times.

Uma população do opilião Serracutisoma pseudovarium utiliza a Pousada Esquilo do Parque Estadual Intervales (PEI), São Paulo, Brasil, como abrigo. Os animais se escondem em frestas na edificação e saem à noite para forragear, principalmente pelas paredes da construção. Essa situação constituiu uma oportunidade única de se realizar um estudo detalhado de forrageio e uso do espaço por opiliões, sendo este o primeiro objetivo deste trabalho. Além deste local, também foram acompanhados mensalmente, ao longo de 15 meses, outros quatro locais do PEI: Pousada Onça-Pintada, Castelinho, Toca dos Meninos e Gruta Detrás. Em cada um destes locais (com exceção do Castelinho), os animais foram marcados individualmente e foram realizadas medidas corpóreas. Desta forma, foi possível efetuar também um estudo populacional, que constituiu o segundo objetivo deste trabalho. Para analisar o forrageio em detalhes, um croquis da edificação foi elaborado, no qual os animais foram anotados de hora em hora, ao longo de uma noite, em cada um dos meses de coleta. Além do posicionamento do animal, também foram registrados sua marca e o comportamento exibido no momento da observação. Assim, o terceiro objetivo foi realizar um estudo comportamental através de um etograma com dados obtidos em campo, ao longo do ano inteiro. No total, 380 indivíduos foram marcados, sendo 192 na Pousada Esquilo, população foco do estudo. Destes, 71 foram fêmeas, 71 foram machos e 50 foram jovens. O tamanho estimado da população, pelos modelos de Fisher-Ford e Jolly, variou de 36 a 95 indivíduos. A análise dos deslocamentos ao longo do forrageio mostrou que os animais mesclam uma estratégia de emboscada com períodos de deslocamento, em que podem encontrar ativamente uma presa. Não foram encontradas relações entre a frequência de utilização destas estratégias e o sexo, idade ou estado nutritivo/reprodutivo dos animais. Porém, o mesmo indivíduo tendeu a repetir a mesma estratégia em diferentes noites de forrageio. Da mesma forma, a direção do deslocamento tendeu a ser repetida, embora os animais não utilizem trilhas marcadas individualmente ou coletivamente. Etogramas obtidos com dados de campo são raros, e possuem a vantagem de não serem influenciados por fatores como maior densidade de animais e disponibilidade de alimento, comuns em estudos em cativeiro. A comparação de etogramas de machos, fêmeas e jovens não mostrou grandes diferenças de comportamento entre os grupos / A population of the harvestman Serracutisoma pseudovarium uses a building (Pousada Esquilo in the Intervales State Park) as a shelter. The animals hide in crevices of the building during the day and leave at night to forage, walking mainly on the walls of the same building, which is situated inside the forest. This situation appeared to be an unique opportunity to perform a detailed study of foraging dynamics and use of space by harvestmen, which constituted the first objective of this study. In addition to Pousada Esquilo, four other places of the Park were monthly monitored during 15 months, namely: Pousada Onça-Pintada, Castelinho, Toca dos Meninos cave and Detrás cave. In each of these places (except Castelinho) the animals were marked individually and body measurements were taken. This also allowed the conduction of a population study, as the second objective of this study. In order to examine the foraging dynamics in detail, we made a croquis of the building, in which the animals were recorded hourly during one night of each sampling event. In addition to the position of the animal, its individual mark and behavior at the moment of the observation were also recorded. This behavioral study led to the third objective, which was the construction of an ethogram based on the field data collected throughout the year. A total of 380 individuals were marked. In Pousada Esquilo, the target population of the study, 192 animals were marked, being 71 females, 71 males, and 50 juveniles. The size of the population estimated by both Fisher-Ford and Jolly models varied from 36 to 95 individuals. The study of displacement during foraging showed that the animals combine an ambush strategy with periods of walking, when they might actively find a prey. No relation was found between the frequency of usage of each strategy and sex, age or nutritional/reproductive condition of the animals. However, the same individual tended to repeat a strategy in different nights. In a similar way, the direction of the movement tended to be repeated, although the animals did not use individually or collectively marked trails. Ethograms elaborated with field data are rare in the literature, and they have the advantage of not being influenced by factors as higher animal density and food availability, which are common in studies made in captivity. The comparison among ethograms of males, females and juveniles did not show great behavioral differences between the groups

Circadian clocks are endogenous time keeping mechanisms that are ubiquitous among animals. They enable coordination of many essential biological and metabolic processes in relation to the 24 hour light cycle on earth. However, there are many habitats on earth that are not subject to this light cycle. This study aims to look at the potential genetic drift of the circadian rhythm of a subterranean spider, Meta ovalis, as well as gathering general natural history information on this under-studied spider. This study will fill general gaps in knowledge of this spider and its habitat, highlight the importance of studying organisms within a subterranean environment, and place importance on cave conservation and acquiring knowledge of these specialized, and sensitive species. This study integrates circadian and foraging theory to evaluate species as circadian specialists and generalists based on how narrowly or widely their activity is spread over the 24 h cycle. We suggest that M. ovalis benefits from a generalist strategy, showing small bursts of focused activity widely dispersed across the 24 h cycle, allowing it to capture prey opportunistically whenever it is available. Live spiders were collected from area caves, monitored in an environment controlled for light and temperature, and returned to their cave of origin. The activity of each spider was analyzed for differences in circadian activity among and between populations to determine if there is a significant drift of the circadian strategy between isolated populations of Meta ovalis. We expect to see a different circadian strategy implemented between populations due to drift from the spiders being isolated from other populations.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv and Cons Biol) / It is widely reported that snakes can be major predators of avian nests, but the use of a single avian prey type by competing species has rarely been examined. This study aimed to investigate predation of a single food resource by the sympatric snakes Naja nivea and Dispholidus typus. Specifically, I aimed to 1) identify factors influencing snake presence in sociable weaver colonies and 2) quantify snake predation and potential differences in the consumption of prey by the two competing snakes. I used repeated visual surveys of sociable weavers to obtain presence-absence data of cape cobra and boomslang in sociable weaver colonies over an entire breeding season. I related the presence-absence data of the two snake species to spatially- and temporally-variable factors using principal component analyses (PCA) and multiple logistic regression analyses. The presence of snakes in sociable weaver colonies is primarily influenced by temporal factors, but spatial factors also play a role.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第23351号 / 地環博第209号 / 新制||地環||40(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 德地 直子, 教授 柴田 昌三, 准教授 西川 完途 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

The presence of artificial light at night (ALAN) is one of many contributing factors to global change today. The spectral range of ALAN can also alter the potential effects of light pollution in certain contexts which creates an exceptionally complex cascade of impacts. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the interactions of various environmental factors including ALAN on biological variables, locomotor activity and corticosterone concentration, of two species of rodent. This was accomplished by manipulating the environmental factors; environmental enrichment, temperature and lighting in captivity. A pilot field study was also conducted in order to test the future feasibility of incorporating information garnered from the laboratory study into larger scale real world experiments. The two species were collected from the field and was subsequently subjected to various light cycles, during which locomotor activity was monitored and urinary corticosterone stress hormone was assessed. Results showed that Micaelamys namaquensis, a nocturnal species, reacted favourably to the addition of enrichment by increasing activity levels whereas Rhabdomys dilectus, a diurnal species decreased activity levels while improving the strength of entrainment. Both M. namaquensis and R. dilectus decreased activity during a light cycle which simulated natural dawn and dusk patterns of light. The two species reacted differently when a 24hr ambient temperature cycle was introduced, with M. namaquensis increasing its locomotor activity and R. dilectus decreasing overall activity. M. namaquensis decreased its average activity in response to ALAN and did not show any difference in reaction towards different types of light at night. R. dilectus on the other hand increased its activity under ALAN but also showed no preference between different spectra of light at night. While corticosterone concentrations were monitored during all the environmental factor experiments, fluctuations in hormone concentrations were noted, however found to be statistically non-significant. Thus, only speculations could be made regarding the impacts of the various environmental factors on the stress physiology of M. namaquensis and R. dilectus. These results highlight the importance of considering species specific outcomes even under virtually identical circumstances. Understanding the impacts of environmental factors is crucial in order to extrapolate laboratory-based findings into real world experiments. This work can be used to further understand the impacts of different environmental factors on the circadian systems of nocturnal and diurnal rodent species as well as the potential implication of ALAN under various environmental conditions. In future, this can be combined into a large-scale field experiment in order to monitor the impacts of light pollution using the methodology elucidated during the pilot study. The results of this study show that the impacts of ALAN can be incredibly diverse and specific to the species in which they are examined. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Zoology and Entomology / MSc / Unrestricted

The Linnean Society of London Milnesium, with its relatively short and wide buccal tube, is considered carnivorous. Species in this genus exhibit differences in buccal tube length, standard buccal tube width, and the buccal tube length/width ratio. To determine whether buccal tube size is correlated with the type of prey, ˜4000 specimens of various Milnesium species were examined. Among those with identifiable gut contents, ˜97% contained tardigrades, rotifers, or both, whereas only ˜3% contained nematodes or amoebas. In total, 189 females with guts containing only tardigrades, only rotifers, or both were analysed with general linear model multivariate analysis. Milnesium specimens containing only tardigrade remnants were larger and had longer and wider buccal tubes than those containing only rotifers. Those with only tardigrades in the gut also had a significantly lower buccal tube length to width ratio than those with only rotifers in the gut. Specimens with a mixed diet (rotifers and tardigrades) had intermediate values of buccal tube width and length, and these differed significantly from individuals containing rotifers or tardigrades only. Variation in buccal tube dimensions was linked with interspecific and age (size)-related factors, and differences in buccal tube dimensions associated with gut content remained significant, even when the analysis was controlled for the interspecific variation. No evidence of cannibalism was observed.

In the field of insect circadian rhythms, the honey bee is best known for its foraging time-sense, or Zeitgedächtnis, which permits the forager bee to make precise associations between the presence of food and the time of day. A number of studies, now considered classics, established that bees could be trained to collect food at virtually any time of the circadian cycle and that this timekeeping ability was controlled by an endogenous circadian clock. Recently, behavioral rhythms in bees have been examined using a variety of approaches, in both laboratory and field studies. The following areas of new research are reviewed: (a) the ontogeny of behavioral rhythmicity in newly emerged worker bees; (b) the integration of behavioral rhythmicity with the colony's division of labor; (c) the evidence for social entrainment of behavioral rhythms and for a 'clock of the colony'; (d) the potential linkage between circadian rhythms of general locomotor activity and the foraging time-sense; (e) learning and entrainment hypotheses proposed to explain the mechanism underlying the time-sense; (f) the interplay between extinction and persistence of the time-memory as revealed from the differential behavior of individuals within the foraging group; and (g) comparisons of the Zeitgedächtnis with food-anticipatory rhythms in other animals.