Saarbrücken, Univ., Diplomarb., 2004.

Although the research on myrmecophilous insects is dated back to the 19th century, certain aspects of fascinating relationship between hosts and their social parasites are not satisfactorily understood. The latest studies focus mostly on the systematics of myrmecophilous taxa, and bionomy remains neglected. Most of the myrmecophilous insect can be found among beetles (Coleoptera). These myrmecophiles reveal a broad spectrum of adaptations that allow them to live in close association with their host ants. These adaptations significantly differ among the well-integrated species on one hand and poorly integrated or non-integrated species of myrmecophilous beetles on the other. This study focuses at the comparison of behaviour in two species of myrmecophilous beetles, Claviger testaceus (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) as the member of integrated myrmecophiles, and Pella spp. (Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) as poorly integrated or non-integrated beetle. My work shows significant differences in behaviour taking place after encounter of a beetle and an ant. Ants are more aggressive towards the non-integrated species, and at the same time, these beetles are well-adapted for aggressive behaviour from the ants. On the other hand, the integrated beetles do not possess many behavioural adaptations for the...

In this master thesis i was tested the effectiveness of the myrmecomorphy.The animals which ones were tested are Phrurolithus festivus the myrmecomorphic spider and the predator, great tit(Parus major). I want to know the adventages and disadventages of myrmecomorph mimicry compared whit other common invertebrates in natural habitat of great tits.

The aim of this thesis was to establish a photographic database of selected species of diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) and use image analysis to characterize the number and extent of colour spots. Altogether 52 species were analyzed. They were classified into fourgroups based on their environmental characteristics provided in the Catalogue of water beetles of Czech Republic. The results confirmedthe hypothesis that the colour of adult diving beetles is correlated to their habitat preferences.

Psychische Störungen beinhalten einerseits Störungen der Emotionsregulation und des Verhaltens, andererseits bedeutsames Leiden oder Einschränkungen in den sozialen Beziehungen. In dieser Arbeit wird die Verbindung zwischen diesen beiden Aspekten untersucht. In einer Metaanalyse (Studie 1) werden die Zusammenhänge zwischen (mal)adaptiver Emotionsregulation und den verschiedenen Facetten des Social Mind (Theory of Mind, affektive Empathie, empathischer Stress und Mitgefühl) genauer betrachtet. Ein besonderes Augenmerk wird danach auf die Zwangsstörung gelegt, als ein Beispiel für eine psychische Störung mit großem Effekt auf die sozialen Beziehungen. Mithilfe von Selbstberichten und des EmpaToms, eine videobasierte Aufgabe, wird die Ausprägung der Social Mind-Facetten zwischen Personen mit einer diagnostizierten Zwangsstörung und einer nicht-klinischen Stichprobe verglichen (Studie 2). Die dritte Studie fokussiert auf die Interaktion zwischen Patient:innen mit Zwangsstörung und deren Therapeut:innen während der Therapie (Studie 3). Dabei beleuchten die Ergebnisse die gegenseitige Beeinflussung in der sozialen Mimikry von Patient:innen und Therapeut:innen und den Einfluss der Mimikry auf die therapeutische Allianz.:1. Einleitung 1.1. Aufbau der Arbeit 1.2. Social Mind und Emotionsregulation 1.3. Soziale Beeinträchtigungen bei Zwangsstörungen 2. Methode 3. Studien 3.1. Studie 1: A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation and Different Facets of the Social Mind 3.2. Studie 2: Empathy, Compassion and Theory of Mind in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 3.3. Studie 3: Mimicry in Psychotherapy – an actor partner model of therapists’ and patients’ non-verbal behavior and its effects on the working alliance 4. Diskussion 4.1. Metaanalyse: Emotionsregulation und Social Mind 4.2. Social Mind und Zwangsstörung 4.3. Mimikry und Zwangsstörung 4.4. Praktische Implikationen der Arbeit 4.5. Limitationen der drei Studien 4.6. Über das Konzept der Empathie 5. Zusammenfassung

The present PhD thesis comprises four published research papers and two manuscripts in preparation dealing with importace of particular parts of the warning signal in protection of insect prey against avian predators.

The introductory part of this thesis sums up the state of knowledge on aposematism and mimicry, the effect of aposematic and mimetic signals on spider predators, and cases when spiders do not receive but send such signals. Attachments of the thesis include four original manuscripts. In the first study, we presented jumping spiders (Evarcha arcuata, Salticidae) with different colour forms (red-and-black, yellow-and-black, white-and-black) of the firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus, Pyrrhocoridae). Our goal was to compare reactions of the spiders to various intensity of aposematic signalization, expecting red-and-black coloration to have the strongest effect. Aversive learning of all colour forms was equally effective, but generalization of the learned avoidance to other colour forms was more effective after switch from less (white-and-black, yellow-and-black) to more (red-and-black) conspicuously coloured prey. When tested the next day, avoidance of the white-and-black prey got mostly forgotten. In the second study, we assessed little studied sensitivity of spiders to smells of unpalatable prey. After jumping spiders learned to avoid firebugs, most of them avoided the firebug smell, showing their sensitivity not only to optical, but also to chemical part of signalization of the unpalatable prey. In the...

Studien som följer har som mål att undersöka ljuddesignskonceptet beskrivet här som akustisk mimikry. Det rör sig om en mixningsprocess där ljud som vid första anblick ses som orelaterade till varandra kan mixas ihop för att framhäva olika känslointryck. Studiens fokus ligger på genren science fiction-skräck, specifikt spelet Alien Isolation. Studiens frågeställning handlar om hur akustisk mimikry nyttjas i Alien: Isolation för att ge intryck av stress och rädsla även om spelaren inte befinner sig i faktisk fara i spelet, samt hur effektivt denna teknik påverkar spelaren. Fyra videoklipp, två innehållande akustisk mimikry och två med ursprungliga källan till ljudet presenterades för tio deltagare som sedan fick besvara frågor i en semistrukturerad intervju angående upplevd rädsla och stress samt specifika frågor om ljudet de just hört. Slutsatsen landar i att inget självklart resultat kan presenteras då svaren från intervjun ter sig paradoxala gentemot varandra. Intervjuns struktur och utförande såväl som en längre tidsram för arbetet hade kunnat förtydliga resultaten och ge en klarare bild av den känslomässiga påverkan som ljud designade med akustisk mimikry kan skapa.

This diploma thesis aims to depict the nature of identity formation in the main characters of two works of postcolonial literature, Hari Kunzru's The Impressionist and Anita Desai's Baumgartner's Bombay. The concept of identity is approached from two perspectives, the traditional and the postcolonial one. Apart from that, the reactions of the two characters to their identity crises are scrutinized. The goal of this thesis is to determine what consequences the extreme implementation of a fluid, therefore ideal postcolonial identity, and the fixed one, as its extreme opposite, might have upon human lives. Special attention is paid to the three terms crucial in the postcolonial theory, liminality, hybridity and mimicry and how they predetermine the characters of the two novels. The analysis shows that neither extreme approach proves to be viable or beneficial for the life of an individual.

Avian brood parasitism is an ideal system for the study of coevolution. Brood parasites and their hosts have developed interesting adaptations during co-evolution allowing them to maximize their fitness. The evolution of these adaptations has a character of an "arms race" where the evolution of one trait in the host is tied with the evolution of another trait in the parasite. In my doctoral thesis, I deal with two of these adaptations: recognition of parasitic eggs by hosts and mimicry of eggs in parasites. Since both these adaptations are influenced by birds' visual system, in all my studies I used an objective method to measure the colour and the modelling of avian visual system that is quite different from the human visual system. For instance, humans in contrast to birds cannot perceive ultraviolet (UV) light. However, this part of spectrum influences behaviour of birds substantially (e.g. courtship or foraging). We found that the hosts of brood parasites can use UV light when recognizing parasitic eggs. However, it seems that this part of spectrum is not the main cue in egg recognition (manuscript 1). Ambient light has also an important impact on colour perception. We determined whether the light conditions in nests influence host responses to alien eggs. The Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) was an ideal...