First record of two new pet-associated parasitic mites (Acari Mesostigmata Laelapidae and Macronyssidae) from Hungary

During the investigation of the terrariums of snake pets, two species are reported for the first time from Hungary. Females of Ophionyssus natricis (Gervais, 1844) were collected from the body of a Boa sp. (Reptilia: Boidae), and females of Hirstionyssus butantanensis (Fonseca, 1932) were found on body of the new-born mice (Mus musculus Linnaeus) (Rodentia: Muridae) which were used as food of reptiles

Roll with the fear: environment and state dependence of pill bug (Armadillidium vulgare) personalities

Most studies on animal personality evaluate individual mean behaviour to describe individual behavioural strategy, while often neglecting behavioural variability on the within-individual level. However, within-individual behavioural plasticity (variation induced by environment) and within-individual residual variation (regulatory behavioural precision) are recognized as biologically valid components of individual behaviour, but the evolutionary ecology of these components is still less understood. Here, we tested whether behaviour of common pill bugs (Armadillidium vulgare) differs on the among- and within-individual level and whether it is affected by various individual specific state-related traits (sex, size and Wolbachia infection). To this aim, we assayed risk-taking in familiar vs. unfamiliar environments 30 times along 38 days and applied double modelling statistical technique to handle the complex hierarchical structure for both individual-specific trait means and variances. We found that there are significant among-individual differences not only in mean risk-taking behaviour but also in environment- and time-induced behavioural plasticity and residual variation. Wolbachia-infected individuals took less risk than healthy conspecifics; in addition, individuals became more risk-averse with time. Residual variation decreased with time, and individuals expressed higher residual variation in the unfamiliar environment. Further, sensitization was stronger in females and in larger individuals in general. Our results suggest that among-individual variation, behavioural plasticity and residual variation are all (i) biologically relevant components of an individual’s behavioural strategy and (ii) responsive to changes in environment or labile state variables. We propose pill bugs as promising models for personality research due to the relative ease of getting repeated behavioural measurements

A vízszintcsökkentés hatása erdei béka (Rana dalmatina) ebihalak egyedfejlődésére

Az időszakos víztestekben szaporodó kétéltűek lárvái számára élőhelyük korai kiszáradása katasztrofális következményekkel járhat. Az ilyen szaporodóhelyeket használó fajok lárváinál a vízszintcsökkenés a túlélést elősegítő fenotípusos változásokat (adaptív fenotípusos plaszticitás) indukálhat. Magyarország kétéltűfaunájának egyik időszakos víztestekben is szaporodó tagja az erdei béka (Rana dalmatina). Manipulatív laborkísérletben vizsgáltuk, hogy a vízszint csökkentése indukál-e eltérést az erdei béka ebihalak életmenetében, morfológiájában vagy viselkedésében. Az általunk vizsgált populációban a vízszintcsökkentés nem befolyásolta sem az átalakulás idejét, sem a testalakot, ugyanakkor csökkentette az ebihalak mozgási aktivitását és kockázatvállalását, valamint a metamorfok testtömegét. Eredményeink alapján elmondható, hogy az erdei béka ebihalak reagálnak ugyan a vízszintcsökkentésre, de adaptív válasz helyett csak egy általános negatív hatás figyelhető meg. Vizsgálatunk eredményei nem támasztják alá azt a feltevést, hogy extrém száraz években fejlődésük felgyorsításával az erdei béka ebihalak el tudnák kerülni a kiszáradás megnövekedett veszélyét, de még ha időben át is alakulnak, úgy tűnik, a kisbékák rátermettsége csökkenni fog

Behavioural consistency and life history of Rana dalmatina tadpoles

The focus of evolutionary behavioural ecologists has recently turned towards understanding the causes and consequences of behavioural consistency, manifesting either as animal personality (consistency in a single behaviour) or behavioural syndrome (consistency across more behaviours). Behavioural type (mean individual behaviour) has been linked to life-history strategies, leading to the emergence of the integrated pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) theory. Using Rana dalmatina tadpoles as models, we tested if behavioural consistency and POLS could be detected during the early ontogenesis of this amphibian. We targeted two ontogenetic stages and measured activity, exploration and risk-taking in a common garden experiment, assessing both individual behavioural type and intra-individual behavioural variation. We observed that activity was consistent in all tadpoles, exploration only became consistent with advancing age and risk-taking only became consistent in tadpoles that had been tested, and thus disturbed, earlier. Only previously tested tadpoles showed trends indicative of behavioural syndromes. We found an activity—age at metamorphosis POLS in the previously untested tadpoles irrespective of age. Relative growth rate correlated positively with the intra-individual variation of activity of the previously untested older tadpoles. In previously tested older tadpoles, intra-individual variation of exploration correlated negatively and intra-individual variation of risk-taking correlated positively with relative growth rate. We provide evidence for behavioural consistency and POLS in predator- and conspecific-naive tadpoles. Intra-individual behavioural variation was also correlated to life history, suggesting its relevance for the POLS theory. The strong effect of moderate disturbance related to standard behavioural testing on later behaviour draws attention to the pitfalls embedded in repeated testing.Peer Reviewe

Environment-dependence of behavioural consistency in adult male European green lizards (Lacerta viridis)

Understanding the background mechanisms affecting the emergence and maintenance of consistent between-individual variation within population in single (animal personality) or across multiple (behavioural syndrome) behaviours has key importance. State-dependence theory suggests that behaviour is `anchored' to individual state (e.g. body condition, gender, age) and behavioural consistency emerges through behavioural-state feedbacks. A number of relevant state variables are labile (e.g. body condition, physiological performance) and expected to be affected by short-term environmental change. Yet, whether short-term environmental shifts affect behavioural consistency during adulthood remains questionable. Here, by employing a full-factorial laboratory experiment, we explored if quantity of food (low vs. high) and time available for thermoregulation (3h vs. 10h per day) had an effect on activity and risk-taking of reproductive adult male European green lizards (Lacerta viridis). We focussed on different components of behavioural variation: (i) strength of behavioural consistency (repeatability for animal personality; between-individual correlation for behavioural syndrome), (ii) behavioural type (individual mean behaviour) and (iii) behavioural predictability (within-individual behavioural variation). Activity was repeatable in all treatments. Risktaking was repeatable only in the low basking treatments. We found significant betweenindividual correlation only in the low food × long basking time group. The treatments did not affect behavioural type, but affected behavioural predictability. Activity predictability was higher in the short basking treatment, where it also decreased with size ( age). Risk-taking predictability in the short basking treatment increased with size under food limitation, but decreased when food supply was high. We conclude that short-term environmental change can alter various components of behavioural consistency. The effect could be detected in the presence/absence patterns of animal personality and behavioural syndrome and the level of individual behavioural predictability, but not in behavioural typePeer reviewe

Data from: Experience during development triggers between-individual variation in behavioural plasticity

1. Behavioural consistency within and across behaviours (animal personality and behavioural syndrome, respectively) have been vigorously studied in the last decade, leading to the emergence of ’animal personality’ research. It has been proposed recently that not only mean behaviour (behavioural type), but the environmentally induced behavioural change (behavioural plasticity) might also differ between individuals within populations. 2. While case studies presenting between-individual variation in behavioural plasticity have started to accumulate, the mechanisms behind its emergence are virtually unknown. We have recently demonstrated that ecologically relevant environmental stimuli during ontogeny are necessary for the development of animal personality and behavioural syndromes. However, it is unknown whether between-individual variation in behavioural plasticity is hard-wired or induced. 3. Here, we tested whether experience with predation during development affected predator-induced behavioural plasticity in Rana dalmatina tadpoles. We ran a common garden experiment with two ontogenetic predation treatments: tadpoles developed from hatching in either the presence or absence of olfactory predator stimuli. Then, we assayed all tadpoles repeatedly for activity and risk-taking both in the absence and presence of olfactory predator stimuli. 4. We found that (i) between-individual variation in predator-induced behavioural plasticity was present only in the group that developed in the presence of olfactory stimuli from predators and (ii) previous experience with predatory stimuli resulted in lower plastic response at the group-level. The latter pattern resulted from increased between-individual variation and not from universally lower individual responses. We also found that experience with predation during development increased the predictability (i.e. decreased the within-individual variation unrelated to environmental change) of activity, but not risk-taking. In line with this, tadpoles developing under perceived predatory risk expressed their activity with higher repeatability. 5. We suggest that ecologically relevant environmental stimuli are not only fundamental for the development of animal personality and behavioural syndromes, but also for individual variation in behavioural plasticity. Thus, experience is of central importance for the emergence of individual behavioural variation at many levels