0000000001319839

AUTHOR

Karine Monceau

Personality, immune response and reproductive success: an appraisal of the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis.

11 pages; International audience; The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis is an extended concept of the life-history theory that includes behavioural traits. The studies challenging the POLS hypothesis often focus on the relationships between a single personality trait and a physiological and/or life-history trait. While pathogens represent a major selective pressure, few studies have been interested in testing relationships between behavioural syndrome, and several fitness components including immunity. The aim of this study was to address this question in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a model species in immunity studies. The personality score was estimated from a multidimensi…

research product

Spatial distribution ofVespa velutinaindividuals hunting at domestic honeybee hives: heterogeneity at a local scale

Since its recent introduction into Europe, the yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina, has become a major predator of the domestic honeybee, Apis mellifera, but little is known about its hunting behavior. We studied V. velutina hunting behavior by a capture-mark-recapture procedure in an experimental apiary. A total of 360 hornets were captured and tagged, and we determined: (i) the number of hornets visiting the apiary and the changes in time, (ii) the average number of individual visits per half-day and the time elapsed between consecutive recaptures, and (iii) the individual and global distribution of the hornets in the apiary. More than 50% of the marked hornets were recaptured at least o…

research product

Interpreting immunological indices: the importance of taking parasite community into account. An example in blackbirds Turdus merula.

13 pages; International audience; Despite the intensive use of immune indices in immunoecology, whether to interpret the results of immune indices in terms of actual immune competence (i.e. ability to control and clear parasite infections as indicated by high values of immune indices associated with low parasite loads) or current immune activation (pathogenic infection being associated with high parasite load and high values of immune indices) is still an open question. Most studies to date have produced contrasting results focused on the effect of a single parasite species despite the fact that hosts usually harbour a community of parasites that influences one another's impact on host immu…

research product

Larval personality does not predict adult personality in a holometabolous insect.

10 pages; International audience; Although personality (consistent inter-individual differences in behavioural traits across time and/or contexts) and behavioural syndromes (suites of correlated personality traits) have been widely studied in the last decades, the origin and development of these traits during ontogeny are still underexplored. In this context, species undergoing metamorphosis are of special interest. To date, however, the persistence of personality traits has been only little investigated in organisms undergoing complete metamorphosis such as in holometabolous insects, although this kind of studies may provide important insights from a functional point of view. Here, we test…

research product

Different emergence phenology of European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on six varieties of grapes.

AbstractThe phenology of insect emergence affects reproductive success and is especially critical in short-lived species. An increasing number of studies have documented the effects of thermal and other climatic variations and of unpredictable habitats on the timing of adult insect emergence within and between populations and years. Numerous interacting factors may affect the phenology of adult emergence. Host-plant quality and availability is a key factor that has been largely neglected in studies of the phenology of phytophagous insects. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of host plant characteristics on the rate of larval growth and the pattern of emergence in a wild p…

research product

Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in adult and juvenile Zenaida Dove, Zenaida aurita.

10 pages; International audience; Understanding how fitness is related to genetic variation is of crucial importance in both evolutionary ecology and conservation biology. We report a study of heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild, noninbred population of Zenaida Doves, Zenaida aurita, based on a sample comprising 489 individuals (382 adults and 107 juveniles) typed at 13 microsatellite loci, resulting in a data set comprising 5793 genotypes. In both adults and juveniles, and irrespective of sex, no evidence was found for an effect of either multilocus or single-locus heterozygosity on traits potentially related to fitness such as foraging tactic, competitive ability, and fluctuatin…

research product

Insect personality: what can we learn from metamorphosis?

6 pages; International audience; Ontogeny of animal personality is still an open question. Testing whether personality traits correlated with state variables (e.g. metabolic rate, hormones) and/or life history traits, and which ones are involved, requires more empirical studies. Insects with metamorphosis represent a good opportunity to tackle this question. Because of the various degrees of internal (physiological, nervous) and environmental changes linked to metamorphosis they allow testing whether these modifications drive consistency in personality traits between immature and adult stages. In this review, we establish general predictions for the effects of metamorphosis on personality i…

research product

Colonisation and diversification of the Zenaida dove (Zenaida aurita) in the Antilles: phylogeography, contemporary gene flow and morphological divergence.

12 pages; International audience; Caribbean avifaunal biogeography has been mainly studied based on mitochondrial DNA. Here, we investigated both past and recent island differentiation and micro-evolutionary changes in the Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita) based on combined information from one mitochondrial (Cytochrome c Oxydase subunit I, COI) and 13 microsatellite markers and four morphological characters. This Caribbean endemic and abundant species has a large distribution, and two subspecies are supposed to occur: Z. a. zenaida in the Greater Antilles (GA) and Z. a. aurita in the Lesser Antilles (LA). Doves were sampled on two GA islands (Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands) and six…

research product

Olfactory attraction of the hornet Vespa velutina to honeybee colony odors and pheromones.

19 pages; International audience; Since the beginning of the last century, the number of biological invasions has continuously increased worldwide. Due to their environmental and economical consequences, invasive species are now a major concern. Social wasps are particularly efficient invaders because of their distinctive biology and behavior. Among them, the yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina, is a keen hunter of domestic honeybees. Its recent introduction to Europe may induce important beekeeping, pollination, and biodiversity problems. Hornets use olfactory cues for the long-range detection of food sources, in this case the location of honeybee colonies, but the exact nature of these c…

research product

Larval intraspecific competition for food in the European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana.

AbstractEffective pest management with lower amounts of pesticides relies on accurate prediction of insect pest growth rates. Knowledge of the factors governing this trait and the resulting fitness of individuals is thus necessary to refine predictions and make suitable decisions in crop protection. The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana, the major pest of grapes in Europe, is responsible for huge economic losses. Larvae very rarely leave the grape bunch on which they were oviposited and thus cannot avoid intraspecific competition. In this study, we determined the impact of intraspecific competition during the larval stage on development and adult fitness in this species. This was tes…

research product

The next meeting for animal personality: population genetics.

8 pages; International audience

research product

A field test of behavioural flexibility in Zenaida doves (Zenaida aurita).

7 pages; International audience; Animals' ability to adjust their behaviour when environmental conditions change can increase their likelihood of survival. Although such behavioural flexibility is regularly observed in the field, it has proven difficult to systematically quantify and predict inter-individual differences in free-living animals. We presented 24 Zenaida doves (Zenaida aurita) on 12 territories with two learning tests in their natural habitat in Barbados. The dove pairs showed high site fidelity and territoriality, allowing us to test individuals repeatedly while accounting for the effects of territorial chases and pair bonds on our learning measures. We used a foraging apparat…

research product

Sexing birds using discriminant function analysis: a critical appraisal.

9 pages; International audience; Discriminant function analysis (DFA) based on morphological measurements is a quick, inexpensive, and efficient method for sex determination in field studies on cryptically monomorphic bird species. However, behind the apparent standardization and relative simplicity of DFA lie subtle differences and pitfalls that have been neglected in some studies. Most of these concerns directly affect assessment of the discriminant performance, a parameter of crucial importance in practice because it provides a measure of the quality of an equation that may be used in later field studies. Using results from 141 published studies and simulations based on a large data set …

research product

The relative abundance of hemocyte types in a polyphagous moth larva depends on diet.

7 pages; International audience; Hemocytes are crucial cells of the insect immune system because of their involvement in multiple immune responses including coagulation, phagocytosis and encapsulation. There are various types of hemocytes, each having a particular role in immunity, such that variation in their relative abundance affects the outcome of the immune response. This study aims to characterize these various types of hemocytes in larvae of the grapevine pest insect Eupoecilia ambiguella, and to assess variation in their concentration as a function of larval diet and immune challenge. Four types of hemocytes were found in the hemolymph of 5th instar larvae: granulocytes, oenocytoids…

research product

Behavioral syndrome in a native and an invasive hymenoptera species

Recent studies have focused on the role of behavior in biological invasions. Individuals may differ consistently in time for several behavioral traits (personality) which covary(behavioralsyndrome)resultingindifferentbehavioraltypes,someofthemfavoring invasion. Social hymenopterans have a strong potential to be invaders and their success depends primarily on the foundresses' ability to found viable colonies. They are expected to be active, explorative and bold for optimally establishing their nest. In Europe, 2 hornet species coexist: the native Vespa crabro and the invasive Vespa velutina. These 2 species may compete for nesting sites and we suggest that the initial success of V. velutina …

research product

Territoriality versus flocking in the Zenaida dove (Zenaida aurita): resource polymorphism revisited using morphological and genetic analyses.

11 pages; International audience; The term “resource polymorphism” refers to the existence of alternative phenotypes in relation to resource use, as a result of disruptive selection. Evidence for resource polymorphism is widespread in fish but remains scarce in birds. Although Zenaida Doves (Zenaida aurita) usually defend year-round territories, doves on Barbados can also be observed foraging at seed-storage sites in large flocks with little, if any, inter-individual aggression. On the basis of morphological variation, it has been suggested (Sol et al. 2005) that this represents a case of resource polymorphism, primarily driven by competition for territories. Using new data, we revisited th…

research product

Assortative pairing for boldness and consequences for reproductive success in Montagu’s harrier

Abstract Behavioural combination within pairs depending on personality and plasticity might influence reproductive success. However, studies testing this hypothesis are rare, especially in the case of monogamous species with bi-parental care in which the sexes exhibit different behavioural roles. In this study, we investigated the pairing patterns for both boldness and boldness plasticity in Montagu’s harriers (Circus pygargus), a species with sex-specific care, and the consequences for their reproductive success. We measured individual boldness and plasticity for both sexes, and we assessed the pairing pattern in the Montagu’s harrier population for these two traits. We calculated four ind…

research product

Towards sustainable and multifunctional agriculture in farmland landscapes: Lessons from the integrative approach of a French LTSER platform

International audience; Agriculture is currently facing unprecedented challenges: ensuring food, fiber and energy production in the face of global change, maintaining the economic performance of farmers and preserving natural resources such as biodiversity and associated key ecosystem services for sustainable agriculture. Addressing these challenges requires innovative landscape scale farming systems that account for changing economic and environmental targets. These novel agricultural systems need to be recognized, accepted and promoted by all stakeholders, including local residents, and supported by public policies. Agroecosystems should be considered as socio-ecological systems and alter…

research product

Data from: Personality, immune response and reproductive success: an appraisal of the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis

The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis is an extended concept of the life-history theory that includes behavioural traits. The studies challenging the POLS hypothesis often focus on the relationships between a single personality trait and a physiological and/or life-history trait. While pathogens represent a major selective pressure, few studies have been interested in testing relationships between behavioural syndrome, and several fitness components including immunity. The aim of this study was to address this question in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a model species in immunity studies. The personality score was estimated from a multidimensional syndrome based of four repeat…

research product