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Freeberg TM, Risner SR, Lang SY, Fiset S. Conspecific and heterospecific cueing in shelter choices of Blaptica dubia cockroaches. PeerJ 2024; 12:e16891. [PMID: 38500525 PMCID: PMC10946387 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Like many cockroaches, Argentinian wood roaches, Blaptica dubia, prefer darker shelters over lighter shelters. In three experiments, we asked whether chemical cues from other roaches might influence shelter choice, a process known as conspecific or heterospecific cueing, depending on whether the cues come from an individual of the same or a different species, respectively. Methods Each experiment involved trials with focal B. dubia cockroaches in testing arenas containing plastic shelters of varying levels of darkness, with filter paper under each shelter acting as a carrier for chemical cues. In Experiment 1, we tested female and male B. dubia cockroaches with two shelters matched for darkness but differing in cues (conspecific vs. none). The shelter with no cue contained a blank filter paper as a control. In Experiment 2 (conspecific cueing) and Experiment 3 (heterospecific cueing), we tested B. dubia cockroach choices for lighter or darker shelters with filter papers containing chemical cues of other roaches or no chemical cues. For the conspecific cueing study of Experiment 2, we used chemical cues from other B. dubia cockroaches. In contrast, for the heterospecific cueing study of Experiment 3, we used chemical cues from a different species, the death's head cockroach, Blaberus craniifer. Results In Experiment 1, B. dubia cockroaches overwhelmingly preferred shelters with conspecific chemical cues over darkness-matched shelters without cues. In Experiments 2 and 3, they strongly preferred darker shelters, especially when chemical cues were present. Additionally, they were more likely to be under the lighter shelter when chemical cues were present there. These results reveal that the public information B. dubia cockroaches gain from chemical cues-including those from other species-can drive shelter choices in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd M. Freeberg
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee—Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee—Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
| | - S. Ryan Risner
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee—Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
| | - Sarah Y. Lang
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee—Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
| | - Sylvain Fiset
- Secteur Sciences Humaines, Université de Moncton—Edmundston, Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada
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Petrov T, Hajnal M, Klein J, Šafránek D, Nouvian M. Extracting individual characteristics from population data reveals a negative social effect during honeybee defence. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010305. [PMID: 36107824 PMCID: PMC9477262 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Honeybees protect their colony against vertebrates by mass stinging and they coordinate their actions during this crucial event thanks to an alarm pheromone carried directly on the stinger, which is therefore released upon stinging. The pheromone then recruits nearby bees so that more and more bees participate in the defence. However, a quantitative understanding of how an individual bee adapts its stinging response during the course of an attack is still a challenge: Typically, only the group behaviour is effectively measurable in experiment; Further, linking the observed group behaviour with individual responses requires a probabilistic model enumerating a combinatorial number of possible group contexts during the defence; Finally, extracting the individual characteristics from group observations requires novel methods for parameter inference. We first experimentally observed the behaviour of groups of bees confronted with a fake predator inside an arena and quantified their defensive reaction by counting the number of stingers embedded in the dummy at the end of a trial. We propose a biologically plausible model of this phenomenon, which transparently links the choice of each individual bee to sting or not, to its group context at the time of the decision. Then, we propose an efficient method for inferring the parameters of the model from the experimental data. Finally, we use this methodology to investigate the effect of group size on stinging initiation and alarm pheromone recruitment. Our findings shed light on how the social context influences stinging behaviour, by quantifying how the alarm pheromone concentration level affects the decision of each bee to sting or not in a given group size. We show that recruitment is curbed as group size grows, thus suggesting that the presence of nestmates is integrated as a negative cue by individual bees. Moreover, the unique integration of exact and statistical methods provides a quantitative characterisation of uncertainty associated to each of the inferred parameters. In this paper, our interdisciplinary team has significantly improved the understanding of how honeybees coordinate their actions during defence. Our first step was to measure the output behaviour of groups of bees under controlled experimental conditions. We then developed a model and methodology that allow us to quantify how the responsiveness to the alarm pheromone evolves during a defensive event, for a given group size. We show that recruitment becomes less effective as group size increases, thus revealing the existence of a negative social effect that acts on top of alarm pheromone communication. Our contribution is thus two-fold: on the computational side, we provide new tools to extract individual characteristics from population data, which is a challenging issue in the study of collective behaviour. On the biological side, we provide evidence that bees weight in their social context when making the decision to sting. We hypothesize that this may be an important mechanism to prevent recruitment from spinning out of control, ultimately preserving the colony from workforce depletion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatjana Petrov
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- * E-mail: (TP); (DŠ); (MN)
| | - Matej Hajnal
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Systems Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Julia Klein
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - David Šafránek
- Systems Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- * E-mail: (TP); (DŠ); (MN)
| | - Morgane Nouvian
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- * E-mail: (TP); (DŠ); (MN)
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Rajendran H, Haluts A, Gov NS, Feinerman O. Ants resort to majority concession to reach democratic consensus in the presence of a persistent minority. Curr Biol 2021; 32:645-653.e8. [PMID: 34995489 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Social groups often need to overcome differences in individual interests and knowledge to reach consensus decisions. Here, we combine experiments and modeling to study conflict resolution in emigrating ant colonies during binary nest selection. We find that cohesive emigration, without fragmentation, is achieved only by intermediate-sized colonies. We then impose a conflict regarding the desired emigration target between colony subgroups. This is achieved using an automated selective gate system that manipulates the information accessible to each ant. Under this conflict, we find that individuals concede their potential benefit to promote social consensus. In particular, colonies resolve the conflict imposed by a persistent minority through "majority concession," wherein a majority of ants that hold first-hand knowledge regarding the superior quality nest choose to reside in the inferior one. This outcome is unlikely in social groups of selfish individuals and emphasizes the importance of group cohesion in eusocial societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harikrishnan Rajendran
- Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Amir Haluts
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Nir S Gov
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Ofer Feinerman
- Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
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Couzin-Fuchs E, Ayali A. The social brain of 'non-eusocial' insects. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2021; 48:1-7. [PMID: 33933684 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2021.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Decisions are seldom entirely devoid of social influence. Even in organisms that have traditionally been considered non-social, the social environment plays an important role in mediating behavior. Here we review the current knowledge regarding the neural basis of social behaviors in non-eusocial insects, with a particular focus on fruit flies, cockroaches and locusts. Each are shown to offer valuable, and complementary, insights into how social behavior is mediated at the neural level. The presented studies demonstrate that social cues, which are integrated in primary sensory areas, exert a considerable influence on behavior. Further studies with these models, and others, will provide important insights into the diversity of social behaviors, and into the way that these are encoded in dedicated brain and neuronal structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Einat Couzin-Fuchs
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany; Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany.
| | - Amir Ayali
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Israel
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Steymans I, Pujol-Lereis LM, Brembs B, Gorostiza EA. Collective action or individual choice: Spontaneity and individuality contribute to decision-making in Drosophila. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256560. [PMID: 34437617 PMCID: PMC8389364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Our own unique character traits make our behavior consistent and define our individuality. Yet, this consistency does not entail that we behave repetitively like machines. Like humans, animals also combine personality traits with spontaneity to produce adaptive behavior: consistent, but not fully predictable. Here, we study an iconically rigid behavioral trait, insect phototaxis, that nevertheless also contains both components of individuality and spontaneity. In a light/dark T-maze, approximately 70% of a group of Drosophila fruit flies choose the bright arm of the T-Maze, while the remaining 30% walk into the dark. Taking the photopositive and the photonegative subgroups and re-testing them reveals the spontaneous component: a similar 70–30 distribution emerges in each of the two subgroups. Increasing the number of choices to ten choices, reveals the individuality component: flies with an extremely negative series of first choices were more likely to show photonegative behavior in subsequent choices and vice versa. General behavioral traits, independent of light/dark preference, contributed to the development of this individuality. The interaction of individuality and spontaneity together explains why group averages, even for such seemingly stereotypical behaviors, are poor predictors of individual choices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle Steymans
- Institut für Zoologie - Neurogenetik, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Luciana M. Pujol-Lereis
- Laboratory of Amyloidosis and Neurodegeneration, Fundación Instituto Leloir, IIBBA, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Björn Brembs
- Institut für Zoologie - Neurogenetik, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- * E-mail: (EAG); (BB)
| | - E. Axel Gorostiza
- Institut für Zoologie - Neurogenetik, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE) CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- * E-mail: (EAG); (BB)
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Calvo Martín M, Eeckhout M, Deneubourg JL, Nicolis SC. Consensus driven by a minority in heterogenous groups of the cockroach Periplaneta american a. iScience 2021; 24:102723. [PMID: 34258556 PMCID: PMC8254023 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Many social species are able to perform collective decisions and reach consensus. However, how the interplay between social interactions, the diversity of preferences among the group members and the group size affects these dynamics is usually overlooked. The collective choice between odourous and odorless shelters is tested for the following three groups of social cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) which are solitary foragers: naive (individuals preferring the odorous shelter), conditioned (individuals without preference), and mixed (combining, unevenly, conditioned, and naive individuals). The robustness of the consensus is not affected by the naive individuals' proportion, but the rate and the frequency of selection of the odorous shelter are correlated to this proportion. In mixed groups, the naive individuals act as influencers. Simulations based on the mechanisms highlighted in our experiments predict that the consensus emerges only for intermediate group sizes. The universality of these mechanisms suggests that such phenomena are widely present in social systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Calvo Martín
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department de Biologie des Organismes, Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Solbosch, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Max Eeckhout
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department de Biologie des Organismes, Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Solbosch, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jean-Louis Deneubourg
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Stamatios C Nicolis
- Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems (Cenoli), Université libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe 155, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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Günzel Y, McCollum J, Paoli M, Galizia CG, Petelski I, Couzin-Fuchs E. Social modulation of individual preferences in cockroaches. iScience 2021; 24:101964. [PMID: 33437942 PMCID: PMC7788088 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In social species, decision-making is both influenced by, and in turn influences, the social context. This reciprocal feedback introduces coupling across scales, from the neural basis of sensing, to individual and collective decision-making. Here, we adopt an integrative approach investigating decision-making in dynamical social contexts. When choosing shelters, isolated cockroaches prefer vanillin-scented (food-associated) shelters over unscented ones, yet in groups, this preference is inverted. We demonstrate that this inversion can be replicated by replacing the full social context with social odors: presented alone food and social odors are attractive, yet when presented as a mixture they are avoided. Via antennal lobe calcium imaging, we show that neural activity in vanillin-responsive regions reduces as social odor concentration increases. Thus, we suggest that the mixture is evaluated as a distinct olfactory object with opposite valence, providing a mechanism that would naturally result in individuals avoiding what they perceive as recently exploited resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yannick Günzel
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jaclyn McCollum
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Marco Paoli
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- CNRS, Research Centre for Animal Cognition, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - C. Giovanni Galizia
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Inga Petelski
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Einat Couzin-Fuchs
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
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Calvo Martín M, Nicolis SC, Planas-Sitjà I, Deneubourg JL. Conflictual influence of humidity during shelter selection of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana). Sci Rep 2019; 9:20331. [PMID: 31889068 PMCID: PMC6937323 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56504-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In collective decision-making, when confronted with different options, groups usually show a more marked preference for one of the options than do isolated individuals. This results from the amplification of individual preferences by social interactions within the group. We show, in an unusual counter-example, that when facing a binary choice between shelters with different relative humidities, isolated cockroaches of the species Periplaneta americana select the wettest shelter, while groups select the driest one. This inversion of selection results from a conflictual influence of humidity on the probabilities of entering and leaving each shelter. It is shown that the individual probability of entering the wettest shelter is higher than the group probability and is increased by previous entries and exits. The probability of leaving each shelter decreases in the population due to social interactions, but this decrease is less pronounced in the wettest shelter, suggesting weaker social interactions. A theoretical model is developed and highlights the existence of tipping points dependent on population size, beyond which an inversion of selection of a resting place is observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Calvo Martín
- Biological and Artificial Self-organised Systems Team, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
- Evolutionary Biology & Ecology Unit, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Stamatios C Nicolis
- Biological and Artificial Self-organised Systems Team, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Isaac Planas-Sitjà
- Systematic Zoology Laboratory, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Osawa, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
| | - Jean-Louis Deneubourg
- Biological and Artificial Self-organised Systems Team, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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Laurent Salazar MO, Nicolis SC, Calvo Martín M, Sempo G, Deneubourg JL, Planas-Sitjà I. Group choices seemingly at odds with individual preferences. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:170232. [PMID: 28791151 PMCID: PMC5541546 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2017] [Accepted: 06/20/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Numerous studies have focused on the influence of the social environment and the interactions between individuals on the collective decision-making of groups. They showed, for example, that attraction between individuals is at the origin of an amplification of individual preferences. These preferences may concern various environmental cues such as biomolecules that convey information about the environment such as vanillin, which, for some insects, is an attractant. In this study, we analysed how the social context of the cockroaches of the species Periplaneta americana modifies preferences when individuals are offered two shelters, of which one is vanillin scented. One of the principal results of our study is that isolated individuals stay longer and more frequently in a vanillin-scented shelter, while groups choose more frequently the unscented one. Moreover, the proportion of sheltered insects is larger when the group selects the unscented shelter. Our experimental results and theoretical model suggest that the individual preference is not inverted when insects are in a group but, rather, the response to vanillin decreases the attraction between individuals. As a result, aggregation is favoured in the unscented shelter, leading therefore to a collective inversion.
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