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Nahid MI, Fossøy F, Stokke BG, Abernathy V, Begum S, Langmore NE, Røskaft E, Ranke PS. No evidence of host-specific egg mimicry in Asian koels. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253985. [PMID: 34242287 PMCID: PMC8270166 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253985] [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: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Avian brood parasitism is costly for the host, in many cases leading to the evolution of defenses like discrimination of parasitic eggs. The parasite, in turn, may evolve mimetic eggs as a counter-adaptation to host egg rejection. Some generalist parasites have evolved host-specific races (gentes) that may mimic the eggs of their main hosts, while others have evolved ‘jack-of-all-trades’ egg phenotypes that mimic key features of the eggs of several different host species. The Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a widely distributed generalist brood parasite that exploits a wide range of host species. Based on human vision, previous studies have described Asian koel eggs as resembling those of its main host, the house crow (Corvus splendens). Using measurements of egg length and breadth, digital image analysis, reflectance spectrophotometry and avian visual modelling, we examined Asian koel egg variation and potential mimicry in egg size and shape, and eggshell pattern and color in three sympatrically occurring host species in Bangladesh: the common myna (Acridotheres tristis), house crow, and long-tailed shrike (Lanius schach). We found some differences among Asian koel eggs laid in different host nests: a) Asian koel eggs in long-tailed shrike nests were larger than those laid in common myna and house crow nests, and b) Asian koel eggs in house crow nests were less elongated than those in common myna nests. However, these changes in Asian koel egg volume and shape were in the opposite direction with respect to their corresponding host egg characteristics. Thus, our study found no evidence for Asian koel host-specific egg mimicry in three sympatrically occurring host species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mominul Islam Nahid
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- * E-mail:
| | - Frode Fossøy
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Bård G. Stokke
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Virginia Abernathy
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Sajeda Begum
- Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Naomi E. Langmore
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Eivin Røskaft
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Peter S. Ranke
- Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
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2
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Li D, Li X, Zhang Y, Guan S, Ruan Y. Contrasting effects of egg size and appearance on egg recognition and rejection response by Oriental reed warblers. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:10508-10519. [PMID: 33072276 PMCID: PMC7548169 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Revised: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Among potential hosts, the rejection of foreign eggs, which is a common and effective strategy to counter brood parasitism, depends on egg recognition. Multimodal and multicomponent recognition cues of brood parasitic eggs, which include both tactile (size, shape, and texture) and visual (size, shape, color, and maculation) cues, are potentially involved in the perception and discrimination of foreign eggs by hosts. An egg rejection experiment on the host with different types of model eggs can help to accurately assess the relative contribution of different components on egg recognition and constraints to rejection, in which videos can help identify the method of host rejection. Methods Here, we assessed egg recognition and rejection responses by Oriental reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the most common hosts of common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) which breed in eastern China. We designed six groups of model eggs for rejection experiments in which sensory cues included three grades of size and two categories of visual mimicry. Results Our experiments confirmed that the multimodal traits, which included variation in size, were significant predictors of egg rejection: We detected significantly higher rejection rates of mimetic spotted model eggs than of nonmimetic blue eggs. However, large model eggs did not yield higher rejection rates and, instead, these were less likely to be rejected and more likely to be deserted compared with smaller eggs. Further video‐recording data showed that there was no significant effect of egg size on the egg recognition rate (percentage of nests with evidence of egg pecking). No evidence that the egg appearance had an effect on the method of egg rejection (ejection or nest desertion) was found. Conclusions Only visual signals, such as color and maculation, contributed to the recognition of foreign eggs by Oriental reed warblers as recognizable clues, but not the egg size. The egg size had an impact on the type of egg rejection. It was less feasible for the warblers to eject large eggs and that is why they opted more often for desertion as the mean of model egg rejection. The significantly lower egg rejection rate of large eggs suggested that although some of them were recognized as foreign eggs, hosts failed to reject these eggs and finally the eggs were assumed to being accepted by the commonly used nest‐checking methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donglai Li
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
| | - Xiaoshuang Li
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
| | - Yan Zhang
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
| | - Shuang Guan
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
- Present address:
Changchun Longjia International AirportChangchunJilinChina
| | - Yanan Ruan
- School of Life SciencesLiaoning UniversityShenyangLiaoningChina
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3
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Hanley D, Gern K, Hauber ME, Grim T. Host Responses to Foreign Eggs across the Avian Visual Color Space. Am Nat 2019; 194:17-27. [DOI: 10.1086/703534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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4
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Canniff L, Dainson M, López AV, Hauber ME, Grim T, Samaš P, Hanley D. Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients. J Vis Exp 2018. [PMID: 30199015 DOI: 10.3791/57512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Brood parasites lay their eggs in other females' nests, leaving the host parents to hatch and rear their young. Studying how brood parasites manipulate hosts into raising their young and how hosts detect parasitism provide important insights in the field of coevolutionary biology. Brood parasites, such as cuckoos and cowbirds, gain an evolutionary advantage because they do not have to pay the costs of rearing their own young. However, these costs select for host defenses against all developmental stages of parasites, including eggs, their young, and adults. Egg rejection experiments are the most common method used to study host defenses. During these experiments, a researcher places an experimental egg in a host nest and monitors how hosts respond. Color is often manipulated, and the expectation is that the likelihood of egg discrimination and the degree of dissimilarity between the host and experimental egg are positively related. This paper serves as a guide for conducting egg rejection experiments from describing methods for creating consistent egg colors to analyzing the findings of such experiments. Special attention is given to a new method involving uniquely colored eggs along color gradients that has the potential to explore color biases in host recognition. Without standardization, it is not possible to compare findings between studies in a meaningful way; a standard protocol within this field will allow for increasingly accurate and comparable results for further experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Miri Dainson
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois
| | - Analía V López
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois
| | - Tomáš Grim
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University
| | - Peter Samaš
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
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Navarro-Pérez ML, López J, Rodríguez-Riaño T, Bacchetta G, de Miguel Gordillo C, Ortega-Olivencia A. Confirmed mixed bird-insect pollination system of Scrophularia trifoliata L., a Tyrrhenian species with corolla spots. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2017; 19:460-468. [PMID: 28130809 DOI: 10.1111/plb.12548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2016] [Accepted: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Both bird and mixed vertebrate-insect (MVI) pollination systems are very rare in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Because MVI can ensure reproduction over a wider range of environmental conditions than when insects are the sole pollinators, under certain circumstances such systems are highly advantageous to plants. Here, we investigated the pollination and some reproductive traits of the Tyrrhenian Scrophularia trifoliata, the only species of the genus possessing two showy dark spots inside the corolla, for which MVI pollination system had been inferred on the basis of limited censuses. We conducted field experiments to study MVI pollination and some reproductive traits and elucidate the role of corolla spots, analysing their ultraviolet pattern, histology and pigments versus the rest of the corolla. The primary pollinators were wasps and passerine birds. Corolla spots absorb UV light, present abundant anthocyanins and are histologically identical to the rest of the corolla. Control flowers had higher visitation frequency than flowers without spots. S. trifoliata is self-compatible, with efficient intrafloral protogyny and herkogamy that prevent self-pollination but not geitonogamy. We confirmed the existence of a mixed bird-insect pollination system in S. trifoliata. This system is found in three other Scrophularia species with large, showy flowers - two Mediterranean (S. grandiflora and S. sambucifolia) and one Macaronesian (S. calliantha). Unlike those species, S. trifoliata has two large spots inside the corolla. These likely operate as nectar guides and their dark colouration is related to abundant anthocyanin content.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Navarro-Pérez
- Área de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - J López
- Área de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - T Rodríguez-Riaño
- Área de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - G Bacchetta
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vitae dell'Ambiente, Centro Conservazione Biodiversità (CCB), Universitá degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - C de Miguel Gordillo
- Área de Edafología y Química Agrícola, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
| | - A Ortega-Olivencia
- Área de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
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7
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Šulc M, Procházka P, Capek M, Honza M. Birds use eggshell UV reflectance when recognizing non-mimetic parasitic eggs. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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8
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Abernathy VE, Peer BD. Mechanisms of egg recognition in brown-headed cowbird hosts: the role of ultraviolet reflectance. Anim Behav 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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9
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Aidala Z, Croston R, Schwartz J, Tong L, Hauber ME. The role of egg-nest contrast in the rejection of brood parasitic eggs. J Exp Biol 2015; 218:1126-36. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.108449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Accepted: 01/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Hosts of avian brood parasites can avoid the reproductive costs of raising genetically unrelated offspring by rejecting parasitic eggs. The perceptual cues and controls mediating parasitic egg discrimination and ejection are well studied: hosts are thought to use differences in egg color, brightness, maculation, size, and shape to discriminate between own and foreign eggs. Most models of brood parasitism implicitly assume that the primary criteria to which hosts attend when discriminating eggs are differences between the eggs themselves. However, this assumption is confounded by the degree to which chromatic and achromatic characteristics of the nest lining co-vary with egg coloration, in that egg-nest contrast per se might be the recognition cue driving parasitic egg detection. Here we systematically tested whether and how egg-nest contrast itself contributes to foreign egg discrimination. In an artificial parasitism experiment, we independently manipulated egg color and nest lining color of the egg-ejector American robin (Turdus migratorius), a host of the obligate brood parasitic brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). We hypothesized that the degree of contrast between foreign eggs and the nest background would affect host egg rejection behavior. We predicted that experimentally decreasing egg-nest chromatic and achromatic contrast (i.e. rendering parasitic eggs more cryptic against the nest lining) would decrease rejection rates, while increasing egg-nest contrast would increase rejection rates. In contrast to our predictions, egg-nest contrast was not a significant predictor of egg ejection patterns. Instead, egg color significantly predicted responses to parasitism. We conclude that egg-egg differences are the primary drivers of egg rejection in this system. Future studies should test for the effects of egg-nest contrast per se in predicting parasitic egg recognition in other host-parasite systems, including those hosts building enclosed nests and parasites laying cryptic eggs, as an alternative to hypothesized effects of egg-egg contrasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Aidala
- City University of New York; Bloomfield College, United States
| | - Rebecca Croston
- City University of New York; University of Nevada - Reno, United States
| | | | | | - Mark E. Hauber
- City University of New York; Bloomfield College, United States
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10
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Croston R, Hauber ME. Spectral tuning and perceptual differences do not explain the rejection of brood parasitic eggs by American robins (Turdus migratorius). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1649-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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11
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Butler MW, McGraw KJ. Eggshell coloration reflects both yolk characteristics and dietary carotenoid history of female mallards. Funct Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael W. Butler
- School of Life Sciences; Arizona State University; PO Box 874601; Tempe; Arizona; 85287-4601; USA
| | - Kevin J. McGraw
- School of Life Sciences; Arizona State University; PO Box 874601; Tempe; Arizona; 85287-4601; USA
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12
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de la Colina MA, Pompilio L, Hauber ME, Reboreda JC, Mahler B. Different recognition cues reveal the decision rules used for egg rejection by hosts of a variably mimetic avian brood parasite. Anim Cogn 2012; 15:881-9. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-012-0515-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2011] [Revised: 05/03/2012] [Accepted: 05/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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13
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Honza M, Procházka P, Morongová K, Čapek M, Jelínek V. Do Nest Light Conditions Affect Rejection of Parasitic Eggs? A Test of the Light Environment Hypothesis. Ethology 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2011.01900.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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14
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Požgayová M, Procházka P, Polačiková L, Honza M. Closer clutch inspection—quicker egg ejection: timing of host responses toward parasitic eggs. Behav Ecol 2010. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arq163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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15
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Andrady A, Aucamp PJ, Bais AF, Ballaré CL, Björn LO, Bornman JF, Caldwell M, Cullen AP, Erickson DJ, deGruijl FR, Häder DP, Ilyas M, Kulandaivelu G, Kumar HD, Longstreth J, McKenzie RL, Norval M, Paul N, Redhwi HH, Smith RC, Solomon KR, Sulzberger B, Takizawa Y, Tang X, Teramura AH, Torikai A, van der Leun JC, Wilson SR, Worrest RC, Zepp RG. Environmental effects of ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change: progress report, 2009. Photochem Photobiol Sci 2010; 9:275-94. [PMID: 20301813 DOI: 10.1039/b923342n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The parties to the Montreal Protocol are informed by three panels of experts. One of these is the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP), which deals with UV radiation and its effects on human health, animals, plants, biogeochemistry, air quality and materials. Since 2000, the analyses and interpretation of these effects have included interactions between UV radiation and global climate change. When considering the effects of climate change, it has become clear that processes resulting in changes in stratospheric ozone are more complex than believed previously. As a result of this, human health and environmental problems will likely be longer-lasting and more regionally variable. Like the other panels, the EEAP produces a detailed report every four years; the most recent was that for 2006 (Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2007, 6, 201-332). In the years in between, the EEAP produces a less detailed and shorter progress report, as is the case for this present one for 2009. A full quadrennial report will follow for 2010.
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Moskát C, Bán M, Székely T, Komdeur J, Lucassen RWG, van Boheemen LA, Hauber ME. Discordancy or template-based recognition? Dissecting the cognitive basis of the rejection of foreign eggs in hosts of avian brood parasites. J Exp Biol 2010; 213:1976-83. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.040394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Many avian hosts have evolved antiparasite defence mechanisms, including egg rejection, to reduce the costs of brood parasitism. The two main alternative cognitive mechanisms of egg discrimination are thought to be based on the perceived discordancy of eggs in a clutch or the use of recognition templates by hosts. Our experiments reveal that the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), a host of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), relies on both mechanisms. In support of the discordancy mechanism, hosts rejected their own eggs (13%) and manipulated (‘parasitic’) eggs (27%) above control levels in experiments when manipulated eggs were in the majority but when clutches also included a minority of own eggs. Hosts that had the chance to observe the manipulated eggs daily just after laying did not show stronger rejection of manipulated eggs than when the eggs were manipulated at clutch completion. When clutches contained only manipulated eggs, in 33% of the nests hosts showed rejection, also supporting a mechanism of template-based egg discrimination. Rejection using a recognition template might be more advantageous because discordancy-based egg discrimination is increasingly error prone with higher rates of multiple parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Csaba Moskát
- Animal Ecology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, c/o Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Ludovika ter 2, PO Box 137, H-1088, Hungary
| | - Miklós Bán
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology, University of Debrecen, 4010, Hungary
| | - Tamás Székely
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AYUK
| | - Jan Komdeur
- Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Haren, 9750, The Netherlands
| | - Rim W. G. Lucassen
- Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Haren, 9750, The Netherlands
| | - Lotte A. van Boheemen
- Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Haren, 9750, The Netherlands
| | - Márk E. Hauber
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, NY 10065, USA
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TAKASU FUGO, MOSKÁT CSABA, MUÑOZ AROMAN, IMANISHI SADAO, NAKAMURA HIROSHI. Adaptations in the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) to host eggs in a multiple-hosts system of brood parasitism. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01288.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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18
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Phillips K. BLACKCAPS EVICT IMPOSTORS WITH WRONG UV APPEARANCE. J Exp Biol 2008. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.022418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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