Selective oviposition can have important consequences for recruitment limitation and population dynamics of organisms with complex life cycles. Temporal and spatial variation in oviposition may be driven by environmental or behavioral constraints. The goals of this study were to: (1) develop an empirical model of the substrate characteristics that best explain observed patterns of oviposition b...

The rise of a pest species represents a unique opportunity to address how species evolve new behaviors and adapt to novel ecological niches [1]. We address this question by studying the egg-laying behavior of Drosophila suzukii, an invasive agricultural pest species that has spread from Southeast Asia to Europe and North America in the last decade [2]. While most closely related Drosophila spec...

In female grasshoppers, oviposition is a highly specialized behavior involving a rhythm-generating neural circuit, the oviposition central pattern generator, unusual abdominal appendages, and dedicated muscles. This study of Schistocerca americana (Drury) grasshoppers was undertaken to determine whether the simpler pregenital abdominal segments, which do not contain ovipositor appendages, share...

Oviposition behavior is a fairly neglected aspect in our understanding of the biology of sand flies. In this study, we used a comparative approach using both new- and old-world species (Lutzomyia longipalpis and Phlebotomus papatasi) in choice and no-choice oviposition chambers to evaluate the effect of old sand fly colony remains (frass), conspecific eggs, and their combination on oviposition ...

There has been considerable recent interest in using Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the molecular basis of decision-making behavior. Deciding where to place eggs is likely one of the most important decisions for a female fly, as eggs are vulnerable and larvae have limited motility. Here, we show that many natural genotypes of D. melanogaster prefer to lay eggs near nutritious substrate,...

The importance of predation as a mortality factor in adult mosquitoes has received only limited attention in the scientific literature. Despite the lack of consensus among researchers as to whether bats are important predators of mosquitoes, there have been no attempts to directly document the effect of bats on mosquito populations or behavior. We conducted an enclosure experiment to test the h...

The neural circuits that mediate behavioral choice evaluate and integrate information from the environment with internal demands and then initiate a behavioral response. Even circuits that support simple decisions remain poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, oviposition on a substrate containing ethanol enhances fitness; however, little is known about the neural mechanisms mediating th...

Larvae of most butterfly species feed on a limited number of host species belonging to a single plant family. The choice of host plants is determined both at the egg-laying and larval-feeding stages (Schoonhoven et al., 1998). The choice of oviposition site by an adult female is crucial to the survival of their offspring, and thus the mother butterflies lay their eggs with great precision on th...

The invasive pest Drosophila suzukii was introduced to southern Europe in 2008 and spread throughout Central Europe in the following years. Precise reliable data on the temperature-dependent behavior of D. suzukii are scarce but will help forecasting and cultivation techniques. Depending on physico-chemical properties, surface temperature of objects may differ from ambient temperatures, determi...