Our objective was to develop a method for assessing the effects of olfaction on feed preference. Two multiparous lactating Holstein cows were offered a totally mixed ration consisting of corn silage, alfalfa haylage, and a ground corn and soybean meal-based concentrate mixture (25:25:50 on a DM basis) for their ad libitum consumption in four consecutive 2.5-h periods daily for 5 d. An apparatus...

The Miocene radiation of C4 grasses under high-temperature and low ambient CO 2 levels occurred alongside the transformation of a largely forested landscape into savanna. This inevitably changed the host plant regime of herbivores, and the simultaneous diversification of many consumer lineages, including Bicyclus butterflies in Africa, suggests that the radiations of grasses and grazers may be ...

Seasonal epizootics of vector-borne pathogens infecting multiple species are ecologically complex and difficult to forecast. Pathogen transmission potential within the host community is determined by the relative abilities of host species to maintain and transmit the pathogen and by ecological factors influencing contact rates between hosts and vectors. Increasing evidence of strong feeding pre...

Zoophytophagous predators can substitute zoophagy for phytophagy to complete their development and reproduction. In such predators, variation in feeding behaviour is observed both across and within populations. This may be caused by genetic variation in diet specialization, some genotypes specializing on plant resources, whereas others rely mostly on prey to meet their energy and nutriment requ...

Like mammals, insects need to ingest proteins from foods because they cannot synthesise several amino acids. Amino acids are also essential nutrients for Drosophila melanogaster, especially for female egg production, but how flies detect amino acids and how the feeding response to amino acids is regulated are unknown. In this study, the two-choice preference test, the proboscis extension reflex...

Increased orosensory stimulation from palatable diets and decreased feedback from gut signals have been proposed as contributing factors to obesity development. Whether altered taste functions associated with obesity are common traits or acquired deficits to environmental factors, such as a high-energy (HE)-diet, however, is not clear. To address this, we examined preference and sensitivity of ...

The melonworm, Diaphania hyalinata L. (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is one of the most serious insect problems affecting cucurbit production. We evaluated the relative preference and suitability of yellow squash, zucchini, cucumber, and watermelon to melonworm by measuring its oviposition, larval feeding preference, survivorship, and developmental responses in the laboratory. Whole plants were used...

The host preference of the economically important fruit piercing moth, Calyptra lata (Butler 1881), was studied when exposed to different fruits and the odors of those fruits in enclosed feeding assays and in a two-choice olfactometer. The fruits consisted of three ripe and locally available types: raspberries, cherries and plums. Moths were released in cages with the ripened fruit and observed...