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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch in 1973 for their pioneering work during the 1930s and 1940s, in the study of animal behaviour. Lorenz established the foundations of ethology in 1935 in what has become known as his "Kumpan paper". The paper focussed on the social relationships between conspecifics (i.e. 'kumpans', companions) and provided a much-needed conceptual framework for the study of animal behaviour. We describe the origins and immediate reception of Lorenz's paper using his correspondence with colleagues, mainly Erwin Stresemann who was then the influential editor of Journal für Ornithologie. The Kumpan paper was notable for its extraordinary originality, but also for its length and—in parts—its incomprehensible language. Most of Lorenz's concepts were rapidly superseded as the field of Ethology/Animal Behaviour developed over the following decades. The paper (translated in full into English only in 1970) is rarely read today, but as we show, many of Lorenz's observations of birds are both timeless and highly original and have the potential to inspire further research today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scripture encourages parents to pass on faith to children, and a multitude of studies show that the biggest predictor of the faith of kids is the faith of their parents. However, raising kids in faith is more complicated and nuanced than simple "parent to child" religious transmission. In this paper, animal family models are used to explore the relationship between congregations and families. By engaging instructions from scripture, research on changing household structures, and contemporary perspectives on parenting, this paper offers a new way of thinking about religious transmission within intergenerational family relationships and the uniquely central role for congregations.

Sexually selected signals are theoretically expected to exhibit heightened condition dependence compared to non-signaling traits. This link to condition enables sexual signals to provide information regarding individual quality and also provides a mechanism that allows animals to develop signals that accurately reflect their abilities. Most previous work on sexual signal condition dependence has focused on signals that have clear developmental costs, while less is known about the development of other types of quality signals. Male Polistes dominulus paper wasps have yellow-on-black abdominal spots that are important signals during female choice and male-male competition. These signals lack obvious production costs, as males are covered in yellow and black patterns composed of the same pigments. Here, we assess signal condition dependence by testing whether larval diet has a stronger influence on the development of male spots than on the development of control traits composed of the same pigments. Males reared on ad libitum diets developed elliptical spots similar to those seen on dominant, attractive males, while males reared on restricted diets developed irregularly shaped spots similar to those seen on subordinate, unattractive males. Remarkably, the development of a control trait composed of the same yellow and black pigments was not influenced by larval diet. Therefore, sexually selected signals can be developmentally decoupled from traits comprised of the same pigments. Condition dependence of sexually selected signals is likely to be a widespread solution to the challenge of developing sexually selected signals that accurately convey information about individual quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cooperatively breeding vertebrates, the existence of individuals that help to raise the offspring of non-relatives iswell established, but unrelated helpers are less well known in the social insects. Eusocial insect groups overwhelmingly consist of close relatives, so populations where unrelated helpers are common are intriguing. Here, we focus on Polistes dominula--the best-studied primitively eusocialwasp, and a species in which nesting with non-relatives is not only present but frequent.We address two major questions: why individuals should choose to nest with non-relatives, and why such individuals participate in the costly rearing of unrelated offspring. Polistes dominula foundresses produce more offspring of their own as subordinates than when they nest independently, providing a potential explanation for co-founding by non-relatives. There is some evidence that unrelated subordinates tailor their behaviour towards direct fitness, while the role of recognition errors in generating unrelated co-foundresses is less clear. Remarkably, the remote but potentially highly rewarding chance of inheriting the dominant position appears to strongly influence behaviour, suggesting that primitively eusocial insects may have much more in common with their social vertebrate counterparts than has commonly been thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study to determine the existence of social parasitism and dynamics among cuticular hydrocarbons (CH) worker species of Mischocyttarus (M.) consimilis and Mischocyttarus (M.) cerberus. It proposes that social parasites M. consimilis are able to remain in the colony of its host, M. cerberus through the use of chemical signals. The researchers cite the efficacy of Fourier Transform Infrared-Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) in detecting the CH levels of the worker species. The study demonstrates that female parasites of the M. consimilis species are able to complete parasitic contact by altering the chemical profiles of their host-specie, as well as, their own.

Many animals have ornaments that mediate choice and competition in social and sexual contexts. Individuals with elaborate sexual ornaments typically have higher fitness than those with less elaborate ornaments, but less is known about whether socially selected ornaments are associated with fitness. Here, we test the relationship between fitness and facial patterns that are a socially selected signal of fighting ability in Polistes dominula wasps. We found wasps that signal higher fighting ability have larger nests, are more likely to survive harsh winters, and obtain higher dominance rank than wasps that signal lower fighting ability. In comparison, body weight was not associated with fitness. Larger wasps were dominant over smaller wasps, but showed no difference in nest size or survival. Overall, the positive relationship between wasp facial patterns and fitness indicates that receivers can obtain diverse information about a signaler's phenotypic quality by paying attention to socially selected ornaments. Therefore, there are surprisingly strong parallels between the information conveyed by socially and sexually selected signals. Similar fitness relationships in social and sexually selected signals may be one reason it can be difficult to distinguish the role of social versus sexual selection in ornament evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory on animal contests often assumes that individuals can rapidly and accurately assess their own resource-holding potential (RHP). In empirical work, individuals behave as if they ‘know’ their own RHP, but little is known about how such assessment occurs. Here, we test how juvenile hormone (JH) influences precontest behaviour in P. dominulus paper wasps. Previous work has shown that P. dominulus have variable black facial patterns that are a signal of agonistic ability and that JH influences fighting ability. In this experiment, we tested how JH influences rival challenge behaviour in the absence of direct social competition. Wasps were given the opportunity to challenge or avoid a model wasp guarding a patch of food. Individuals treated with the JH analogue methoprene were more likely to challenge rivals than were control individuals, and they also had a shorter latency to challenge than controls. However, hormone treatment was only one of multiple factors that influenced behaviour, suggesting that assessment prior to contests is based on the interplay between individual physiology and social context. Contest decisions were also dependent on a wasp's own facial pattern and mass, as well as the facial pattern of its rival. Interestingly, these complex assessment decisions occurred in the absence of direct social cues that could be acquired during a contest. These results are consistent with JH playing a role in self-assessment of RHP. Hormones such as JH are influenced by the physical and social environment, so they provide diverse information about relative RHP and may be commonly involved in assessment behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unique among insects, some paper wasp species recognize conspecific facial patterns during social communication. To evaluate whether specialized brain structures are involved in this task, we measured brain and brain component size in four different paper wasp species, two of which show facial pattern recognition. These behavioral abilities were not reflected by an increase in brain size or an increase in the size of the primary visual centers (medulla, lobula). Instead, wasps showing face recognition abilities had smaller olfactory centers (antennal lobes). Although no single brain compartment explains the wasps’ specialized visual abilities, multi-factorial analysis of the different brain components, particularly the antennal lobe and the mushroom body sub-compartments, clearly separates those species that show facial pattern recognition from those that do not. Thus, there appears to be some neural specialization for visual communication in Polistes. However, the apparent lack of optic lobe specialization suggests that the visual processing capabilities of paper wasps might be preadapted for pattern discrimination and the ability to discriminate facial markings could require relatively small changes in their neuronal substrate. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals frequently face situations where they must choose one prey item from a set of options. Animals are often considered to be able to choose the best prey item from multiple alternatives. However, time may be required to make accurate decisions, and under natural conditions, time is usually limited. Here, we examined whether animals fail to choose the most profitable prey item under time-limited conditions. A queen (foundress) of a paper wasp Polistes chinensis antennalis starts a colony in spring and maintains the nest alone until the emergence of workers. At the stage, the foundress often depredates larvae in other conspecific nests. The intruder needs to finish choosing and extracting a single larva during the absence of the owner from the nest. Intruders preferred the fifth-instar larvae, which are the largest and the most profitable prey among larvae. When the time spent in choosing was long, intruders were able to choose the fifth-instar larvae with a higher probability. However, when the time spent in choosing was short, intruders sampled only a small fraction of larvae in a nest, and the probability of choosing the fifth-instar larvae decreased. Furthermore, we found that intruders decreased the time spent in choosing under higher time constraints. These results suggest that under time-limited conditions, intruders occasionally failed to choose the most profitable prey item because of incomplete information on the availability of options. These results also suggest a trade-off between speed and accuracy of choosing the best item from a set of options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We simulated intraspecific usurpation in two species of paper wasps at a field site in Michigan to compare the species' treatment of foreign brood. Queens of Polistes fuscatus, a species that commonly uses intraspecific usurpation as an alternative reproductive tactic, destroyed significantly fewer large larvae and significantly more small larvae than queens of P. dominulus, a sympatric species that rarely usurps. The pattern of brood destruction exhibited by P. fuscatus was consistent with the previously published findings that P. fuscatus usurpers destroy reproductive-destined brood (eggs and small larvae), but not worker-destined brood (large larvae and pupae) that are subsequently used by a usurper to raise her own reproductives. The pattern of brood destruction displayed by P. dominulus differed from that of Polistes species that frequently engage in intraspecific usurpation. The brood destruction pattern in P. dominulus may have been shaped by nest adoption, a common alternative reproductive tactic in this species. If so, it is not clear why P. dominulus would destroy large, worker-destined larvae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Status signals function in a number of species to communicate competitive ability to conspecific rivals during competition for resources. In the paper wasp Polistes dominulus, variable black clypeal patterns are thought to be important in mediating competition among females. Results of previous behavioral experiments in the lab indicate that P. dominulus clypeal patterns provide information about an individual’s competitive ability to rivals during agonistic interactions. To date, however, there has been no detailed examination of the adaptive value of clypeal patterns in the wild. To address this, we looked for correlations between clypeal patterning and various fitness measures, including reproductive success, hierarchical rank, and survival, in a large, free-living population of P. dominulus in southern Spain. Reproductive success over the nesting season was not correlated with clypeal patterning. Furthermore, there was no relationship between a female’s clypeal patterning and the rank she achieved within the hierarchy or her survival during nest founding. Overall, we found no evidence that P. dominulus clypeal patterns are related to competitive ability or other aspects of quality in our population. This result is consistent with geographical variation in the adaptive value of clypeal patterns between P. dominulus populations; however, data on the relationship between patterning and fitness from other populations are required to test this hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some animals minimize the high costs of aggressive conflict by using conventional signals of agonistic ability to assess rivals prior to interacting. Conventional signals are more controversial than other signals of agonistic ability because they lack an inherent physical or physiological link with their bearer's agonistic ability. Here, we test whether the variable brown facial stripes in Polistes exclamans paper wasps function as a conventional signal. Polistes exclamans were given the option of challenging or avoiding a rival with an experimentally altered facial pattern. Our results show that rival assessment is based on the facial patterns of rivals, as well as an individual's own size, facial patterns, and nesting strategy. Individuals with larger body size and larger brown facial stripes were more likely to challenge rivals than individuals with smaller body size and smaller brown facial stripes. In addition, large individuals were more likely to challenge rivals with large brown facial stripes than small individuals, while an individual's own body size did not influence whether or not they challenged rivals with small brown stripes. Individuals who previously nested in multiple queen groups approached rivals more rapidly than individuals who previously nested alone, suggesting that social experience also plays a role in rival assessment. Finally, rivals with small facial stripes were challenged more rapidly than those with large facial stripes. These results demonstrate that P. exclamans facial patterns function as a signal used to minimize the cost of conflict. However, individuals do not make simple decisions based on their rival's signal alone, as an individual's own social experience and agonistic abilities also influence rival assessment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contests between individuals over resources may be costly in terms of both time and energy expended and the risk of injury. Signals of status, or ‘status badges’, are thought to have evolved to minimize these costs by providing information about an individual’s fighting ability or resource-holding potential (RHP) at the start of a contest. Studies on recently established North American populations of the paper wasp Polistes dominulus have demonstrated the existence of a status badge, in the form of black clypeal patterns, and have shown that rivals attend to these patterns during competitive interactions. However, observational data from studies in this wasp’s native European range have failed to demonstrate a strong link between clypeal patterning and RHP. We undertook the first direct test of status signalling in a European population of P. dominulus, by testing receiver responses to clypeal pattern manipulations in a competitive foraging context. We found no evidence that individuals assessed rivals using the clypeal ‘badge’. We discuss possible reasons for variation in signal use between the American and European populations, including genetic drift and environmental effects of the development and transmission of the signal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In order to understand how the apparent freedom of individual movements can concur with social order in a colony, we investigated spatial relationships between foundresses, workers and immature brood in a paper wasp. This is the first time an ecological analytical approach (home range analysis) has been employed to describe small scale spatial use in a social context. In this study, home range was not used in its strictly ecological sense, but rather applied to the comb. Our results show that the positions individual wasps assumed on Polistes dominulus combs are spatially structured. Workers and foundresses do not occupy the comb in random distribution, but rather follow predictable spatial patterns. Each active wasp has its own spatial fidelity area, at least over a 1 d observation period, spending the majority of its time within a very small area averaging approx. 12% of the comb but occasionally it may cover an area of up to 50% of the comb surface. Dominant females occupied a significantly smaller area that either subordinate foundresses or workers. Areas patrolled by workers varied in shape and size, with no relation to time spent on the comb, wasp density or position of immature brood. All the wasps clumped around the dominant female, who proved to be the only individual affected by cell content. Nevertheless, although the wasps tended to clump together, average superimposition rates among nest-mates was very low (higher in workers than foundresses), suggesting that the wasps limit each other’s individual spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Adult workers of some social insect species show dramatic behavioral changes as they pass through a sequence of task specializations. In the paper wasp, Polybia aequatorialis, female workers begin adult life within the nest tending brood, progress to maintaining and defending the nest exterior, and ultimately leave the nest to forage. The mushroom body (MB) calyx neuropil increases in volume as workers progress from in-nest to foraging tasks. In other social Hymenoptera (bees and ants), MB Kenyon cell dendrites, axons and synapses change with the transition to foraging, but these neuronal effects had not been studied in wasps. Furthermore, the on-nest worker of Polybia wasps, an intermediate task specialization not identified in bees or ants, provides the opportunity to study pre-foraging worker class transitions. We asked whether Kenyon cell dendritic arborization varies with the task specialization of Polybia workers observed in the field near Monteverde, Costa Rica. Golgi-impregnated arbors in the lip and collar calyces, which receive a predominance of olfactory and visual input, respectively, were quantified using Sholl’s concentric circles and a novel application of virtual spherical probes. Arbors of the lip varied in a manner reminiscent of honeybees, with foragers having the largest and in-nest workers having the smallest arbors. In contrast, arbors of the collar were largest in foragers but smallest in on-nest workers. Thus, progression through task specializations in P. aequatorialis involves subregion specific dendritic growth and regression in the MB neuropil. These results may reflect the sensitivity of Kenyon cell dendritic structure to specialization dependent social and sensory experience. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract  In temperate climates, female paper wasps typically initiate new colonies in the spring. Several nest-founding tactics have been documented in Polistes species, including solitary nest initiation, joining a cooperative association, usurping an existing nest, or adopting an abandoned nest. Occasionally, exceptionally large groups of females have also been found reusing nests from the previous season. Here we report this phenomenon in introduced populations of the Eurasian species Polistes dominulus. We describe in detail the demographic and genetic characteristics of one such spring colony from Los Angeles, California, USA, which was collected with 84 associated adults and all stages of developing brood in its 613 cells. Genetic and morphological data indicate the presence of multiple reproductively active females of varying relatedness, as well as many nonbreeding females, including probable early-produced offspring. Despite some evidence of chaotic social conditions, the colony appeared to have been highly productive. Additional observations of similar colonies are needed to determine how control is maintained within such a large breeding aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of alternative traits that benefit eusocial individuals but are not directly involved in reproductive differences among those individuals, which I call ‘eusocially selected traits’, may vary in response to environmental changes if this increases an individual's inclusive fitness. In this study, I describe traits that separate individuals within the reproductive division of labor of Mischocyttarus mexicanus, a eusocial paper wasp, and determine whether observed eusocially selected traits vary across seasons. I examined M. mexicanus because females initiate new nests throughout most of the year where they experience different conditions depending on the season. Findings from this study suggest two main conclusions: (1) phenotypic differences among M. mexicanus females are mixed, showing specialized, generalized, and context-dependent eusocially selected traits and (2) a female's position within the reproductive division of labor may be influenced by its state. The presence of context-dependent traits, e.g. large females initiated solitary nests in the spring and grouped nests during the summer, suggests that the payoff for pursuing different positions within the reproductive division of labor changes across seasons. The expression of context-dependent eusocially selected traits also suggests that, roles, instead of castes, may better reflect the reproductive division of labor among individuals of eusocial species like M. mexicanus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that insects play has often aroused skepticism. Nevertheless, the authors investigated the occurrence of a playlike behavior in young individuals of a paper wasp. Polistes dominulus foundresses hibernate in aggregations and found associative nests in the spring. In aggregations, wasps exhibit most of the rank-dependent behaviors that they will use in the nest 6 months later. In aggregations, precocious dominance interactions are performed with exaggerated frequencies, whereas aggression and trophallaxis are rare. Dominance behavior in aggregations is apparently useless, but it probably allows wasps to assess their dominance potential without any apparent reproductive competition. Surprisingly, these interactions may be best interpreted as play because dominance behavior in aggregations shares several features with mammalian play fighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abdominal wagging behavior of Polistes dominulus foundresses is highly conspicuous and frequently performed, but comprehensive descriptions are lacking. It has been suggested that abdominal wagging is involved in vibratory signaling, but the wagging behavior has not been distinguished from the substrate-borne signal, and nest vibrations have never been described. Here I provide a detailed description of the behavior and the first video-linked accelerometer recordings of nest vibrations. These recordings indicate that an impulsive vibration is produced when the adult female repeatedly strikes its abdomen against cell rims as it swings it across the nest surface. These strong vibrations propagate throughout the nest. Scanning electron microscopy reveals no specialized structures for vibration production on the abdomen or nest. These results provide a foundation for the mechanical playback studies required to experimentally determine the function of abdominal wagging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When helpers from cooperative breeding animals have some expectation of direct reproduction, there is potential for conflict over how much aid they should provide to the colony. For example, if food is shared among all colony members, then higher levels of foraging by a helper would be desirable for the colony as a whole. However, because foraging is risky and physiologically costly, hopeful reproductive helpers could avoid foraging. Evidence suggests that this work-conflict could be resolved if helpers are aggressively coerced by their nestmates to provide aid. Here, we showed that in the primitively eusocial paper wasp Polistes versicolor, colony food starvation leads to an increasing in aggression that results in an increasing activity level (including foraging). We propose that aggression affects forage levels because (i) attacks from nestmates are directed toward known foragers rather than non-foragers; and (ii) resting wasps generally respond to aggression by becoming more active while already active wasps generally respond by switching the task they were doing. In P. versicolor, direct reproduction is an option for helpers. It means that they can be considered as hopeful reproductive individuals seeking to avoid performing risky behaviours, like foraging. In this sense, decentralized aggression from nestmates could be a coercive mechanism to force wasps performing undesirable tasks, while simultaneously enhancing the performance of a variety of other tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the short story "The Yellow Wall-Paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is presented. It comments on the similarity of the main character to that of the character named Bertha Mason from the novel "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë. The character created by Gilman is described as wild and bestial and the use of imagery relating to cats is discussed. The use of animal references to communicate ideas about gender is also explored.

This paper applies a 'more-than-human' theoretical framework to assess artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of a capitalist economy. Case studies of AI applications from the fields of finance, medicine, commerce and manufacturing elucidate how this capitalist context shapes the aims and objectives of these innovations. The early sections of the paper set out a more-than-human theoretical perspective on capitalism, to show how the accumulation of capital depends upon free flows of commodities, money and labour, and more-than-human forces associated with supply and demand. The paper concludes that while there will be many future applications of AI, it is already in thrall to capitalist enterprise. The primary social significance of AI is that it enhances capital accumulation and a capitalist 'black hole' that draws more and more human activity into its sphere of influence. AI has consequent negative social, political and environmental capacities, including financial uncertainty, waste, and social inequalities. Some ways to contain and even subvert these negative consequences of an AI-fuelled capitalism are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case studies are valuable tools for instruction but are often limited to a single topic and a single class period. Courses such as evolution that synthesize multiple concepts around a common theme, however, can use a single case study type project that extends over the entire semester to develop and link core concepts. A central theme in evolutionary biology is determining if complex biological traits represent adaptations that arose by natural selection. The instructional model presented here engages students in a step-by-step process to answer this question of adaptation for a trait of their choosing. In this process, the instructor first introduces the major concepts required to address adaptation. As each major concept is developed in class, students apply this concept to their particular trait, using information gathered from published studies. Students then report their research back to the class. At the end of the semester, each group synthesizes their evidence into a paper developing an argument as to whether or not their trait fits the criteria of being an adaptation. This project provides students with ownership of course material, gets students to act as practicing scientists, and helps them integrate and apply theoretical material to real questions.

Aging is associated with substantial physiological changes and constitutes a major risk factor for neurological disorders including dementia. Alterations in gene expression upon aging have been extensively studied; however, an in-depth characterization of post-transcriptional regulatory events remains elusive. Here, we profiled the age-related changes of the transcriptome and translatome in the female mouse hippocampus by RNA sequencing of total RNA and polysome preparations at four ages (3-, 6-, 12-, 20-month-old); and we implemented a variety of bioinformatics approaches to unravel alterations in transcript abundance, alternative splicing, and polyadenylation site selection. We observed mostly wellcoordinated transcriptome and translatome expression signatures across age including upregulation of transcripts related to immune system processes and neuroinflammation, though transcripts encoding ribonucleoproteins or associated with mitochondrial functions, calcium signaling and the cell-cycle displayed substantial discordant profiles, suggesting translational control associated with age-related deficits in hippocampal-dependent behavior. By contrast, alternative splicing was less preserved, increased with age and was associated with distinct functionally-related transcripts encoding proteins acting at synapses/dendrites, RNA-binding proteins; thereby predicting regulatory roles for RBM3 and CIRBP. Only minor changes in polyadenylation site selection were identified, indicating pivotal 3'-end selection in young adults compared to older groups. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive resource of age-associated post-transcriptional regulatory events in the mouse hippocampus, enabling further examination of the molecular features underlying age-associated neurological diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social wasps are known to be aggressive, and this trait causes some other animal species to associate with these insects. These associations appear to be common in nature, however, they are not easily located nor understood. Thus, the objective of this work is to add new data to studies of associations between birds and wasps, recorded from the cerrado and caatinga of the states of Bahia, Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, from 2018 to 2021. Nine colonies of social wasps were found, associated with Tolmomyias flaviventris (Wied, 1831) and Tolmomyias sulphurescens (Spix, 1825) (Passeriformes: Rhynchocyclidae). The behavior of associating with wasp colonies is a form of defense of these birds against predators, and seems to be related to the breeding season of the birds, since predation on their nests is the main factor for reducing their reproductive success.

During the postwar period, the concept of instinct came to encapsulate the debate around the importance of nature versus nurture. The fact that animals show highly organized behavior early in development suggested the presence of an underlying fixity where behavior was "inbuilt" into an animal's biology despite an individual's experiences. This placed a discrete and exhaustive line between the innate and acquired that became a foundation for the European-dominated field of ethology. Across the Atlantic, a group of comparative psychologists led by the American Museum of Natural History's T. C. Schneirla contested this approach, proposing that the study of animal behavior should avoid abstract dichotomies with a renewed focus on developmental processes. While Schneirla's theoretical and empirical work shaped the modern study of animal behavior, his legacy requires revisiting in an era where the nature versus nurture debate is regaining prominence. In this article, I revisit Schneirla's approach to behavior with a focus on his paper "Interrelationships of the 'Innate' and the 'Acquired' in Instinctive Behavior" (published in M. Autuori et al. (1956) L'instinct dans le comportement des animaux et de l'homme; Masson, Paris, pp. 387–452) for the journal's "Classics in Biological Theory" collection; the paper is available as supplementary material in the online version of this article. A companion article (this issue; G. M. Kohn (2024) "A Discussion on Instinct, Paris, 1954") presents the commentary that was published with it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing intensive and large-scale development of the sika deer breeding industry, it is crucial to assess the health status of the sika deer by monitoring their behaviours. A machine vision-based method for the behaviour recognition of sika deer is proposed in this paper. Google Inception Net (GoogLeNet) is used to optimise the model in this paper. First, the number of layers and size of the model were reduced. Then, the 5 × 5 convolution was changed to two 3 × 3 convolutions, which reduced the parameters and increased the nonlinearity of the model. A 5 × 5 convolution kernel was used to replace the original convolution for extracting coarse-grained features and improving the model's extraction ability. A multi-scale module was added to the model to enhance the multi-faceted feature extraction capability of the model. Simultaneously, the Squeeze-and-Excitation Networks (SE-Net) module was included to increase the channel's attention and improve the model's accuracy. The dataset's images were rotated to reduce overfitting. For image rotation, the angle wasmultiplied by 30° to obtain the dataset enhanced by rotation operations of 30°, 60°, 90°, 120° and 150°. The experimental results showed that the recognition rate of this model in the behaviour of sika deer was 98.92%. Therefore, the model presented in this paper can be applied to the behaviour recognition of sika deer. The results will play an essential role in promoting animal behaviour recognition technology and animal health monitoring management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexually selected signals are common in many animals, though little reported in social insects. We investigated the occurrence of male visual signals mediating the dominance relationships among males and female choice of sexual partner in the paper wasp Polistes simillimus. Males have three conspicuous, variable and sexually dimorphic traits: black pigmentation on the head, a pair of yellow abdominal spots and body size differences. By conducting behavioral assays, we found that none of the three visual traits are associated with male-male dominance relationship. However, males with higher proportion of black facial pigmentation and bigger yellow abdominal spots are more likely chosen as sexual partners. Also, after experimentally manipulating the proportion of black pigment on males' face, we found that females may evaluate male facial coloration during the choice of a sexual partner. Thus, the black pigmentation on P. simillimus male's head appears to play a role as a sexually selected visual signal. We suggest that sexual selection is a common force in Polistes and we highlight the importance of this group as a model for the study of visual communication in insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]