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Results for “Predatory Behavior”

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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Stimulus control of predatory behavior in the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis). IV. Effect of mammalian blood.

Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) from Guam were exposed to mammalian (Rattus norvegicus) blood on cotton-tipped applicators. Water and other control substances were similarly presented. All trials lasted 60 s, and the dependent variable was the number of tongue flicks emitted by the snake during the trial. In five experiments, B. irregularis responded with greater numbers of tongue flicks to blood than to control substances. This is the first study to reveal an ophidian response to internal chemicals of potential prey organisms.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed2002

Modeling electrosensory and mechanosensory images during the predatory behavior of weakly electric fish.

Black ghost knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons) are nocturnal, weakly electric fish that feed on insect larvae and small crustaceans in the freshwater rivers of South America. In the absence of visual cues, prey detection and localization in this species is likely to rely on weak electrosensory and mechanosensory cues generated by the prey. In this paper, a modeling approach is used to estimate contributions to prey capture behavior from three octavolateralis modalities: the high- (tuberous) and low- (ampullary) frequency components of the electric sense and the high-frequency (canal neuromast) component of the lateral line mechanosensory system. For each of these modalities, the physical stimulus generated by the prey is approximated using a simple dipole model. Model parameters are constrained using previously published data as well as new empirical data on the electrical impedance characteristics of Daphnia magna. Models of electrosensory and mechanosensory stimuli are combined with actual prey strike trajectories from infrared video recordings to reconstruct spatial images of the prey along the sensory surface of the fish during the behavior. Modeling results suggest that all three modalities might contribute and that the relative contributions may change as a function of environmental conditions (e.g., water conductivity) and as a function of time over the course of the prey capture event.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Food experience on the predatory behavior of the ant Myrmica rubra towards a specialist moth, Acrolepiopsis assectella.

Entomophagous insects are often repelled by the secondary compounds of the plants eaten by their prey. These compounds, therefore, take on a defensive role for the phytophagous species that sequester them. Given that numerous entomophagous species are capable of learning, the effects on the foraging behavior of a repeated experience were investigated in the predatory ant Myrmica rubra. The sulfur amino acids methyl-cysteine sulfoxide (MCSO) and propyl-cysteine sulfoxide (PCSO) produced by Allium plants were identified in caterpillars of the leek moth Acrolepiopsis assectella. Three behavioral studies were carried out, with or without prior familiarization with caterpillars reared either on leek or on an artificial diet containing no Allium compounds. In choice tests with the two types of caterpillars, unfamiliarized ants displayed a preference for caterpillars reared on the artificial diet, but this preference disappeared or was reversed in both young and old ants after familiarization.

Allium↗
PubMed1977

Predatory behavior in the cat elicited by lower brain stem and hypothalamic stimulation: a comparison.

The predatory attack of a cat against a rat elicited by lateral hypothalamic, ventral midbrain and ventromedial periaqueductal gray stimulation has been compared. Regardless of the region stimulated, the attack behaviors were found to be identical with respect to response topography, preference for the rat as an attack object, the distance at which the cats would approach and attack a rat and the success in finding and attacking the rat when the cats were blindfolded. However, the minimum current required to elicit the predatory attack by periaqueductal gray stimulation was 3-4 times less than that required to elicit the same behavior by ventral midbrain and lateral hypothalamic stimulation. The difficulty in reconciling these results with the preeminent role assigned to the hypothalamus in the organization of predatory aggressive behavior was considered.

Aggression↗
PubMed1981

Anterior hypothalamic knife cut eliminates a specific component of the predatory behavior elicited by electrical stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus or ventral midbrain in the cat.

Following unilateral transection of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) within the anterior hypothalamic-preoptic region of cats, the biting attack upon a rat elicited by ipsilateral posterior hypothalamic or ventral midbrain stimulation is eliminated, although the cat continues to approach from 2.8 metres away to within several centimetres of the rat. In contrast, both the approach to and biting attack upon a rat elicited by contralateral posterior hypothalamic and ventral midbrain stimulation are unchanged. The results suggest that specific agents (biting, approach) of the elicited behaviour may be mediated by neural effects which proceed along anatomically distinct components of the ascending as well as the descending MFB.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

A comparison of hypothalamically induced biting attack with natural predatory behavior in the cat.

A comparison of biting attack induced by electrical stimulation of the cat hypothalamus with natural feline predatory attack revealed a high degree of similarity between the two behaviors. All major components of natural attack could be elicited by hypothalamic stimulation in cats not showing spontaneous attack, including stalking approach to prey, holding and pinning of the prey with forepaws, biting directed to the head and neck, prey kicking, prey carrying, and prey eating. Differences between natural and elicited attack appeared to be related to the range of completenes of elicited attack, the greater intensity of elicited attack, and the presence of unrelated responses induced by hypothalamic stimulation. Results support the view that hypothalamic stimulation facilitates sensorimotor mechanisms for separate response components, which are highly sensitive to specific stimulus features of the environment and potential goal objects.

Aggression↗
PubMed2007

The predatory behavior of wintering Accipiter hawks: temporal patterns in activity of predators and prey.

Studies focused on how prey trade-off predation and starvation risk are prevalent in behavioral ecology. However, our current understanding of these trade-offs is limited in one key respect: we know little about the behavior of predators. In this study, we provide some of the first detailed information on temporal patterns in the daily hunting behavior of bird-eating Accipiter hawks and relate that to their prey. During the winters of 1999-2004, twenty-one sharp-shinned hawks (A. striatus) and ten Cooper's hawks (A. cooperii) were intensively radio tracked in rural and urban habitats in western Indiana, USA. Cooper's hawks left roost before sunrise and usually returned to roost around sunset, while sharp-shinned hawks left roost at sunrise or later and returned to roost well before sunset. An overall measure of Cooper's-hawk-induced risk (a composite variable of attack rate and activity patterns) generally reflected the timing of prey activity, with peaks occurring around sunrise and sunset. In contrast, risk induced by the smaller sharp-shinned hawk did not strongly reflect the activity of their prey. Specifically, an early morning peak in prey activity did not correspond to a period with intense hawk activity. The lack of early morning hunting by sharp-shinned hawks may reflect the high risk of owl-induced predation experienced by these hawks. The net effect of this intraguild predation may be to "free" small birds from much hawk-induced predation risk prior to sunrise. This realization presents an alternative to energetics as an explanation for the early morning peak in small bird activity during the winter.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

[The role of serotonin in one of the types of aggressive behavior--"predatory aggression"].

Electrolytic lesion of the midbrain raphe nuclei in rats, lowering serotonin level in the forebrain, elicited mouse-killing behavior. After the lesion, 50% of previously non-killers rats became mouse-killers. 5-Hydroxytryptophan (100 mg/kg) administration elevated serotonin level to normal values and completely blocked predatory aggression. p-Chlorophenylalanine produced obvious reduction in brain serotonin and slightly stimulated aggressive behavior. These results suggest that the brain serotonin participates as an inhibitory factor in mouse-killing behavior in rats.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗
PubMed2006

Rippling is a predatory behavior in Myxococcus xanthus.

Cells of Myxococcus xanthus will, at times, organize their movement such that macroscopic traveling waves, termed ripples, are formed as groups of cells glide together on a solid surface. The reason for this behavior has long been a mystery, but we demonstrate here that rippling is a feeding behavior which occurs when M. xanthus cells make direct contact with either prey or large macromolecules. Rippling has been observed during two fundamentally distinct environmental conditions: (i) starvation-induced fruiting body development and (ii) predation of other organisms. Our results indicate that case (i) does not occur in all wild-type strains and is dependent on the intrinsic level of autolysis. Analysis of predatory rippling indicates that rippling behavior is inducible during predation on proteobacteria, gram-positive bacteria, yeast (such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and phage. Predatory efficiency decreases under genetic and physiological conditions in which rippling is inhibited. Rippling will also occur in the presence of purified macromolecules such as peptidoglycan, protein, and nucleic acid but does not occur in the presence of the respective monomeric components and also does not occur when the macromolecules are physically separated from M. xanthus cells. We conclude that rippling behavior is a mechanism utilized to efficiently consume nondiffusing growth substrates and that developmental rippling is a result of scavenging lysed cell debris.

Bacteriolysis↗
PubMed1999

The "mad" vs. the "bad" revisited: managing predatory behavior.

Ever since the Englightenment, western democracies have maintained separate institutions for the "mad" and for the "bad." For the mad they provided protection and treatment, and for the bad, deterrence and punishment. During the past decade, however, increasing social conservatism and the apparent failure of the criminal justice system have resulted in a series of changes in social policy. In order to protect the public adequately from repeatedly violent predators, legislation has been introduced in several states that remands those predators to mental institutions on completion of their prison terms. Challenges to this legislation, based on ex post facto, double jeopardy, and civil rights considerations were effectively dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kansas v Hendricks in June, 1997. An effect, however unintended, of upholding these laws and of policy changes leading up to them, is that they have effectively blurred the separation between mad and bad. This paper details the following: 1) the events that have led to these changes in policy and law; 2) the preparations being made in New York State's mental health system to prepare for managing such predators when and if such laws are enacted; 3) the dangers and drawbacks these changes have brought in states where they have already been legislatively mandated; and 4) suggestions for alternatives that would reaffirm the separation between mad and bad.

Adult↗