Evolution of insect learning styles and behavioural syndromes in response to environmental variability and reliability of information.

昆虫学习风格和行为综合症响应环境变化和信息可靠性的演变。

基本信息

批准号：
386527848
负责人：
Dr. Maartje Liefting, Ph.D.
金额：
--
依托单位：
Arbeitsgruppe Angewandte Zoologie / Ökologie der Tiere
依托单位国家：
德国
项目类别：
Research Grants
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
德国
起止时间：
2016-12-31 至 2021-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/386527848?language=en
关键词：
Evolution insect learning styles behavioural

项目摘要

Learning ability of insects has long held the interest of evolutionary biologists because of its adaptive significance. Although there are obvious benefits to learning, much variation exists in learning speed and how long a memory will last. It is generally assumed that these differences in learning evolve in response to specific environmental conditions like variability of the environment and how reliable available information is. However, our understanding of the environmental and insect-intrinsic factors which drive selection for a particular learning style is still rudimentary. The proposed project addresses this gap of knowledge by using the parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis as a model. The project aims to elucidate how (i) the reliability and variability of environmental information affect the evolution of learning style, and (ii) whether certain learning styles co-evolve with particular behavioural syndromes (i.e. suites of behavioural traits). Learning styles will be categorized by the readiness to learn (slow/fast learner), the maintenance of memory (short/long-term), and the accuracy of employing learned information. We will use an experimental evolutionary set-up in which parasitic wasps will evolve different learning styles in response to different artificial environments that we control for the level of variability and reliability of information. There is a direct link between learning style and fitness as the learning style will determine how successful a wasp is in finding hosts (fly pupae) in a specific environments. The number of colours of the environment in which hosts are offered and the reliability of host occurrence linked with a particular colour will vary. We will monitor: (a) the emerging learning styles in each environment in learning assays; (b) the foraging success of different learning styles in different environments; (c) whether co-evolution of learning style and behavioural syndrome occurs. These conditions will be monitored for the duration of the experiment (minimally 15 generations). This set-up will provide information on costs and benefits of a learning style, and provide insight in the evolution of learning styles in insects.

由于其适应性意义，昆虫的学习能力长期以来一直具有进化生物学家的兴趣。尽管学习有明显的好处，但学习速度和记忆将持续多长时间存在很多变化。通常认为，这些学习中的这些差异会响应特定的环境条件，例如环境的变异性以及可靠信息的可靠性。但是，我们对推动特定学习风格选择的环境和昆虫 - 内在因素的理解仍然是基本的。提出的项目通过使用寄生虫鼻虫玻璃体作为模型来解决这一知识差距。该项目旨在阐明（i）环境信息的可靠性和可变性如何影响学习方式的演变，以及（ii）某些学习风格是否与特定行为综合症（即行为特征的套件）共进。学习风格将由准备学习（慢/快速学习者），记忆的维护（短/长期）以及采用学习信息的准确性进行分类。我们将使用实验性进化设置，在该设置中，寄生黄蜂将进化不同的学习方式，以响应不同的人工环境，我们控制了信息的可变性和可靠性。学习风格和健身之间存在直接联系，因为学习风格将决定一个在特定环境中找到宿主（蝇pa）的成功。提供主机的环境颜色数量以及与特定颜色相关的主机出现的可靠性会有所不同。我们将监视：（a）学习分析中每种环境中新兴的学习方式；（b）在不同环境中不同学习风格的觅食成功；（c）学习风格和行为综合征的共同进化是否发生。这些条件将在实验期间（最少15代）监测。该设置将提供有关学习方式的成本和收益的信息，并提供有关昆虫学习风格演变的见解。