Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate Finding
The difficulty to locate mates and overcome predation can hamper species establishment and population maintenance. The effects of sparseness between individuals or the effect of predators on the probability of population growth can be difficult to measure experimentally. For testing hypotheses about...
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MDPI AG
2020-04-01
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Series: | Insects |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/4/256 |
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author | Lloyd D. Stringer Nicola J. Sullivan Robyn White Alfredo Jiménez-Pérez Jess Furlong John M. Kean Jacqueline R. Beggs David Maxwell Suckling |
author_facet | Lloyd D. Stringer Nicola J. Sullivan Robyn White Alfredo Jiménez-Pérez Jess Furlong John M. Kean Jacqueline R. Beggs David Maxwell Suckling |
author_sort | Lloyd D. Stringer |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The difficulty to locate mates and overcome predation can hamper species establishment and population maintenance. The effects of sparseness between individuals or the effect of predators on the probability of population growth can be difficult to measure experimentally. For testing hypotheses about population density and predation, we contend that habitat complexity can be simulated using insect mazes of varying mathematical difficulty. To demonstrate the concept, we investigated whether the use of 3D printed mazes of varying complexity could be used to increase spatial separation between sexes of <i>Drosophila simulans</i>, and whether the presence of a generalist predator hampered mate-finding. We then examined how increasing <i>D. simulans</i> population density might overcome the artificially created effects of increasing the distance between mates and having a predator present. As expected, there was an increase in time taken to find a mate and a lower incidence of mating as habitat complexity increased. Increasing the density of flies reduced the searching time and increased mating success, and overcame the effect of the predator in the maze. Printable 3D mazes offer the opportunity to quickly assess the effects of spatial separation on insect population growth in the laboratory, without the need for large enclosed spaces. Mazes could be scaled up for larger insects and can be used for other applications such as learning. |
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institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2075-4450 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:21:32Z |
publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
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series | Insects |
spelling | doaj.art-aec27bf361f04f8abfe9f404d5f56fc12023-11-19T22:11:00ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502020-04-0111425610.3390/insects11040256Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate FindingLloyd D. Stringer0Nicola J. Sullivan1Robyn White2Alfredo Jiménez-Pérez3Jess Furlong4John M. Kean5Jacqueline R. Beggs6David Maxwell Suckling7The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Christchurch PB 4704, New ZealandThe New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Christchurch PB 4704, New ZealandThe New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Christchurch PB 4704, New ZealandCentro de Desarrollo de Productos Bióticos, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Yautepec 62731, MexicoThe New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Christchurch PB 4704, New ZealandBetter Border Biosecurity (B3), Lincoln 7608, New ZealandCentre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, PB 92019, Auckland 1142, New ZealandThe New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Christchurch PB 4704, New ZealandThe difficulty to locate mates and overcome predation can hamper species establishment and population maintenance. The effects of sparseness between individuals or the effect of predators on the probability of population growth can be difficult to measure experimentally. For testing hypotheses about population density and predation, we contend that habitat complexity can be simulated using insect mazes of varying mathematical difficulty. To demonstrate the concept, we investigated whether the use of 3D printed mazes of varying complexity could be used to increase spatial separation between sexes of <i>Drosophila simulans</i>, and whether the presence of a generalist predator hampered mate-finding. We then examined how increasing <i>D. simulans</i> population density might overcome the artificially created effects of increasing the distance between mates and having a predator present. As expected, there was an increase in time taken to find a mate and a lower incidence of mating as habitat complexity increased. Increasing the density of flies reduced the searching time and increased mating success, and overcame the effect of the predator in the maze. Printable 3D mazes offer the opportunity to quickly assess the effects of spatial separation on insect population growth in the laboratory, without the need for large enclosed spaces. Mazes could be scaled up for larger insects and can be used for other applications such as learning.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/4/256Allee effects<i>Chelifer cancroides</i><i>Drosophila</i>mazepopulation dynamicsspatial |
spellingShingle | Lloyd D. Stringer Nicola J. Sullivan Robyn White Alfredo Jiménez-Pérez Jess Furlong John M. Kean Jacqueline R. Beggs David Maxwell Suckling Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate Finding Insects Allee effects <i>Chelifer cancroides</i> <i>Drosophila</i> maze population dynamics spatial |
title | Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate Finding |
title_full | Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate Finding |
title_fullStr | Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate Finding |
title_full_unstemmed | Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate Finding |
title_short | Mazes to Study the Effects of Spatial Complexity, Predation and Population Density on Mate Finding |
title_sort | mazes to study the effects of spatial complexity predation and population density on mate finding |
topic | Allee effects <i>Chelifer cancroides</i> <i>Drosophila</i> maze population dynamics spatial |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/4/256 |
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