Mosquito larvae live in water and perform a stereotyped escape response when a moving object projects its shadow on the surface, indicating potential risk of predation. Repeated presentations of the shadow induce a decrease in the response due to habituation, a form of non-associative learning defined as the progressive and reversible decrease in response to a specific reiterative innocuous stimulus. Nevertheless, habituation can be context-specific, which indicates an association between the context and the stimulus. The aim of this work was to study context-specificity in habituation in mosquito larvae Aedes aegypti. Larvae were individually placed in Petri dishes. Underneath, black, white or black-white striped cardboards were placed as backgrounds (visual context). Larvae were presented with a shadow produced by a cardboard square (training) over the course of 15 trials. After the fifteenth trial, the background was shifted and the stimulus was presented once again (test). To analyse habituation in different contexts, we developed a series of learning curve models. We performed a Bayesian model selection procedure using those models and the data from the experiments to find which model best described the results. The selected model was a Power-Law learning curve with six parameters (habituation rate, context-specific asymptotic habituation response -with one parameter per context, i.e. 3 parameters-, response-increase, and autocorrelation) describing the whole experimental setup with a generalised r2 of 0.96. According to the model, a single habituation rate would indicate that habituation was independent of the context, whilst asymptotic habituation would be context-specific. If the background was shifted after training, there was an increase in the response in the test, evincing context specificity in habituation.
2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize shortlist and winner
The JEB Editors are delighted to announce the shortlisted authors for the 2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize. Read the winning paper - Tiny spies: mosquito antennae are sensitive sensors for eavesdropping on frog calls - by Hoover Pantoja-Sanchez and Brian Leavell from Ximena Bernal's lab at Purdue University, USA.
JEB Science Communication Workshop for ECRs
If you’re an early-career researcher interested in science communication and are attending the SEB Annual Conference in Prague this summer, come a day early and join the JEB Editors at a sci comm workshop to learn the key writing skills needed to promote your research to a broad audience beyond your peers (1 July at 14.30-17.30). Places are limited to 24 attendees, and applicants should apply through the SEB registration page by 30 April 2024.
Bridging the gap between controlled conditions and natural habitats in understanding behaviour
Novel technologies enable behavioural experiments with non-model species, in naturalistic habitats and with underexplored behaviours. In their Commentary, Scholz and colleagues discuss how to obtain a deeper understanding of the natural ecology and lifestyle of study animals.
Beluga metabolic measures could help save species
To help save animals from extinction, it’s important to understand what each species needs to survive. This led Jason John et al. to measure the metabolic rates of captive belugas to develop a ‘fish calculator’ showing that the whales need to eat ~23 salmon per day.
ECR Workshop on Positive Peer Review
Are you an ECR looking for tips on how to write concise, astute and useful manuscript reviews? If so, join the JEB Editors at a 2-hour JEB-sponsored Workshop on Positive Peer Review at the Canadian Society of Zoologists annual meeting in Moncton on 9 May 2024 at 13.00-15.00. There are 25 spaces for ECRs and selection is first come, first serve. To sign up, check the ECR Workshop box when you register for the CSZ meeting.
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