Pluto's expanding brood

Bird brood parasitism

For many animals, the effort to rear their young is considerable. In birds, this often includes building nests, incubating eggs, feeding the chicks, and protecting them from predators. Perhaps for this reason, about 1% of birds (around 100 species) save themselves the effort and cheat instead. They are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species and leaving the hos...

What's bugging brood parasites?

Brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) might reduce populations of the songbird species they parasitize, including endangered species. Data are therefore needed on the frequency with which cowbirds use different species of foster parents. Hahn et al. propose a clever new approach by which the identity of foster parents can be inferred from host-specific lice the cowbirds acquire as nestlings. W...

Parental Sharing of Brood Care

Shared brood care or parenting chores are rare behaviors in insects. While a number of species exhibit biparental care, including wood roaches, passalid beetles, and some bark and dung beetles, only burying beetle males (Nicrophorus orbicollis) participate in all activities, remain with the brood throughout development, and can take over all parenting responsibilities if the female disappears. ...

Ecophysiology of Development: Brood Bodies

Do Ant Brood Pheromones Exist?

A brood pheromone is a chemical or mixture of chemicals released by immature stages that elicits a behavioral response in conspecific adults. The current literature devoted to brood pheromones in several ant species does not prove the existence of such a pheromone or even of brood-specific chemicals. The possibility of a food response or a nestmate recognition response, two of the most confound...