Boundaries between different habitats can be responsible for changes in species interactions, including modified rates of encounter between predators and prey. Such 'edge effects' have been reported in nesting birds, where nest predation rates can be increased at habitat edges. The literature concerning edge effects on nest predation rates reveals a wide variation in results, even within single...

Swarm-founding wasp workers (genus Polybia) exhibit developmental changes in task specialization known as temporal polyethism. Young workers typically remain inside the nest, followed by a period of working on the exterior nest surface, and later by foraging. Polybia workers on the nest exterior engage in biting interactions with their nest mates, and workers that are bitten are more likely to ...

Bacteria play a central role in animal health. Yet, little is known about the acquisition of bacteria and the extent to which bacteria are acquired from different environmental sources. For example, bird nests host diverse bacteria associated with the eggs, nestlings and nesting material, but previous research has typically focussed on only a limited number of nest components at a time. It ther...

—Nest predation is considered a primary factor affecting the life-history characteristics and particularly dispersal of many avian species. We tested the hypothesis that nest predation would increase dispersal probability, dispersal distance and the frequency of renesting. We removed eggs from burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) nests to simulate nest predation in southeastern California. Owls r...

We tested the hypothesis that ant species, which occupy the same nest for a decade or longer, would modify nest soils by increasing soil nutrients and microorganisms resulting in increased biomass, density, cover and species richness of annual plants. We measured soil properties and annual plants on nest soils of three species of Chihuahuan Desert ants (Pogonomyrmex rugosus—seed harvester, Apha...

We show that ants can reconnoitre their surroundings and in effect plan for the future. Temnothorax albipennis colonies use a sophisticated strategy to select a new nest when the need arises. Initially, we presented colonies with a new nest of lower quality than their current one that they could explore for one week without a need to emigrate. We then introduced a second identical low quality n...

Queues formed by social wasps to inherit the dominant position in the nest are analyzed by using a transient quasi-birth-and-death (QBD) process. We show that the extended nest life time due to division of labor between queen and helpers has a big impact for the nest productivity.

Maternal care is critical to offspring growth and survival, which is greatly improved by building an effective nest. Some suggest that genetic variation and underlying genetic effects differ between fitness-related traits and other phenotypes. We investigated the genetic architecture of a fitness-related trait, nest building, in F(2) female mice intercrossed from inbred strains SM/J and LG/J us...

Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator is the only proven therapy for acute ischemic stroke. Not enough patients are eligible for treatment and additional new therapies are needed. Recently, laser technology has been applied to acute ischemic stroke. This noninvasive technique uses near-infrared wavelengths applied to the scalp within 24 h of symptom onset. The mechanism is incompletely under...

Individuals of the social spider mite Stigmaeopsis longus live communally in narrow, humid nests made from silk threads and display nest sanitation behaviour through the coordinated deposition of faeces. We used artificial dust to experimentally determine that females of this species use silk threads to perform regular cleaning of the nest space and eggs. We first learned that silk-weaving beha...