Organization of living environment is possible through a clear definition of private and public arenas and determinationof a spatial hierarchy. Such defined arenas increase the sense of belonging to the environment which personalizesresidential environments. Enclosure is among the quantities that play a significant role in defining the spaces. In fact,enclosure is the factor that defines a spac...

One individual's actions may affect the evolutionary fitness of another individual. Sexually antagonistic coevolution occurs when one partner's behavior decreases the fitness of the other partner (Rice, 1996). This conflict pressures the other partner to counter these disadvantageous actions. Mate guarding is a mate retention tactic aimed at keeping a partner from cheating. Mate guarding may re...

Given a set L of non-parallel lines in the plane and a nonempty subset L′ ⊆ L, a guarding tree for L′ is a tree contained in the union of the lines in L such that if a mobile guard (agent) runs on the edges of the tree, all lines in L′ are visited by the guard. Similarly, given a connected arrangement S of line segments in the plane and a nonempty subset S ′ ⊆ S, we define a guarding tree for S...

Males may increase their fitness through extra-pair copulations (copulations outside the pair bond) that result in extra-pair fertilizations, but also risk lost paternity when they leave their own mate unguarded. The fitness costs of cuckoldry for Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis) are considerable because warblers have a single-egg clutch and, given the short breeding season, no t...

Guarding behavior is an important activity in sub-social insects, and this behavior is believed to improve the survival of offspring. Sclerodermus harmandi (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) is one of most powerful epizoic parasitoid wasps, and it parasitizes Monochamus alternatus, a borer of wood and also the primary vector of the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. After laying eggs, S. harm...

Long-term committed mating is a fundamental strategy in the human repertoire. Successful enactment of this strategy requires solving two related adaptive problems--fending off potential mate poachers and preventing a mates from defecting. Mate guarding adaptations evolved to solve these persistent problems. Those who failed in mate guarding risked suffering substantial reproductive costs rangin...

Although post-copulatory mate guarding occurs in a variety of crickets, its adaptive significance remains largely unknown. Mate guarding may function to prevent females from prematurely removing the externally attached sperm ampulla, thereby ensuring maximum insemination. This hypothesis was tested in decorated crickets, Gryllodes supplicans, by comparing ampulla retention times of females guar...