Silver-haired bats, (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are semi-colonial, migratory tree bats that have infrequent contact with humans. Despite the species rarity, the L. noctivagans rabies variant is the most commonly reported rabies virus variant (RABV) in domestically acquired human rabies cases in the US. Unlike big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), L. noctiva...

Through maternal effects, information about environmental conditions experienced in the maternal generation can be transmitted to subsequent generations. Although maternal effects have been described and quantified in many mammalian species, the underlying causal links are often under-studied. The close association between mother and neonate during the extended period of lactation in mammals pr...

1. Given sexual size dimorphism, differential mortality owing to body size can lead to sex-biased mortality, proximately biasing sex ratios. This mechanism may apply to mountain pine beetles, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, which typically have female-biased adult populations (2 : 1) with females larger than males. Smaller males could be more susceptible to stresses than larger females as deve...

For successful pest management, codlemone (E, E-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol) is widely used to monitor codling moth. The pheromone release rate is essential for the lure's attractiveness. The optimal sex pheromone release rate (V0) for trapping codling moth was evaluated during 2013-2014. The overwinter generation V0 was 6.7-33.4 μg wk(-1), and moth catches (MCs) were 0.82 ± 0.11 adults/trap/week; MCs...

A well-established population of Burmese pythons resides in the Everglades of southern Florida. Prompted in part by a report that identified much of southern USA as suitable habitat for expansion or establishment of the Burmese python, we examined the plausibility of this snake to survive winters at sites north of the Everglades. We integrated daily low and high temperatures recorded from Octob...

Whether an animal lives alone or in a group may have fitness consequences. Among yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), fitness is thought to be lower for noncolonial than for colonial females because juvenile survival, as indicated by trapping, is lower. Trapping, however, may not be an accurate estimate of survival. Low recapture rates of noncolonial juveniles may result from early di...

A major effort in species conservation is the construction of life-history models to better predict, identify, and respond to population changes. Yet demographic studies linking individual, environmental, and ecological factors to survival are rare. We used radio telemetry to monitor 47 adult Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) during five active seasons and four overwinter periods from Apr...

Neonatal reproductive failure should occur when energetic costs of parental investment outweigh fitness benefits. However, little is known about the drivers of neonatal reproductive failure in free-ranging species experiencing continuous natural variation in predator abundance and in the energetic and fitness costs and benefits associated with parental investment. Long-term comprehensive studie...