Innate ability of goats to sense and avoid ingestion of noxious insects while feeding
Innate ability of goats to sense and avoid ingestion of noxious insects while feeding
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DOI：
10.1098/rsos.181078
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发表时间：
2019-02-01
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Inbar, Moshe
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Berman, Tali S.;Messeri, Noa;Inbar, Moshe
大型哺乳动物食草动物经常在它们的食用植物上遇到有害昆虫。最近的证据表明，山羊在进食时有效地避免了昆虫的摄取，但尚不清楚这种能力是否是与生俱来的。我们实验检测了幼稚的山羊对一种常见的昆虫--春网虫(Ocnogyna Loewii)的行为反应。我们拍摄并分析了孩子们在进食时的行为，并将其与成年人的行为进行了比较。天真的孩子将网虫从食物中分离出来，而不是摄取它们(所有网虫都活了下来)。它们表现出与成人相似的行为，表明了一种先天的避免昆虫摄取的能力。孩子们用触觉刺激检测网虫，这种刺激是通过用口吻反复触摸树叶获得的。这使他们能够挑选没有网虫的叶子(留下93%的网虫)。虽然成年人经常摇动或丢弃带有网虫的树叶，或者吐出网虫，但这些行为在儿童中很少见。这些孩子的平均取食率在试验期间翻了一番，这表明他们对有昆虫和没有昆虫的植物的取食效率随着经验的增加而提高。由于摄入有毒昆虫可能是致命的，天生的回避是至关重要的。这些发现突显了哺乳动物和昆虫草食动物之间直接相互作用的重要性。
Large mammalian herbivores regularly encounter noxious insects on their food plants. Recent evidence revealed that goats efficiently avoid insect ingestion while feeding, yet it is unknown whether this ability is innate. We experimentally examined the behavioural responses of naive goat kids to a common insect, the spring-webworm (Ocnogyna loewii). We filmed and analysed the kids' behaviour while feeding and compared it to the behaviour described in adults. Naive kids sorted the webworms apart from the food without ingesting them (all webworms survived). They exhibited behaviours similar to those displayed by adults, demonstrating an innate ability to avoid insect ingestion. The kids detected webworms using tactile stimulation, obtained by repeatedly touching the leaves with their muzzles. This enabled them to pick webworm-free leaves (leaving 93% of webworms behind). While adults frequently shook or discarded leaves with webworms or spat out webworms, these behaviours were rare in kids. The kids' mean feeding rates doubled over the trials, indicating that their feeding efficiency on plants with and without insects improved with experience. As ingesting noxious insects could be fatal, innate avoidance is critical. These findings highlight the importance of direct interactions between mammalian and insect herbivores.