The irritable insect: higher level processes

我的研究解决了这样一个问题：为什么（以及如何）动物对与其觅食地点相关的奖励和危险表现出不同的反应。有时他们会立即离开，但在其他情况下，他们会继续搜索。我的解释是基于一个简单的概念，一个带有滚动支点的摇摇摆摆。支点的位置取决于个体的内部条件（例如，在寻找食物时肠道有多空）。因此，两个经历相似成功水平的不同个体，如果内在状态不同，对积极和消极暗示（跷跷板的两端）的反应可能会不同。我使用数学模型来确定这些线索的权重（例如，它们在跷跷板上推动的力度），以达尔文适应度单位来衡量。我使用上述模型研究了四种不同的昆虫逗留与离开问题：树皮甲虫种群的栖息地定居模式，寄生蜂的斑块开发模式，东非蚊子从住所的迁移模式以及食肉苍蝇对藤壶的开发。这项工作包括两个部分，定量理论的发展，然后是实验，测试这些留在-离开模型的预测。这项工作在林业、农业（生物防治）和医学（疟疾防治）方面都有应用。

My research addresses the question of why (and how) animals show different kinds of responses to the presence of rewards and danger associated with the site at which they are foraging. Sometimes they leave immediately but under other conditions they continue to search. My explanation is based upon a simple concept, a teeter-totter with a rolling fulcrum. The position of the fulcrum is determined by an individual's internal conditions (e.g. how empty its gut is while searching for food). Thus, two different individuals experiencing similar levels of success may respond differently to positive and negative cues (the ends of the teeter-totter) if they differ by internal state. I use mathematical models to determine the weights of these cues (i.e. how hard they push on the teeter-totter), measured in Darwinian fitness units. I use the above model to study four different stay versus leave problems by insects: Habitat settlement patterns in bark beetle populations, patch exploitation patterns in parasitoid wasps, emigration patterns of mosquitoes from domiciles in east Africa and exploitation of barnacles by predaceous flies. The work consists of two parts, development of quantitative theory followed by experiments that test predictions from these stay-leave models. This work has applications in forestry, agriculture (biological control), and medicine (malaria control).