The irritable insect: higher level processes

我的研究解决了为什么(以及如何)动物对与它们觅食的地点相关的奖励和危险的存在表现出不同类型的反应的问题。有时他们会立即离开，但在其他情况下，他们会继续寻找。我的解释是基于一个简单的概念，一个摇摇欲坠的支点。支点的位置由个体的内部条件决定(例如，在寻找食物时，它的肠道有多空)。因此，两个经历相似成功水平的不同个体可能会对积极和消极的暗示(摇摇晃晃的结束)做出不同的反应，如果它们的内在状态不同的话。我使用数学模型来确定这些线索的权重(即它们推动摇摇晃晃的力度有多大)，以达尔文的适应单位衡量。我使用上述模型研究了四种不同的昆虫停留和离开问题：树皮甲虫种群的栖息地定居模式，寄生蜂的斑块开发模式，东非栖息地蚊子的迁出模式，以及捕食性苍蝇对藤壶的开发。这项工作由两部分组成，即定量理论的发展，以及对这些停留-离开模型的预测进行测试的实验。这项工作在林业、农业(生物防治)和医学(疟疾控制)中都有应用。

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).