Abstract
Turn alternation (TA) is the tendency to turn in the opposite direction of an immediately preceding turn when moving forward, resulting in an overall linear trajectory. TA has been observed in many animals, and terrestrial isopods are considered model organisms for studying TA. Optimizing their fleeing speed and trajectory helps isopods efficiently escape from predatory threats. However, since reproduction induces morphological and physiological changes, individuals might adjust their trajectories depending on their altered mobility. In this study, we investigated the effect of reproduction-related factors on the frequency of TA, which enables linearity, in the common rough woodlouse Porcellio scaber. The results showed that breeding females enhanced their linearity more than nonbreeding females and males. Furthermore, females without access to a potential mate enhanced their linearity more than females and males with access to a potential mate and maintained a high linearity for approximately 40 days. In terrestrial isopods, continuous TA for linearity may be used to avoid reproductive failure because of lack of encounters with the potential mate or to compensate for low running ability due to physical or physiological loads. Conversely, individuals that do not need to worry about reproductive failures or individuals with small loads could perform the random turn that does not require learning or memory. This is the first study to show that the events involved in reproduction affect the linearity shown by continuous TA in terrestrial isopods.
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Data availability
The datasets analyzed during the current study are available in the [figshare] repository, [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.17073992.v1].
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Ivan H. Tuf and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and recommendations which significantly improved the readability and quality of this paper. This study was partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (18K05667) to NK.
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Okada, K., Kumano, N. Reproduction-related interactions and loads induce continuous turn alternation leading to linearity in a terrestrial isopod. Sci Nat 109, 23 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-022-01795-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-022-01795-9