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Genetic correlation between behavioural traits in relation to death-feigning behaviour

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Population Ecology

Abstract

Individuals frequently behave in a consistent manner across time or in different situations. We examined the repeatability of duration of death-feigning anti-predator behaviour when attacked, and then carried out artificial selection for duration to calculate its heritability and examine correlated responses to selection in activity levels, in the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum. Three replicates of two strains were established by artificial selection for more than 17 generations: S strains exhibited shorter duration and lower frequency of death feigning while L strains exhibited longer duration and higher frequency of death feigning. Duration of death feigning clearly responded to selection, and significant value of realized heritability was detected in all replicates of the two strains. Examination of locomotor activity levels over a constant period showed that S strains had higher locomotor activity levels than L strains. No significant differences between the sexes were observed. Our study thus demonstrates heritability of death feigning and the existence of a negative genetic correlation between intensity of death feigning and activity level.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Keiichi Takahashi for providing the beetle culture and Y. Takeda and K. Katayama for insect rearing. We also thank Dr. Zenobia Lewis for useful comments on this manuscript. This work was supported by KAKENHI 19370011 and 19657026, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, JSPS and MEXT to T.M.

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Author notes

  1. Yusuke Nishi

    Present address: Okayama Prefectural Agricultural Experiment Station, Akaiwa, Okayama, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Okayama University, Tsushima-naka 111, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan

    Satoshi Nakayama, Yusuke Nishi & Takahisa Miyatake

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  1. Satoshi Nakayama
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  2. Yusuke Nishi
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  3. Takahisa Miyatake
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Correspondence to Takahisa Miyatake.

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Nakayama, S., Nishi, Y. & Miyatake, T. Genetic correlation between behavioural traits in relation to death-feigning behaviour. Popul Ecol 52, 329–335 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-0188-7

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