02220nas a2200133 4500008004100000245015300041210006900194260001200263300001400275490000700289520169100296100002201987856007702009 2004 eng d00aEffects of parasitic infection on mate sampling by female wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo): should infected females be more or less choosy?0 aEffects of parasitic infection on mate sampling by female wild t c07-2004 a687 - 6940 v153 a

Investigations of parasite-mediated sexual selection have concentrated on the effects of parasites on males. Differences in female susceptibility to parasitic infection may also cause variation in reproductive behavior. I propose two alternative hypotheses to explain how infected females may alter their mate sampling behavior. In the first hypothesis, infected females sample fewer prospective mates because chronic parasitic infection imposes energetic costs that limit the time and calories that a female can expend in mate searching. A novel alternative hypothesis is that females recognize their own susceptibility to infection and thus invest more time searching for a male phenotype that indicates he offers genes complementary to her genome. In recombination, these good genes would allow her offspring to better resist parasites despite their mother's susceptibility. I examined the mate sampling behavior of experimentally infected wild turkey hens when presented with an array of males, and compared them to control hens. Infected females did not invest more time assessing individuals, did not wait longer to choose a male, nor were they less likely to solicit during the trial. They did differ from control females in that they visited more males before soliciting copulation and exhibited different preference functions for snood length. These results suggest that females are not so energetically restricted by latent coccidia infection that they must hurry to find a mate. Instead, it appears that infected females assess a larger set of males as prospective mates, perhaps to increase the opportunity to obtain complementary genes for parasite resistance.

1 aBuchholz, Richard uhttps://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/beheco/arh06602286nas a2200229 4500008004100000022001400041245010300055210006900158260001600227300001600243490000700259520156800266653001701834653001701851653001101868653001301879100002101892700002401913700002001937700002201957856007701979 2016 eng d a1045-224900aDoes antiparasite behavior improve with experience? An experimental test of the priming hypothesis0 aDoes antiparasite behavior improve with experience An experiment cFeb-20-2016 a1167 - 11710 v273 a

Behavior is usually the first line of defense against parasites. Antiparasite behaviors, such as grooming, or outright avoidance, have been shown to reduce the risk of parasitism in a wide variety of host–parasite systems. However, despite the central importance of antiparasite behavior, little is known about the extent to which prior exposure to parasites improves effectiveness. Here, we report the results of a 2-year study designed to test whether exposure to parasites can “prime” behavior, loosely analogous to priming of the immune system. We tested whether preening improves with experience by infesting captive-bred rock pigeons (Columba livia) with 2 common species of rock pigeon feather lice. We infested “primed” birds in Years 1 and 2 of the study and “nonprimed” birds only in Year 2. Birds with lice preened about a third more, on average, than birds without lice. Birds subsequently cleared of lice resumed preening at the same rate as birds that never had lice. Thus, our results confirm that preening is an inducible, reversible defense that is partly triggered by the presence of lice. Surprisingly, primed birds did not differ significantly from nonprimed birds in the overall rate or the efficacy of preening. Primed and nonprimed birds preened at similar rates and had similar numbers of lice at the end of the study. Our results therefore provide little evidence that antiparasite behavior improves with experience, at least in the case of preening as a defense against feather lice.

10aectoparasite10aFeather lice10aPigeon10apreening1 aVilla, Scott, M.1 aCampbell, Heidi, E.1 aBush, Sarah, E.1 aClayton, Dale, H. uhttps://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/beheco/arw032