Download Behavior

Behavior
Investment
Energy usage – the major consideration in all
living things for prime function.
How much brain is available for which functions
Insect brain approx 1 million neurons
Human brain more than 100 million neurons
Function and maintenance demands are high
on neurons so small brain = mostly innate
behavior
Innate Behavior
• Kineses – movements that are not directed
towards a stimulus.
• Taxes – directed movements towards
(positive) or away (negative) from a stimulus
– Phototaxis towards or away from light
– Geotaxis towards or away from gravity
– Chemotaxis towards or away from chemical
Learned Behavior – behavior where
unpredictable relationships between
reaction and stimulus due to past
experiences
• Limited and usually short term, some insects
can direct others to food sources etc by
memory.
• Habituation – decreased activity (usually
associated with muscle fatigue) where the
insect learns that the action is not continually
necessary
• Associative learning – changing response for a
stimulus or reward.
• Latent learning – no immediate reward
obvious such as reconnaissance
• Insight – reasoning to solve problems (not
observed in insects at this time)
Rhythms
• exogenous – simple responses to perodic
changes in environment
• Endogenous or circadian – dictated by a
biological clock (common in insect behavior)
– Diurnal – day time
– Nocturnal – night time
– Crepuscular – weak light (sunrise, sunset)
Feeding
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Phytophagous – plant tissues
Carnivorous – animal tissues
Saprophagous – deat organic material
Omnivorous – all types of food
Specialization – a specific food source
Generalization – non specific but may be
restricted to one of the top three categories.