Precise and accurate behavioural monitoring of captive Chukar (Alectoris chukar) by using the advanced digital ethogram: a small scale pilot study.

Romaan Hayat Khattak,Zheng Xin

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.246053

Abstract

Precise and accurate behavioural monitoring of captive Chukar (Alectoris chukar) by using the advanced digital ethogram: a small scale pilot study.

Highlights

Despite the well-known termite importance as pest (Su, 2002) and their key role in nutrient cycle (Alho, 2008; DeSouza et al, 2009; Pringle et al, 2010), basic aspects of termite biology and ecology remain open to investigation
In order to verify the suitability of the use of gouache and colored glue mixture as a topic marker on termites, survival bioassays were performed using workers collected from field colonies of C. cumulans (N= 3), in Viçosa, state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil
An ideal topic marker for insects should be durable, non-toxic, light, easy and quick to apply (Walker and Wineriter, 1981; Hagler and Jackson, 2001). All these aspects could be observed in the mixture of gouache and colored glue tested here, proving it to be a good alternative as a marker for termites in laboratory bioassays

Summary

Introduction

Despite the well-known termite importance as pest (Su, 2002) and their key role in nutrient cycle (Alho, 2008; DeSouza et al, 2009; Pringle et al, 2010), basic aspects of termite biology and ecology remain open to investigation. Bioassays have been used as a powerful tool in the study of behavioral ecology, whereby it is possible to obtain responses of model organisms against different intrinsic and/or extrinsic stimuli (Hoskins and Craig, 1962). They can provide relevant information about mechanisms involved in the walking pattern of organisms during foraging Nobre et al, 2007), sexual partners, nesting site and/or estimation of population (e.g. Su et al, 1991; Evans et al 1998) Many of such assays rely on markers to identify the individual observed, allowing a better control of experiments and accurate observations (Hagler and Jackson, 2001)

Objectives

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Conclusion