Insect
Behavior!
Anne
Leonard
My
research:
Bumble
bee
behavior
Plant-pollinator
interac=ons
Floral
signal
evolu=on
EECB
SPRING
COLLOQUIUM
Learning,
signals
and
uncertainty:
Perspectives
from
plant-insect
interactions
Daniel
Papaj
Professor
University
of
Arizona
April
25th
Thursday,
4
pm
DMS
103
Thursday
!
4
pm
DMS
103
Western field cricket
Gryllus integer
Today
What
makes
study
of
insect
behavior
special?
Today
What
makes
study
of
insect
behavior
special?
Vs.
Lifespan?
(Many
insects
used
heavily
in
research
do
have
short
genera4on
4mes
Experimental
evolu4on)
Complexity
of
social
interac=ons?
Complexity
in
general?
Brain
size?
#
neurons?
100,000
960,000
1,000,000,000
85,000,000,000
Is
bigger
always
beUer?
Today
What
makes
study
of
insect
behavior
special?
Nothing*,
really!
Vs.
Except
that,
in
prac=cal
terms,
insects
are:
-(O[en)
cheaper
and
easier
to
study
-More
opportuni=es
for
compara=ve
studies
-O[en
research
funded
by
diverse
en==es
(USDA;
NIH;
NSF;
Bill
&
Melinda
Gates
Founda=on
etc.)
It
is
certain
that
there
may
be
extraordinary
ac=vity
with
an
extremely
small
absolute
mass
of
nervous
maUer;
thus
the
wonderfully
diversied
ins=ncts,
mental
powers,
and
aec=ons
of
ants
are
notorious,
yet
their
cerebral
ganglia
are
not
so
large
as
the
quarter
of
a
small
pins
head.
Under
this
point
of
view,
the
brain
of
an
ant
is
one
of
the
most
marvellous
atoms
of
maUer
in
the
world,
perhaps
more
so
than
the
brain
of
man.
Charles
Darwin
1871
Insects
Hard-wired
robots
A
tradi=onal
and
common
view
Cogni=on?
(Decision-making,
learning
+
memory)
Insects
have
Short
term
(minutes)
and
long-term
memory
(days/weeks)
Honeybees
learn
certain
s=muli
faster
than
infants
Color
learning
faster
than
many
vertebrates
How
to
study
insect
learning
and
memory?
(Many
ways)
Sucrose
reward
Empty
Colors,
paUerns,
textures,
scents,
shapes,
Degrees
of
symmetry,
temperatures,
orienta=ons,
=mes
of
day,
spa=al
loca=onsetc
%
landings
on
Landing
number
Classical
conditioning
of
the
Proboscis
extension
response
(P.E.R.)
Classical
or
Pavlovian
condi=oning
Before
training:
Unconditioned
Stimulus
Unconditioned
Response
Presence
of
dog
food
Drooling
Presence
of
sucrose
Proboscis
extension
Bacteria
in
your
food
Nausea
During
training:
Conditioned
Stimulus
+
U.S.
Unconditioned
Response
Bell
ringing
+
Presence
of
dog
food
Drooling
Scent
or
Color
+
Presence
of
sucrose
Proboscis
extension
Taste
or
smell
of
food
+
Bacteria
in
your
food
Nausea
After
training:
Conditioned
Stimulus
Conditioned
Response
Bell
ringing
Drooling
Learning!
Scent
or
Color
Proboscis
extension
Taste
or
smell
of
food
Nausea
Some
insects
have
The
capacity
to
learn
rules
and
generalize
them
across
sensory
modali=es
(color
+
scent)
Delayed
match-to-sample
task
Some
insects
have
Sensory
systems
that
match
or
surpass
ours
Sensory
systems
can
have
Similar
degrees
of
sensi=vity
to
wavelengths
of
light
Bees
have
similar
degrees
of
sensi=vity
to
wavelengths
of
light
Color
vision
Jumping
spiders
Video
Some
insects
have
Symbolic
communica=on:
The
waggle
dance
Some
insects
have
Symbolic
communica=on:
The
waggle
dance
Orienta=on
=
rela=ve
to
sun
Dura=on
=
distance
Insects
Hard-wired
robots
More
nuanced
perspec=ve:
Just
like
most
other
organisms,
situa=ons
where
learning
and
exibility
pay
o
And
situa=ons
in
which
an
innate
response
is
more
A
tradi=onal
and
ecient
common
view
Expect
learning
to
evolve
when
within-
genera=on
predictability
is
HIGH
and
between
genera=on
predictability
is
LOW
Within-genera=on
predictability
Between-genera=on
predictability
LOW
HIGH
LOW
Nothing
LEARN
!
worth
learning
because
environment
experienced
by
the
Innate
HIGH
individual
is
response
constantly
will
do
just
changing
ne
Stephens,
1991
