Avoidance of parasitic fungi and nematode threats by Tribolium castaneum
Data files
Abstract
Just as for predators, many animals have developed a suite of defences to counter the ubiquitous threat posed by parasites. Behavioral avoidance is a key strategy to reduce the likelihood of encountering situations with a relatively high degree of risk. However, because such avoidance likely incurs costs (i.e., non-consumptive effects), individuals should engage in risk assessment to gauge their threat of parasitism based on relevant cues. Combinations of these may signal particularly risky situations, especially as animals often face simultaneous natural enemies. In the first study to consider host choice in the presence of different parasites, we investigated behavioral avoidance in red flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum) given various foraging options involving two entomopathogens, the fungus Beauveria bassiana and the nematode Steinernema carpocapsae. Combinations included single and dual parasite threats, as well as whether these were represented by the presence of infectious stages and/or conspecific cadavers that were euthanized or killed by infection. Beetles generally did not exhibit behavioral avoidance of either parasite or the parasite-killed conspecifics, but rather, tended to be attracted to the latter if nematode-infected. They also did not avoid conditions with multiple cues related to the threat of infection, suggesting that they do not gauge or respond to parasitism risk in this way. Our findings have implications for understanding avoidance as an anti-parasite behavior across different host taxa, but also for the use of biocontrols such as fungi and nematodes for pest insects.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.dncjsxmbn
Description of the data and file structure
Files and variables
Abbreviations:
BB flour - Flour contaminated withBeauveria bassianainfectious stages
BB-infected cadaver - Tribolium castaneum cadaver infected withBeauveria bassiana
SC flour - Flour contaminated with Steinernema carpocapsae
SC-infected cadaver - Tribolium castaneum cadaver infected with Steinernema carpocapsae
BB + SC flour - Flour contaminated with Beauveria bassiana and Steinernema carpocapsae
Euthanized cadaver - Uninfected Tribolium castaneum cadaver
No threat - Uncontaminated flour
File names: correspond with the choice test oultined below:
A.csv: Choice between BB flour and No threat
B.csv: Choice between SC flour and No threat
C.csv: Choice between BB flour and SC flour
D.csv:Choice between SC + BB flour and SC flour
E.csv: Choice between SC + BB flour and BB flour
F.csv: Choice between SC-infected cadaver and No threat
G.csv: Choice between SC flour + Euthanized cadaver and SC flour
H.csv: Choice between SC flour + Euthanized cadaver and Euthanized cadaver
I.csv: Choice between SC flour + SC-infected cadaver and SC flour + Euthanized cadaver
J.csv: Choice between SC-infected cadaver and Euthanized cadaver
K.csv: Choice between Euthanized cadaver and No threat
L.csv: Choice between BB-infected cadaver and No threat
M.csv: Choice between BB flour + Euthanized cadaver and BB flour
N.csv: Choice between BB flour + Euthanized cadaver and Euthanized cadaver
O.csv: Choice between BB flour + BB-infected cadaver and BB flour + Euthanized cadaver
P.csv: Choice between BB-infected cadaver and Euthanized cadaver
Variables across all files:
- Beetle Number: Unique number identifying each individual beetle in the experiment
- Beetle ID: Unique label identifying each beetle within each choice test
- Zone: Arm of choice test that contains the treatment, 1 = left arm of maze, 3 = right arm of maze
- Percent time: The proportion of time of trial as a decimal spent in particular zone of the maze
- day: The day each choice trial was conducted, numbers are the same for choice tests that were conducted simultaneously (A,B), (C-E), (F-J), (K-P)
- Risk: Assigned high risk (=1) and low risk (=0) treatments in each test, described in the legend of each file
- Legend: Describes the contents of the high and low risk arm in each choice test using the abbreviations described above