Evidence suggests that brain serotonin (5-HT) is one of the central mediators of different types of animal personality. We tested this assumption in field crickets Gryllus integer using a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Crickets were selected for slow and rapid development and tested for their coping styles under non-stressful conditions (time spent exploring a novel object).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe causes and consequences of among-individual variation and covariation in behaviours are of substantial interest to behavioural ecology, but the proximate mechanisms underpinning this (co)variation are still unclear. Previous research suggests metabolic rate as a potential proximate mechanism to explain behavioural covariation. We measured the resting metabolic rate (RMR), boldness and exploration in western stutter-trilling crickets, , selected differentially for short and fast development over two generations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe opening-closing rhythms of the subelytral cavity and associated gas exchange patterns were monitored in diapausing Leptinotarsa decemlineata beetles. Measurements were made by means of a flow-through CO analyser and a coulometric respirometer. Under the elytra of these beetles there is a more or less tightly enclosed space, the subelytral cavity (SEC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExperiments of nano-filtration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) were conducted to remove most pollutants from the biological treated leachate. For example, the purified permeate after reverse osmosis treatment with spiral membranes reached effluent water quality as follows: COD of 57 mg O2/l, BOD7 of 35 mg O2/l, and suspended solid of 1 mg/l which satisfies the discharge standards in Estonia. For both RO and NF, conductivity can be reduced by 91% from 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSublethal effects of pesticides in insects can be observed through physiological changes, which are commonly estimated by metabolic rate and respiratory patterns, more precisely by the patterns of discontinuous gas-exchange (DGE) cycles. The aim of the present research was to study the effect of some low concentrations of Fastac 50 EC on the cycles of CO(2) release and respiratory water loss rates (WLR) in bumble bee Bombus terrestris L. foragers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxygen convective uptakes in gas exchange cycles were directly recorded in early diapause pupae of Pieris brassicae L. (Lepidoptera; Pieridae) by means of O2 coulometric respirometry. This method was combined with flow-through CO2 respirometry, the two systems being switchable one to the other.
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