TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence of population-level lateralized behaviour in giant water bugs, Belostoma flumineum Say (Heteroptera
T2 - Belostomatidae): T-maze turning is left biased
AU - Kight, Scott L.
AU - Steelman, Laura
AU - Coffey, Gena
AU - Lucente, Julie
AU - Castillo, Marianne
PY - 2008/9/1
Y1 - 2008/9/1
N2 - Lateralized behaviour occurs in diverse animals, but relatively few studies examine the phenomenon in invertebrates. Here we report a population-level left turn bias in the giant water bug Belostoma flumineum Say (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae) in an underwater T-maze. Individuals made significantly more left turns than right turns, including when they were naïve and first introduced to the maze. Water bugs also showed significantly longer runs of consecutive left turns than right turns (i.e. LLLLL). The length of these runs, however, did not increase with experience in the maze, suggesting that the effect is not the result of learning. There were also no differences in turning bias between male and female water bugs. The proximate mechanism(s) underlying the left turn bias is unknown, but directional cues in the environment were eliminated by rotating the maze 180° between experiments, suggesting the mechanism(s) is endogenous. To our knowledge this is the first study of lateralized behaviour in the Heteroptera or in a swimming invertebrate animal.
AB - Lateralized behaviour occurs in diverse animals, but relatively few studies examine the phenomenon in invertebrates. Here we report a population-level left turn bias in the giant water bug Belostoma flumineum Say (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae) in an underwater T-maze. Individuals made significantly more left turns than right turns, including when they were naïve and first introduced to the maze. Water bugs also showed significantly longer runs of consecutive left turns than right turns (i.e. LLLLL). The length of these runs, however, did not increase with experience in the maze, suggesting that the effect is not the result of learning. There were also no differences in turning bias between male and female water bugs. The proximate mechanism(s) underlying the left turn bias is unknown, but directional cues in the environment were eliminated by rotating the maze 180° between experiments, suggesting the mechanism(s) is endogenous. To our knowledge this is the first study of lateralized behaviour in the Heteroptera or in a swimming invertebrate animal.
KW - Belostoma flumineum
KW - Handedness
KW - Lateralization
KW - Maze
KW - Water bug
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=46149083447&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.04.001
DO - 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.04.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 18490112
AN - SCOPUS:46149083447
SN - 0376-6357
VL - 79
SP - 66
EP - 69
JO - Behavioural Processes
JF - Behavioural Processes
IS - 1
ER -