Social behavior looks at organisms big and small to view their interactions. The
ID: 209272 • Letter: S
Question
Social behavior looks at organisms big and small to view their interactions. The amount of social behavior exhibited by a species may be small or extremely plentiful. Contrast, using the appropriate terms, the social behavior of two species that exhibit very different social behaviors (i.e. normal social behaviors vs. eusociality).
The life history of an organism can be flexible to the environment, some changes are temporary while some have to be more permanent, like in response to a shifting climate. Provide the appropriate terms and two examples that demonstrates an organism accommodating in 1) short term and 2) long term ways.
Explanation / Answer
Social behaviour is defined as any kind of interaction between two or more animals usally of the same species. Ranges of social behaviour are aggression, courtship, co-operation and deception. Complex behaviour increases when interactions among individuals are considered.
Let us take the example of courtship exhibited by a male stickleback. Courtship occurs as a prelude to mating and is most common in veterbrates. Courtship assures that individuals are not a threat and that they are of the proper species and physiological mating conditions. This involves a chain of Fixed Action Patterns, each triggered by its own stimulus. A male stickleback in reproducting condition may attack a female entering his territory or after mating with a female, the male chases her away and defends his territory against other males. He entices three to five other females with his courtship routine.Or, the male guards the developing eggs from predators and fans water over them for aeration.
Eusociality can be defined as the highest level of animal sociality with proper parental care of offspring, overlapping of adults and a division of labour among the reproductive and non reproductive classes. This can be found in Honey bee. It comprises of one fertile female or the queen, a few hundreds of male bees or drones and the rest are sterile workers ( females). The queen lays the eggs which develop into new workers, drones and queens. She also emits a complex series of secretions called pheromones which regulate the behaviour of workers. Queens are fed witha special rich larval food called royal jelly. It is necessary for normal queen size. Workers are kept underdeveloped through the efffect of pheromones. Worker honey bees cleans the cells secrete royal jelly that the queen is fed with. They also guard the hive entrance and later brings nectar, pollen and water, Drones exist only to mate with queen and die eventually after that. Queen is the only fertile female of the colony.