Animal Behavior & Psychology Flashcards
7 cards from real ACE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Animal Behavior & Psychology flashcards as text
What is 'stigmergy' as it applies to social insect behavior?
Answer: Indirect coordination through environmental modifications left by previous behavior
Stigmergy is a mechanism of indirect coordination where the product of one individual's action stimulates the next action of another, as seen in termite mound construction.
A fly larva that moves to drier areas of the substrate as it prepares to pupariate is responding to which stimulus?
Answer: Negative geotaxis and negative hygrotaxis combined
Pre-pupal larvae of many flies move upward (negative geotaxis) and toward drier areas (negative hygrotaxis) to find suitable pupation sites.
Which principle explains why a pest insect population can rebound rapidly after partial suppression by removing the behavioral inhibition caused by crowding?
Answer: Density-dependent emigration and reduced competition
At high densities, competition and emigration suppress population growth; after partial control, reduced crowding allows survivors to reproduce and immigrate more freely.
The 'dance language' of honeybees encodes distance to a food source primarily through:
Answer: The duration of the waggle run phase
The duration of the waggle run phase is positively correlated with distance: longer runs indicate farther food sources.
Thanatosis (death-feigning) in insects is best classified as:
Answer: A fixed action pattern serving as an anti-predator defense
Thanatosis is a fixed action pattern in which an insect becomes motionless to deter predators that preferentially attack moving prey.
In pest cockroach management, gel bait placement should exploit which behavioral trait?
Answer: Thigmotaxis — place baits in cracks, corners, and harborage edges
Cockroaches prefer surfaces they can touch on multiple sides, so gel baits placed in cracks and tight corners intercept their harborage-seeking behavior.
Which term describes a behavior performed in a ritualized, exaggerated form that functions as a signal to another individual rather than accomplishing the original function directly?
Answer: Ritualization
Ritualization is the evolutionary modification of a behavior into a communication signal, such as antenna-waving derived from grooming.