Japan Ethological Society

Editor's Choice Award 2019 Article - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Unique numerical competence of Asian elephants on the relative numerosity judgment task. By Naoko Irie, Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, Nobuyuki Kutsukake (Volume 37, Issue 1, pp 111-115)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0563-y

Editor's Choice 2019 Articles - Enjoy Free Reading!

• A nudibranch removes rival sperm with a disposable spiny penis. By Ayami Sekizawa, Shin G. Goto, Yasuhiro Nakashima (Volume 37, Issue 1, pp 21-29)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0562-z
• Kin selection and reproductive value in social mammals. By Masaru Hasegawa, Nobuyuki Kutsukake (Volume 37, Issue 2, pp 139-150)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-019-00586-6
• Alarm call modification by prairie dogs in the presence of juveniles. By Grete E. Wilson-Henjum, Jacob R. Job, Megan F. McKenna, Graeme Shannon, George Wittemyer (Volume 37, Issue 2, pp 167-174)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0582-8
• Context-dependent aggression toward non-nestmates in the ant Diacamma sp. from Japan. By Jumpei Uematsu, Masayuki Hayashi, Hiroyuki Shimoji, Michel-Olivier Laurent Salazar, Kazuki Tsuji (Volume 37, Issue 3, pp 259-264)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-019-00611-8
• Nurture is above nature: nursery experience determines habitat preference of red sea bream Pagrus major juveniles. By Kohji Takahashi, Reiji Masuda (Volume 37, Issue 3, pp 317-323)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-019-00605-6

Editor's Choice Award 2018 Article - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Olfactory discrimination of anal sac secretions in the domestic cat and the chemical profiles of the volatile compounds by Tamako Miyazaki, Takashi Nishimura, Tetsuro Yamashita, and Masao Miyazaki (Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 99-105)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0532-x

Editor's Choice 2018 Articles - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Pre-ovipositional maternal care alleviates food stress of offspring in the flower beetle Dicronocephalus wallichii. By Wataru Kojima, Chung-Ping Lin (Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp 135-141)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0544-1
• Responses to relaxed and reverse selection in strains artificially selected for duration of death-feigning behavior in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. By Kentarou Matsumura, Takahisa Miyatake (Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp 161-168)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0548-x
• Comparison of personality between juveniles and adults in clonal gecko species. By Osamu Sakai (Vol. 36, Issue 3, pp 221-228)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0551-2
• Effect of social condition on behavioral development during early adult phase in Drosophila prolongata. By Takashi Matsuo (Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 15-22)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0524-x
• Influence of aging on brain and web characteristics of an orb web spider. By Alain Pasquet, Camille Toscani, Mylène Anotaux (Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 85-91)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0530-z
• Mating and aggressive behaviour of Brachyrhaphis olomina (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae). By Carlos A. Garita-Alvarado, Beatriz Naranjo-Elizondo, Gilbert Barrantes (Vol. 36, Issue 1, pp 1-13)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0523-y
• Ethological description of a fixed action pattern in a kissing bug (Triatominae): vision, gustation, proboscis extension and drinking of water and guava. By Oscar Páez-Rondón, Elis Aldana, Joseph Dickens, Fernando Otálora-Luna (Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp 107-116)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0547-y

Editor's Choice Award 2017 Article - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Male mate choice in a sexually cannibalistic species: male escapes from hungry females in the praying mantid Tenodera angustipennis. By Mika Kadoi, Kotaro Morimoto, Yasuoki Takami (Vol. 35, Issue 2, pp 177-185)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0506-z1

Editor's Choice 2017 Articles - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Unique arm-flapping behavior of the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis: putative mimicry of a hermit crab. By Kohei Okamoto, Haruhiko Yasumuro Akira Mori, Yuzuru Ikeda (Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp 307-311)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0519-7
• Agonistic display or courtship behavior? A review of contests over mating opportunity in butterflies. By Tsuyoshi Takeuchi (Vol. 35, Issue 1, pp 3-12)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-016-0487-3
• Behavioral assay and chemical characters of female sex pheromones in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi. By Saori Okamura, Takuma Kawaminami, Hiroshi Matsuura, Nobuhiro Fusetani, Seiji Goshima (Vol. 35, Issue 2, pp 169-176)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0507-y
• Setting an evolutionary trap: could the hider strategy be maladaptive for white-tailed deer?. By M. Colter Chitwood, Marcus A. Lashley, Christopher E. Moorman, Christopher S. DePerno (Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp 251-257)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0514-z
• Sometimes noise is beneficial: stream noise informs vocal communication in the little torrent frog Amolops torrentis. By Longhui Zhao, Bicheng Zhu, Jichao Wang, Steven E. Brauth, Yezhong Tang, Jianguo Cui (Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp 259-267)
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-017-0515-y

Editor's Choice Award 2016

On behalf of the editors of the Journal of Ethology, I would like to congratulate the winners of the Editor's Choice Award 2016 (1 article) and the Editor's Choice 2016 (5 articles). On 12 November 2016, the Award winner accepted his award with certificate at a special ceremony at the 35th annual meeting of the Japan Ethological Society in Niigata, Japan.

The winner of the Editor's Choice Award 2016, Dr. Toshitaka N. Suzuki (left) with the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Yukio Yasui (right), at the award ceremony at Niigata University on 12 November 2016.

The Editor's Choice Award and the Editor's Choice are open to all articles published in the Journal of Ethology. Selected members of the editorial committee decide on the Editor's Choice (6-10 articles) in the volume for the year, and the first place among them receives the special award. All winning articles are given open access through the courtesy of the Japan Ethological Society (valued at Euro 2,200 per article). Unrestricted online access allows high exposure and visibility for the articles.

I hope you will consider submitting your next paper to the Journal of Ethology. I look forward to receiving your valuable work.

Yukio Yasui
Editor-in-Chief

Join the Japan Ethological Society!

Learn about the membership benefits here.

Editor's Choice Award 2016 Article - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Referential calls coordinate multi-species mobbing in a forest bird community. By Toshitaka N. Suzuki (Vol. 34, Issue 1, pp 79-84)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-015-0449-1

Editor's Choice 2016 Articles - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Experiments with claw models explain the function of the waving display of Ilyoplax pusilla (Brachyura: Dotillidae). By Daichi Izumi, Yoko Kawano, Yasuhisa Henmi (Vol. 34, Issue 1, pp 9-14)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-015-0438-4
• Correlated responses in death-feigning behavior, activity, and brain biogenic amine expression in red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum strains selected for walking distance. By Kentarou Matsumura, Ken Sasaki, Takahisa Miyatake (Vol. 34, Issue 2, pp 97-105)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-015-0452-6
• Behavioural interactions between the lizard Takydromus tachydromoides and the praying mantis Tenodera aridifolia suggest reciprocal predation between them. By Miyuki Fukudome, Yoshifumi Yamawaki (Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp 231-241)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-016-0468-6
• Do weaponless males of the hermit crab Pagurus minutus give up contests without escalation? Behavior of intruders that lack their major cheliped in male-male contests. By Chiaki I. Yasuda, Tsunenori Koga (Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp 249-254)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-016-0470-z
• Interference competition between an invasive parakeet and native bird species at feeding sites. By Le Louarn Marine, Couillens Bertrand, Deschamps-Cottin Magali, Clergeau Philippe (Vol. 34, Issue 3, pp 291-298)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-016-0474-8

Butterflies: Agonistic display or courtship behavior?

A review of contests over mating opportunity in butterflies provides surprising results.

2016.9.5

Journal of Ethology (Chief editor: Yukio Yasui) proudly presents an invited review on butterfly contest behavior by Tsuyoshi Takeuchi. This article is given open access through the courtesy of the Japan Ethological Society.

Two males of Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in “air combat” |© Tsuyoshi Takeuchi

A study shows that contests of butterflies occur only as erroneous courtships between sexually active males that are unable to distinguish the sex of the other butterflies. These findings by Tsuyoshi Takeuchi from Osaka Prefecture University in Japan were highlighted in a review article in Journal of Ethology, the official journal of the Japan Ethological Society, published by Springer.

Males of various butterfly species compete over mating territory via prolonged aerial interactions. Their contest behavior has previously been explained by the “war of attrition” model in the context of game theory, where two contestants perform costly displays until one of them reaches its limit, or cost threshold, and gives up. However, butterflies lack weapons or any obvious means to attack their opponent and thus it is difficult to explain why they perform aerial displays that impose costs not on their opponent but on themselves.

Takeuchi and his collaborators found in their previous study that there is no evidence that males of territorial butterflies can discriminate the sex of flying conspecifics. Considering the inability to distinguish the sex of their opponents, the male aerial interactions of territorial butterflies should be viewed as prolonged courtship behavior between males chasing each other. They wrongly assume that their opponent is a receptive female and they are not being accepted.

This framework provides a prediction that a contest should occur only between flying males and not between sitting males. Takeuchi reviewed past research on competition over mating opportunity in butterflies. He found that it supported the erroneous courtship theory as expected, revealing that “air combats” take place over mating territory between flying males but contests do not occur when males are sitting around a female or a female pupa.

Assumptions based on human senses can sometimes be misleading in our understanding of animals. Based on observational and experimental results, the author provides controversial but an important framework to understand butterfly behavior. The applicability of this logic to other taxa remains to be investigated.

Reference:

Takeuchi, T. (2016). Agonistic display or courtship behavior? A review of contests over mating opportunity in butterflies, Journal of Ethology. DOI 10.1007/s10164-016-0487-3

Takeuchi, T. Yabuta, S. Tsubaki, Y. (2016).The erroneous courtship hypothesis: do insects really engage in aerial wars of attrition, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118:970-981

Dr. Tsuyoshi Takeuchi (Osaka Prefecture University)

Editor's Choice Award 2015

On behalf of the editors of the Journal of Ethology, I would like to congratulate the winners of the Editor's Choice Award 2015 (1 article) and the Editor's Choice 2015 (5 articles). On 21 November 2015, the winners (two coauthors) accepted their awards with certificates at a special ceremony at the 34th annual meeting of the Japan Ethological Society in Tokyo, Japan.

The winners of the Editor's Choice Award 2015, Dr. Nozomi Nishiumi (left) and Dr. Akira Mori (right) with the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Yukio Yasui (center), at the award ceremony at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology on 21 November 2015.

The Editor's Choice Award and the Editor's Choice are open to all articles published in the Journal of Ethology. Selected members of the editorial committee decide on the Editor's Choice (6-10 articles) in the volume for the year, and the first place among them receives the special award. All winning articles are given open access through the courtesy of the Japan Ethological Society (valued at Euro 2,200 per article). Unrestricted online access allows high exposure and visibility for the articles.

I hope you will consider submitting your next paper to the Journal of Ethology. I look forward to receiving your valuable work.

Yukio Yasui
Editor-in-Chief

Join the Japan Ethological Society!

Learn about the membership benefits here.

Editor's Choice Award 2015 Article - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Distance-dependent switching of anti-predator behavior of frogs from immobility to fleeing. By Nozomi Nishiumi, Akira Mori (Vol. 33, Issue 2, pp 117-124)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-014-0419-z

Editor's Choice 2015 Articles - Enjoy Free Reading!

• Paternal care behaviors of Japanese giant salamander Andrias japonicus in natural populations. By Sumio Okada, Yukihiro Fukuda, Mizuki K. Takahashi (Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 1-7)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-014-0413-5
• Guarding males of the hermit crab climb up algae to avoid male–male competition. By Takuma Kawaminami, Seiji Goshima (Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 25-33)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-014-0411-7
• Conditional discrimination in Octopus vulgaris. By Koji Tokuda, Reiji Masuda, Yoh Yamashita (Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 35-40)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-014-0414-4
• Rapid development of tool use as a strategy to predate invasive land snails. By Márcio A. Efe, Fábio Nunes de Paiva, João Marcelo Holderbaum, Richard J. Ladle (Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp 55-57)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-014-0412-6
• Object play in thick-toed geckos during a space experiment. By Valerij Barabanov, Victoria Gulimova, Rustam Berdiev, Sergey Saveliev (Vol. 33, Issue 2, pp 109-115)
  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-015-0426-8

Editor's Choice Award 2014

On behalf of the editors of the Journal of Ethology, I would like to congratulate the winners of the Editor's Choice Award 2014 (1 article) and the Editor's Choice 2014 (5 articles). On 2 November 2014, the winners (two of the three coauthors) accepted their awards with certificates at a special ceremony at the 33rd annual meeting of the Japan Ethological Society in Nagasaki, Japan.