Waiting for answer This question has not been answered yet. You can hire a professional tutor to get the answer.

QUESTION

Hi, I need help with essay on Behavioral studies of pillbugs (isopods). Organisms seek habitats with favorable conditions. Paper must be at least 2000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!Download file

Hi, I need help with essay on Behavioral studies of pillbugs (isopods). Organisms seek habitats with favorable conditions. Paper must be at least 2000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!

Download file to see previous pages...

Nevertheless, this mechanism is actually considered very weak and this is actually not tied up to mechanisms for locomotor activity in the pill bug. This therefore implies that pill bugs may not necessarily move towards a dark area. This somehow opposes the previous finding that pill bugs exhibit a strong negative phototaxis or an attraction to places with very little or not light at all. Moreover, it has been concluded in the study that the locomotory activity of the pill bug is most likely not due to their internal reaction to the effect or absence of light but due to negative masking, or the mere distinct effect of light that one can observe when a pill bug cannot escape the lighted area. Moreover, the attraction of pill bug towards dark areas is somehow not due to their reaction to light but because of their “strongly nocturnal activity under a natural light-dark cycle, more or less controlled by an endogenous timer” (Drahokoupilova &amp. Tuf, 2012, p. 153). External marking agents may also cause an internal effect on the behavior of pill bugs as the marked pill bugs exhibited more hiding behavior during the day and exploratory activities limited to night time. Moreover, marked pill bugs were usually significantly less active due to the mark, and that they have a lower level of feeding. The alleged connection is mostly chemical as “some chemicals from polish and marker might break through the cuticle into haemolymph of pill woodlice…” (Drahokoupilova &amp. Tuf, 2012, p. 152). When it came to their feeding habits, the pill bug spent more time in high quality food patches compared to those with low quality. However, as the high quality food becomes less in amount and the distance between the pill bug and the potential sources of food becomes greater, the pill bug, just like any other animal, will tend to conserve its energy and will tend to feed on low quality food that is currently available (Tuck &amp. Hassall, 2004). Therefore, whenever foraging or feeding of pill bugs is considered, it should be observed whether distance is a significant factor in determining their preference for high quality food. In a study by Moriyama (2004) on the movement of pill bugs, those which are constantly subjected to physical stimulus, especially one triggered by another pill bug, will be interpreted by the organism as a problematic situation and will most likely result in autonomous behaviors such as “mounting “ and “death-feigning behaviors” (Moriyama, 2004, p. 287). However, these autonomous behaviors are not an effort of the pill bug to escape the situation and choose suicide in the long run, but to find a vehicle to get out of the situation and to avoid the constant pulling stimulus. Therefore, since there is no vehicle, the pill bug chooses to “mount” in order to use the other one as a “transportation vehicle,” and to display death-feigning behavior in order to use the other pill bug as a “traction” vehicle (Moriyama, 2004, p. 300). The important point made by Moriyama (2004) in his study is that the pill bug never fails to move or to find the means to reduce the frequency or intensity of the bothersome stimulus. Moreover, according to Moriyama (2004), this behavior of pill bugs is attributed to their robust homeokinetic living system, and so these species of animals never fall into a state where they cannot move anymore and so they are quick at organizing and reorganizing behavior.

Show more
LEARN MORE EFFECTIVELY AND GET BETTER GRADES!
Ask a Question