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BACKGROUND Many groups of insects utilize substrate-borne vibrations for intraspecific communication. This characteristic makes them a suitable model for exploring the use of vibrations as a tool for pest control as an alternative to the use of chemicals. Detailed knowledge of species communication is a prerequisite to select the best signals to use. This study explored the use of substrate-borne vibrations for pest control of the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys Stal (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). For this purpose, we first identified the spectral and temporal characteristics that best elicit male responsiveness. Bioassays were conducted with artificial signals that mimicked the natural female calling signal. Second, we used the acquired knowledge to synthesize new signals endowed with different degrees of attractiveness in single- and two-choice bioassays using a wooden custom-made T stand. RESULTS The results from this study showed that males were attracted to female signals along a high range of amplitudes, especially starting from a threshold of 100 μm s-1 , a high pulse repetition time (1 s) and frequency peak corresponding to the first harmonic (76 Hz). This resulted in an "optimal" signal for use to attract males, while the choice test in the T arena showed that this signal elicits searching behavior and attracts BMSB males towards a stimulation point. CONCLUSION We confirm the use of vibrational signals as a strong tool for behavioral manipulation of male BMSB and suggest its possible use in the development of field traps and further management of this pest. © 2021 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Pinnipeds have been identified as one of the best available models for the study of vocal learning. Experimental evidence for their learning skills is demonstrated with advanced copying skills, particularly in formant structure when copying human speech sounds and melodies. By contrast, almost no data are available on how learning skills are used in their own communication systems. We investigated the impact of playing modified seal sounds in a breeding colony of grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) to study how acoustic input influenced vocal development of eight pups. Sequences of two or three seal pup calls were edited so that the average peak frequency between calls in a sequence changed up or down. We found that seals copied the specific stimuli played to them and that copies became more accurate over time. The differential response of different groups showed that vocal production learning was used to achieve conformity, suggesting that geographical variation in seal calls can be caused by horizontal cultural transmission. While learning of pup calls appears to have few benefits, we suggest that it also affects the development of the adult repertoire, which may facilitate social interactions such as mate choice. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Vocal learning in animals and humans’.

Anthropogenic noise is an increasingly widespread pollutant, with a rapidly burgeoning literature demonstrating impacts on humans and other animals. However, most studies have simply considered if there is an effect of noise, examining the overall cohort response. Although substantial evidence exists for intraspecific variation in responses to other anthropogenic disturbances, this possibility has received relatively little experimental attention with respect to noise. Here, we used field-based playbacks with dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula) to test how traffic noise affects vigilance behavior and to examine potential variation between individuals of different age class, sex, and dominance status. Foragers exhibited a stronger immediate reaction and increased their subsequent vigilance (both that on the ground and as a sentinel) in response to traffic-noise playback compared with ambient-sound playback. Traffic-noise playback also resulted in sentinels conducting longer bouts and being more likely to change post height or location than in ambient-sound playback. Moreover, there was evidence of variation in noise responses with respect to age class and dominance status but not sex. In traffic noise, foraging pups were more likely to flee and were slower to resume foraging than adults; they also tended to increase their vigilance more than adults. Dominants were more likely than subordinates to move post during sentinel bouts conducted in traffic-noise trials. Our findings suggest that the vigilance–foraging trade-off is affected by traffic noise but that individuals differ in how they respond. Future work should, therefore, consider intrapopulation response variation to understand fully the population-wide effects of this global pollutant.

For humans, there is a well-established theory, which explains much of the variation in human verbal dyadic speech behavior, the “communication accommodation theory (CAT)”. In its most basic form, CAT predicts that as two conversation partners become more similar in their speech patterns, the more likely they are to perceive the interaction, and/or the other person favorably. In this exploration of CAT in a non-human mammal, I look for the cornerstones of the theory in bottlenose dolphin communication. Dolphins depend largely on acoustic communication to maintain ever-changing social interactions in a marine environment. Dolphins have individually specific signature whistles that allow them to broadcast their identity, and also are able to encode additional information across those whistle emissions. They often use these whistles in antiphonal exchanges with other dolphins. In Chapter 2, I show that dolphins use signature whistles more often when conspecifics are present, suggesting a socially mediated system for signature whistle use. I find that male allies do not converge their signature whistles from pre-alliance to alliance formation, as previously suggested, nor over the course of alliance (Chapter 3). I do find that allies have more similar signature whistles to their male partner than to non-allies and in Chapter 4, find that male allies subtly accommodate during antiphonal signature whistle exchanges. During experimental playbacks of manipulated whistles to a bottlenose dolphin, I recorded subtle parameter accommodation in the frequency pitch shifts from one unit of a signature whistle playback to the next, suggesting that even when there is no difference in reinforcement, dolphins have the propensity for accommodation during signature whistle interactions. This thesis presents the first suggestion that the CAT may be a good model for the study for animal communication systems moving forward. ""This work received funding from the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) and their support is gratefully acknowledged. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions" -- Funding

Human-carnivore encounters are common where humans and wild carnivores share the same landscape. The frequency of such encounters gives insight regarding carnivore density and might correlate with human-carnivore conflict incidences. We interviewed livestock owners in the eastern Serengeti ecosystem and recorded reported carnivore presence and relative abundance. We simultaneously conducted a carnivore survey to assess the potential variability of reported carnivore presence that was recorded during the surveys. The playback surveys attracted 9 lions (Panthera leo), 88 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and 47 black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas schmidti) to 12 call-in stations which were resurveyed three times (36 playbacks in total). Reported encounters with lions, leopards (Panthera pardus), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), spotted hyenas, African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and jackals were higher closer to the Serengeti National Park (SNP). Data from carnivore surveys were positively correlated with what people reported in questionnaires. These results indicate that local reports of encounters with wild carnivores may act as an important indicator of carnivore presence. Combining observational data through surveys with data reported by local people in areas where humans and wild carnivores coexist may improve existing data on carnivore abundance and distribution in such areas. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Use of virtual proxies of live animals are rapidly gaining ground in studies of animal behaviour. Such proxies help to reduce the number of live experimental animals needed to stimulate the behaviour of experimental individuals and to increase standardisation. However, using too simplistic proxies may fail to induce a desired effect and/or lead to quick habituation. For instance, in a predation context, prey often employ multimodal cues to detect predators or use specific aspects of predator behaviour to assess threat. In a live interaction, predator and prey often show behaviours directed towards each other, which are absent in virtual proxies. Here we compared the effectiveness of chemical and visual predator cues in the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher, a species in which predation pressure has been the evolutionary driver of its sociality. We created playbacks of predators simulating an attack and tested their effectiveness in comparison to a playback showing regular activity and to a live predator. We further compared the effectiveness of predator odour and conspecific skin extracts on behaviours directed towards a predator playback. Regular playbacks of calmly swimming predators were less effective than live predators in stimulating a focal individual’s aggression and attention. However, playbacks mimicking an attacking predator induced responses much like a live predator. Chemical cues did not affect predator directed behaviour.

The brilliant-thighed frog [Allobates femoralis (Boulenger, 1884)] is distributed across the Amazon basin and aggregates several allopatric evolutionary lineages, some of which present variation in their advertisement calls. In 2009, an unregistered call phenotype was discovered in the region of Altamira and Vitória do Xingu, State of Pará, Brazil, where males emit advertisement calls formed by six notes, differing from the typical four-note calls described for other A. femoralis populations. In this study, we describe in detail these untypical calls. Additionally, we test whether the aggressive responses of males of a 4-note reference population (Reserva Ducke - RFAD, in Manaus, States of Amazonas) is differential towards the 6-note calls of males recorded in Altamira (Pará State), and towards 4-note calls recorded in one location at the Tapajós-Xingu interfluve (Belterra, Pará State), and in RFAD. Playback experiments were conducted between 2011-2012, and used standardized stimuli produced from natural call recordings. A total of 30 independent experiments were conducted, 10 for each stimuli class. We measured the phonotaxis of focal males in relation to the loudspeaker, considering the time to orientation and the time to approach the loudspeaker. We found that not all A. femoralis males at RFAD promptly recognize calls from males recorded in Altamira. However, when considering only males who approached the loudspeaker, differences in aggressive reactions were not seen between stimuli classes. Our findings show that the ability to recognize calls from Altamira as belonging to co-specific males is not universal among males at RFAD. The new A. femoralis phenotype occurs in areas potentially impacted by the Belo Monte hydroelectric complex and complementary studies indicate that no gene flow exists between this group and A. femoralis from adjacent regions. Hence, developments in Altamira may put this incipient speciation process at risk. © 2017, Fundacao Zoobotanica do Rio Grande do Sul. All rights reserved.

Na estação reprodutiva, os anuros se aglomeram em sítios onde formam assembléias de vocalização. Diferentes contextos sociais ocorrem nessas ocasiões, onde os machos modificam ativamente seus comportamentos entre atrair fêmeas e defender seus territórios e recursos. Por exercerem grande importância para as interações sociais de anuros, suas vocalizações apresentam uma ferramenta para estudos envolvendo seleção sexual e interações agressivas. Dessa forma, o presente trabalho objetivou avaliar a variação temporal dos cantos de anúncio e agressivos de Hypsiboas goianus ao longo de 10 estações reprodutivas que perfazem 18 anos de intervalo temporal em uma população e a resposta acústica de machos focais em seguidas interações a um competidor coespecífico. As gravações foram realizadas na Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, município de Silvânia, Goiás, Brasil. Para a análise temporal, foram analisados, no máximo, cinco cantos de anúncio e cinco cantos agressivos de cada indivíduo. Foram extraídos parâmetros temporais (duração do canto, número e duração de pulsos, taxa de repetição de cantos e de pulsos) e um parâmetro espectral (frequência dominante). Para as análises das interações competitivas, as taxas de repetição dos cantos de anúncio, agressivos e total foram consideradas em repostas a cantos coespecíficos de anúncio ofertados em 10 períodos de playback. Os parâmetros acústicos não diferiram dentro do intervalo de tempo analisado. Os indivíduos alteraram seu comportamento acústico com a simulação da chegada de um novo competidor durante as primeiras interações com o playback (playback 1 e 2), posteriormente voltando a emitir taxas de repetição de cantos similares à aquelas observadas no período pre-playback. During the reproductive season, the anurans crowd in sites where they can constitute vocalization assemblies. Different social contexts occur during these occasions, where the male individuals modify actively their behavior between attracting the female individuals and defending their territory and resources. Of huge importance for the social interaction of anurans, their vocalization acts as a tool for studies about sexual selection and aggressive interactions. Thereby, we aimed to evaluate the temporal variation of the advertisement and aggressive calls of Hypsiboas goianus over the course of 10 reproductive seasons that amount 18 years of time-lapse in a population and the acoustic answer of focal males in repeated interactions with conspecific competitors. The records were performed in Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, city of Silvânia, Goiás, Brazil. For temporal analysis, five advertisement calls and five aggressive calls – at most – of each individual were analyzed. Temporal parameters (duration of call, number and duration of pulses, call and pulse repetition rate) and a spectral parameter (dominant frequency) were extracted. To analyze the competitive interactions, the repetition rates of the advertisement, aggressive and total calls were considered as a response to the conspecific advertisement calls offered in 10 periods of playback. The acoustic parameters do not diverge inside the temporal lapse that was analyzed. The individuals modified their acoustic behavior with the simulation of the arrival of a new competitor during the first interactions with the playback (playback 1 e 2), afterward, the repetition taxes of calls were similar to those observed in the pre-playback period were, once again, emitted. Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES

Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia Informática apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra Com o aumento da crise económica mundial e a dinâmica do mercado atual, são vários os desafios que as organizações têm de enfrentar para conseguirem sobreviver. Desafios que passam pelo aumento da concorrência, ambiente de negócios em constante mutação e clientes cada vez mais exigentes. Face a este paradigma, muitas organizações têm de reduzir custos e otimizar os seus métodos de trabalho, para conseguirem atingir os seus objetivos organizacionais, tais como: a obtenção de lucro, a produção de serviços/produtos com o maior valor possível para os seus clientes, etc... Neste alinhamento, a solução passa pela aplicação dos conceitos BPM nas organizações. BPM é uma disciplina de gestão que traz melhorias significativas aos processos de negócios, incluído a redução de custos e a melhoria da qualidade dos serviços/produtos. O objetivo deste estágio concretiza-se, então, pela análise e desenvolvimento de um processo de negócio designado por Gestão de Reclamações, utilizando a metodologia Playbacks da IBM e a sua respetiva implementação no IBM BPM. With the ongoing global economic crisis and the dynamics of the current market, several challenges arose that must be solved by organizations in order to survive. These challenges include: increased competition, business environment constantly changing and increasingly demanding customers. Given this paradigm, many organizations have to reduce costs and optimize its working methods, their order to achieve their organizational goals such as increased profit, the production of services / products with the highest value for their clients, and so forth. The solution for these problems is the application of BPM concepts in organizations. BPM is a management discipline that brings significant improvements to business processes, including reducing costs and improving the quality of services / products. The goal of this internship is to analyze and develop a business process referred as Gestão de Reclamações (Complaints Management) using IBM's Playback methodology and its respective implementation in BPM.

El canto del chingolo (Zonotrichia capensis) tiene dos partes: una introducción y una porción final, denominadas tema y trino, respectivamente. La Hipótesis de Detección Alertada sugiere que esta diferenciación estructural es una adaptación para la comunicación a distancia en un ambiente ruidoso. Además propone que el tema actuaría como un elemento "alertador" que avisa a los receptores del arribo inminente de la porción informativa de la señal: el trino. Nosotros pusimos a prueba esta hipótesis mediante un experimento de playback con cantos completos, temas y trinos, en sus versiones normales y degradadas acústicamente. Los chingolos respondieron más a los cantos completos y versiones normales que frente a los temas y trinos o a las versiones degradadas de los estimulos, respectivamente. Además, los temas evocaron respuestas equivalentes a la producida por los trinos. Estos resultados difieren de las predicciones hechas por la Hipótesis de la Detección Alertada, según la cual sólo los cantos completos normales y degradados, y los trinos normales, deberían haber desencadenado una respuesta. The song of the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) has two parts: an introduction and a final portion referred to as "theme" and "trill", respectively. The Alerted Detection Hypothesis suggests that song structure is adaptive for long-range communication in a noisy environment. Besides, it proposes that the theme evolved as an alerting component which wams receivers about the imminence of the informative part of the signal: the trill. We tested this hypothesis with a playback design using complete songs, themes and trills, in both normal and acoustically degraded condition. The Rufous-collared Sparrows responded more to complete and normal stimuli than to the theme, trill, and degraded stimuli, respectively. In addition, there were no differences in the strenght of response elicited by themes and trills. These results contrast with the predictions of the Alerted Detection Hypothesis, according to which, only complete normal or degraded songs as well as normal trills, would have evoked responses.

Background Non-human animals often produce different types of vocalisations in negative and positive contexts (i.e. different valence), similar to humans, in which crying is associated with negative emotions and laughter is associated with positive ones. However, some types of vocalisations (e.g. contact calls, human speech) can be produced in both negative and positive contexts, and changes in valence are only accompanied by slight structural differences. Although such acoustically graded signals associated with opposite valence have been highlighted in some species, it is not known if conspecifics discriminate them, and if contagion of emotional valence occurs as a result. We tested whether domestic horses perceive, and are affected by, the emotional valence of whinnies produced by both familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics. We measured physiological and behavioural reactions to whinnies recorded during emotionally negative (social separation) and positive (social reunion) situations. Results We show that horses perceive acoustic cues to both valence and familiarity present in whinnies. They reacted differently (respiration rate, head movements, height of the head and latency to respond) to separation and reunion whinnies when produced by familiar, but not unfamiliar individuals. They were also more emotionally aroused (shorter inter-pulse intervals and higher locomotion) when hearing unfamiliar compared to familiar whinnies. In addition, the acoustic parameters of separation and reunion whinnies affected the physiology and behaviour of conspecifics in a continuous way. However, we did not find clear evidence for contagion of emotional valence. Conclusions Horses are thus able to perceive changes linked to emotional valence within a given vocalisation type, similar to perception of affective prosody in humans. Whinnies produced in either separation or reunion situations seem to constitute acoustically graded variants with distinct functions, enabling horses to increase their apparent vocal repertoire size. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12983-017-0193-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

La Hipótesis de la Detección Alertada sugiere que la diferenciación estructural del canto de las aves constituye una adaptación para la comunicación a distancia en un ambiente ruidoso. De acuerdo con esta hipótesis, las introducciones actuarian como elementos "alertadores" que avisan a los potenciales receptores de la llegada de la porción informativa de la señal, contenida en las restantes porciones del canto. Nosotros evaluamos la validez de la Hipótesis de la Detección Alertada en el chingolo (Zonotrichia capensis), a través de un estudio de las respuestas evocadas por los playbacks con cantos completos y sus partes constituyentes aisladas (tema y trino). Los chingolos respondieron más a los cantos completos que a los temas y trinos por separado, mientras que la respuesta a estos últimos fue aproximadamente equivalente. Estos resultados difieren de las predicciones de la Hipótesis de la Detección Alertada según las cuales tanto el canto completo como el trino serian los únicos estimulos capaces de desencadenar respuestas significativas de similar intensidad. The Alerted Detection Hypothesis suggests that the bird-song structure is adaptive for long-range communication in a noisy environment. According to this hypothesis, the introductory part of the song may act as an "alerting" element, which warns potential receptors about the arrival of the informa tive portion of the signal, contained in the remaining parts of the songs. We evaluated the Alerted Detection Hypothesis in the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) using a playback design with complete songs as well as their isolated constitutive parts (theme and tri1l). The Rufous-collared Sparrows responded more to the complete songs than to the themes and trills. However, both themes and tri1ls evoked a similar response. These results contrast with those predicted by the Alerted Detection Hypothesis, which states that only complete songs and tri1ls would have elicited significant responses of similar intensity.

Background Non-human animals often produce different types of vocalisations in negative and positive contexts (i.e. different valence), similar to humans, in which crying is associated with negative emotions and laughter is associated with positive ones. However, some types of vocalisations (e.g. contact calls, human speech) can be produced in both negative and positive contexts, and changes in valence are only accompanied by slight structural differences. Although such acoustically graded signals associated with opposite valence have been highlighted in some species, it is not known if conspecifics discriminate them, and if contagion of emotional valence occurs as a result. We tested whether domestic horses perceive, and are affected by, the emotional valence of whinnies produced by both familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics. We measured physiological and behavioural reactions to whinnies recorded during emotionally negative (social separation) and positive (social reunion) situations. Results We show that horses perceive acoustic cues to both valence and familiarity present in whinnies. They reacted differently (respiration rate, head movements, height of the head and latency to respond) to separation and reunion whinnies when produced by familiar, but not unfamiliar individuals. They were also more emotionally aroused (shorter inter-pulse intervals and higher locomotion) when hearing unfamiliar compared to familiar whinnies. In addition, the acoustic parameters of separation and reunion whinnies affected the physiology and behaviour of conspecifics in a continuous way. However, we did not find clear evidence for contagion of emotional valence. Conclusions Horses are thus able to perceive changes linked to emotional valence within a given vocalisation type, similar to perception of affective prosody in humans. Whinnies produced in either separation or reunion situations seem to constitute acoustically graded variants with distinct functions, enabling horses to increase their apparent vocal repertoire size., Frontiers in Zoology, 14 (1), ISSN:1742-9994