Behavioral Ecology 2007 18(6):1155; doi:10.1093/beheco/arm087
Published by Oxford University Press 2007.
Egg puncturing by the brood parasitic Greater Honeyguide and potential host counteradaptations
Claire N. Spottiswoode and John F.R. Colebrook-Robjent 10.1093/beheco/arm025This paper should have been presented as an Article instead of a Forum.
The abstract for the paper should also have been included:
The brood parasitic Greater Honeyguide Indicator indicator frequently punctures one or more host eggs when laying its own. We investigated variation in egg puncturing to test the hypothesis that this behavior is adjusted adaptively and selects for host 10 defenses in a coevolutionary manner. We first show that puncturing was indeed effective in reducing the number of host young that the honeyguide hatchling would have needed later to kill or to outpace in embryonic development. Within clutches, thicker shelled and rounder host eggs were more heavily punctured, implying that they were more difficult to damage effectively and that puncturing could exert selection on host egg properties. Moreover, host females laying clutches of relatively thick-shelled eggs were more likely to raise at least one of their own offspring successfully in spite of parasitism, implying selection in progress. We 15 provide anecdotal evidence that heavily punctured clutches are sometimes deserted, suggesting a trade-off between the benefits of puncturing and this possible cost. Our data also support 2 consequent predictions: honeyguides should puncture clutches more intensely when laying late relative to the host and when parasitizing hosts with hatchlings likely to provide a more robust adversary to their own. Selection on host eggshell properties was also implied by honeyguide host species having thicker eggshells than congeneric nonhost species. Although correlational, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that honeyguides 20 modify their puncturing behavior in an adaptive manner and that their hosts are experiencing selection for laying thicker shelled and possibly more rounded eggs. Key words: brood parasitism, coevolution, egg shape, eggshell thickness, honeyguides, selection.
The publisher regrets the error.
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