Local climate condition determines diapause timing in neighboring burying beetle populations
Life history timing often follows predictable patterns across latitudes. However, my study of burying beetles from three neighboring islands revealed a surprising pattern: the Okinawa population enters diapause earlier than both its northern (Amami) and southern (Wulai) neighbors, likely due to local spring temperatures. By providing the first empirical evidence of how local climate conditions override the typical latitudinal cline, this finding improves our ability to predict how different populations might respond to climate change.
Burying beetle
Energetically costly weaponry in the large morph of male dimorphic stag beetles
Male stag beetles develop impressively large mandibles (weapons), but these weapons increase with body size at different rates in small versus large males. This research demonstrated for the first time that the energy costs of maintaining these weapons also differ between male types. The study revealed that only in large males does metabolic rate increase with weapon size, while both male types and females show increased metabolism with body size. This discovery provides the first empirical evidence that physiological constraints shape weapon evolution, as the higher metabolic costs for large males may explain why their weapons don't grow as rapidly with body size as those of smaller males.
Dr. Hsu's lab video is out - stag beetle talk!
Stag beetle
Visual information fails to enable individual recognition but synchronizes competitors' behavior
Mangrove killifish can recognize past opponents, but which sensory cues do they use? To test whether vision plays a role, I observed fish interactions through glass partitions with either familiar or unfamiliar opponents. The results revealed that fish don't rely on visual cues for individual recognition, as they showed similar aggression levels to both familiar and unfamiliar opponents. However, familiar pairs showed a unique behavioral pattern: when meeting through glass the day after their physical fight, the aggression levels between dominant and subordinate fish were significantly correlated – a synchronized response that wasn't seen in unfamiliar pairs.
Video credit:
Dr. Yuying Hsu's Lab
Video credit:
Dr. Yuying Hsu's Lab
Mangrove killifish
Evaporative water loss and behavioral response to dehydration reflect microhabitat differentiation in sympatric juvenile skink species
Do lizards' water retention abilities match their preferred habitats? To answer this question, I studied juveniles of two skink species occupying different microhabitats: one from dry, open grasslands and another from humid forests. By measuring their evaporative water loss and behavioral responses to dehydration, I found clear differences. The grassland species showed lower evaporative water loss and spent more time exploring outside humid shelters, while the forest species lost water more quickly and avoided dry areas. These results reveal how water-retention ability in juveniles reflects species' microhabitat requirements and potential vulnerability to drought.
Video credit:
Dr. Shu-Ping Huang's Lab
