Inese Kivleniece

In Latvia, four dormouse species have been recorded. In 2016 an annual monitoring of the Hazel Dormouse ( Muscardinus avellanarius ) and Forest Dormouse ( Dryomys nitedula) was commenced within the national biodiversity monitoring programme to obtain data that would allow assessmen of the conservation status of those species and their habitats. The...

The development of new methods of crop production is the most promising field of research in agriculture. There are numerous chemical techniques of seed treatment before sowing; however, mollusc mucus has not been considered as a natural alternative of seed treatment yet. In this study, we treated sweet pepper seeds with Spanish slug mucus before s...

The protection of horticultural crops from slug feeding can be achieved using slug pellets; however, application of molluscicides is not always safe for the environment. There is a need for alternative methods to reduce the palatability of crop plants. Chemical properties of secondary compounds from lichens influence the feeding behaviour of slugs....

Here, we tested for an ecologically valid cost to secondary sexual trait expression in the male great tit (Parus major). We compared the breast stripe area of a sample of males who survived extremely low night time temperatures with a sample who did not survive. Breast stripe area was significantly smaller in surviving males, suggesting a real cost...

This article summarizes information about 93 beetle species (Hexapoda: Coleoptera) findings in Latvia, collected in the period from 1990 to 2014. One species, Aphodius lividus (Olivier, 1789) (Scarabaeidae), is recorded for the first time in the fauna of Latvia. The article provides information about new findings of six beetle species which are ofi...

Diversity of saproxylic beetles (Hexapoda: Coleoptera) in clear-cut sites with removed and retained stumps in central Latvia. Acta Biol. Univ. Daugavp., 14 (2): 145 – 157. Saproxylic insects represent an important part of forest biodiversity and have functionally significant role in the forest ecosystems. They are species-rich organisms that depend...

Measures of repeatability are essential for understanding behavioral consis- tency and individual differences in behavior, i.e. animal personalities. We studied anti- predator responses of the yellow mealworm beetle ( Tenebrio molitor ) and performed behavioral tests in plastic containers representing a typical laboratory environment of T. molitor...

Harmful parasite infestation can cause energetically costly behavioural and immunological responses, with the potential to reduce host fitness and survival. It has been hypothesized that the energetic costs of infection cause resting metabolic rate (RMR) to increase. Furthermore, under terminal investment theory, individuals exposed to pathogens sh...

Significant between-individual variation in resting metabolic rate (RMR) of animals is a widespread phenomenon that may have important implications for our understanding of variation in behavior and animal personality. By using wild caught mealworm beetles, Tenebrio molitor, we examined the relationships among survival rate under predator tests, in...

Encapsulation is a nonspecific, cellular response through which insects defend themselves against multicellular pathogens. During this immune reaction, haemocytes recognize an object as foreign and cause other haemocytes to aggregate and form a capsule around the object, often consisting of melanized cells. The process of melanisation is accompanie...

Recent studies suggest that facial attractiveness indicates immune responsiveness in men and that this relationship is moderated by stress hormones which interact with testosterone levels. However, studies testing whether facial attractiveness in women signals their immune responsiveness are lacking. Here, we photographed young Latvian women, vacci...

The energetic definition of fitness predicts that natural selection will maximize the residual energy available for growth and reproduction suggesting that energy metabolism might be a target of selection. In this experimental study, we investigated whether female and male yellow mealworm beetles, Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), di...

The associations between behaviour, stress and immune responses are most likely a result of common integration through the neuroendocrine system. Here, we describe associations between behaviour and immunity in great tits, Parus major. Wild-caught birds were brought into captivity, and their immune function was assessed on the basis of antibody pro...

According to the 'good genes' hypothesis, females choose males based on traits that indicate the male's genetic quality in terms of disease resistance. The 'immunocompetence handicap hypothesis' proposed that secondary sexual traits serve as indicators of male genetic quality, because they indicate that males can contend with the immunosuppressive...

Immune defenses of insects show either broad reactions or specificity and durability of induced protection against attacking parasites and pathogens. In this study, we tested whether encapsulation response against nylon monofilament increases between two attempts of activation of immune system in mealworm beetles Tenebrio molitor, and whether previ...

Age-related decline in immune activity is referred to as immunosenescence and has been observed for both the adaptive immune response of vertebrates and the innate immune system of invertebrates. Because maintaining a basic level of immune defence and mounting an immune response is costly, optimal investment in immune function should vary over a wi...

Secondary sexual traits that develop under the action of testosterone, such as masculine human male facial characteristics, have been proposed to signal the strength of the immune system due to the sex hormone's immunosuppressive action. Recent work has suggested that glucocorticoid stress hormones may also influence expression of such sexual signa...

Winter survival of organisms has a crucial effect on their fitness in a seasonal environment. We tested whether overwinter survival of male water striders, Aquarius najas (De Geer) (Heteroptera: Gerridae), is associated with the time of season they leave the water for winter diapause. This was performed by comparing parameters of males leaving the...

Increasing evidence suggests that secondary sexual traits reflect immunocompetence of males in many animal species. This study experimentally investigated whether a parasite-like immunological challenge via a nylon implant affects sexual attractiveness of males in Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) Although a single immunological chall...

Theory suggests that secondary sexual traits should honestly reflect males' immunocompetence. We tested whether the activation of a male's immune system has an effect on the female's mate choice in Tenebrio molitor. We found that after a single parasite-like activation of their immune system by a nylon monofilament, males did not suffer from increa...

Individuals' behavioral responses to predator stimuli may be constrained due to the needs of courtship and reproductive behavior. We tested whether alarm and mobbing behavior in response to predator stimuli was dependent on changes in re-productive behavior in chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs). Male chaffinches may suffer cuckoldry if they become sep...