Brood care

Foraging (e.g., food finding, evaluation and acquisition), agonistic and reproductive behaviors are contexts where chemosensory cues and chemosensory sensilla are essential for most crustaceans. Of those three topics, the role of chemoreception and chemical signals in reproductive behaviors is least understood and needs more research effort in the future. In particular, the role of pheromone receptors in mate-finding and evaluation, courtship, copulation, and brood care is... 

An example of an uncharacterized chemical cue from ant brood occurs in the obligatory slave-making ant, Polyergus breviceps. Pupae of this species are cared for by their enslaved host worker, while pupae of other species are consumed [125]. 

Mousebirds lay 2-4 eggs in a nest placed in a tree or shrub. Both parents share in the incubation of eggs, and in the care of their young. Sometimes several males help in the rearing of the same brood, and several females will occasionally lay eggs in the same nest, and share the incubation duties, sometimes brooding side-by-side. 

Once it has secured a mate, the peacock builds a nest, usually in a thicket. The female lays a clutch of about ten eggs, which she alone broods. The peahen also takes care of the chicks. 

Bullhead catfish (Ictalurus nebulosus) detect the body odors of conspecifics indicative of dominant relationships, and increase territorial aggression toward chemical strangers. Nonspecific diet metabolites as well as specific pheromones are important in chemical mediation of social behavior (Bryant and Atema 1987). Pheromone-mediated social behaviors were also observed in the Nile (Oreochromis niloticus) and the Mozambique tilapia (O. mossambicus ). They use pheromones to establish hierarchies, display elaborate courtship rituals and parental care (mouth-brooding) (Miranda et al. 2005 Barata et al. 2008). In crustaceans, brood pheromone has been associated with maternal behavior in crayfish (Little 1975,1976). Chemical cues in the urine are also important for crustaceans to recognize individuals and to establish dominance hierarchies (Katoh et al. 2008 Skog et al. 2009). A review on crayfish courtship and dominance pheromones can be found in this volume (Breithaupt, Chap. 13). 

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