the laelapid mite, gaeolaelapsaculeifer (canestrini) is widespread in soil habitats and feeds on different small arthropods, fungi and nematodes. the development and fecundity of g. aculeifer feeding on rhizoglyphus echinopus (fumouze & robin) as prey was studied at eight different constant temperatures which include: 16, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, 30 and 32.5 ºc, with relative humidity of 6...

Non-consumptive effects of predators on each other and on prey populations often exceed the effects of direct predation. These effects can arise from fear responses elevating glucocorticoid (GC) hormone levels (predator stress hypothesis) or from increased vigilance that reduces foraging efficiency and body condition (predator sensitive foraging hypothesis); both responses can lead to immunosup...

Predation and competition are critical processes influencing the ecology of organisms, and can play an integral role in shaping coral reef fish communities. This study compared the relative and interacting effects of competition and predation on two competing species of coral reef fish, Pomacentrus amboinensis and P. moluccensis (Pomacentridae), using a multifactorial experiment. Fish were subj...

study of phytoseiid mites in some regions of western and north–westerniranwere carried out during 2008–2011. in this study, 21 species belonging to the six genera were collected and identified. they were associated with aerial parts, soil and litter under cultivated, uncultivated plants and some phytophagous mites and insects.

In the last several years, the importance of understanding what innate threat and fear is, in addition to learning of threat and fear, has become evident. Odors from predators are ecologically relevant stimuli used by prey animals as warnings for the presence of danger. Of importance, these odors are not necessarily noxious or painful, but they have innate threat-like properties. This review su...

Exposure to a predator elicits an innate fear response and mimics several behavioral disorders related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The protective role of an enriched condition (EC) against psychogenic stressors in various animal models has been well documented. However, this condition has not been tested in field mice in the context of PTSD. In this study, we show that field mice ...

Activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis by psychosocial stress is attenuated during lactation. We tested the hypothesis that lactating ewes will have attenuated HPA axis responses to isolation and restraint but will have greater responses to predator stress in the form of barking dogs. We imposed two 4 h stressors: psychosocial stress (isolation and restraint of ewes) and pre...

INTRODUCTION We have shown in previous work that acute episodes of predator exposure occurring in the context of chronic social instability produced PTSD-like sequelae in rats. Our animal model of PTSD contained two components: (1) acute trauma, immobilization of rats in close proximity to a cat twice in 10 days, and (2) chronic social instability, 31 days of randomized housing of cage cohorts....

A predator’s per capita feeding rate on prey, or its functional response, provides a foundation for predator–prey theory. Since 1959, Holling’s prey-dependent Type II functional response, a model that is a function of prey abundance only, has served as the basis for a large literature on predator–prey theory. We present statistical evidence from 19 predator–prey systems that three predator-depe...