Predators that feed on chemically-defended prey often experience non-lethal effects that result in learned avoidance of the prey species. Some predators are able to consume toxic prey without ill-effect. The Chinese mantid is able to consume cardenolide-containing monarch caterpillars without immediate adverse effects. Although they discard the caterpillars' gut contents, mantids consume seques...

diet of adult pikeperch sander lucioperca, eurasian perch perca fluviatilis, northern pike esox lucius and european catfish silurus glanis as top predators in aquatic ecosystems in serbia was investigated during 2011, in order to understand their relationship to their prey and to investigate their food consumption, feeding and assimilation rate, cannibalism, and habitat segregation. northern pi...

BACKGROUND Predators can have profound impacts on the dynamics of their prey that depend on how predator consumption is affected by prey density (the predator's functional response). Consumption by a generalist predator is expected to depend on the densities of all its major prey species (its multispecies functional response, or MSFR), but most studies of generalists have focussed on their func...

OBJECTIVE The ability of the native larvivorous fish Aplocheilus panchax (Hamilton, 1822) (Cyprinodontiformes: Aplocheilidae) as predator of mosquito larvae was assessed under laboratory conditions using multiple prey and habitat conditions. METHODS The consumption of larvae of the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus Say 1823 (Diptera: Culicidae) by A. panchax was evaluated in the presence of tub...

Cannibalism is ubiquitous in natural communities and has the potential to alter the functional relationship of predator–prey interactions. Although cannibalistic species are frequently subject to predation, the consequences of cannibalism in the prey for predator–prey interactions are poorly understood. Using a dragonfly larvae system, I provide the first experimental evidence that cannibalism ...

repeatability, (the consistency with which a given trait is expressed) of aggressiveness against prey (attack latency) in gravid females of the predatory mite neoseiulus californicus (mcgregor) was examined. in two experiments, prey - conspecific individuals, the onion thrips thrips tabaci (lindeman), and the two-spotted spider mite tetranychus urticae koch- were repeatedly offered in various n...

In this paper, we introduce fractional order of a planar fractional prey-predator system with a nonmonotonic functional response and anti-predator behaviour such that the adult preys can attack vulnerable predators. We analyze the existence and stability of all possible equilibria. Numerical simulations reveal that anti-predator behaviour not only makes the coexistence of the prey and predator ...

To describe a predator-prey relationship, it is necessary to specify the rate of prey consumption by an average predator. This functional response largely determines dynamic stability, responses to environmental influences and the nature of indirect effects in the food web containing the predator-prey pair. Nevertheless, measurements of functional responses in nature are quite rare. Recently, m...

The risk of predation can have large effects on ecological communities via changes in prey behaviour, morphology and reproduction. Although prey can use a variety of sensory signals to detect predation risk, relatively little is known regarding the effects of predator acoustic cues on prey foraging behaviour. Here we show that an ecologically important marine crab species can detect sound acros...

Environmental variables such as temperature are important factors affecting the efficacy of biological control agents. This study evaluated the predation rate of the predatory thrips Scolothrips longicornis Priesner (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) against the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) under laboratory conditions. Based on daily and total prey consumption ...