One predator-two prey community models are studied with an emphasis on individual variation in predator behavior. The predator behaves according to a well-known prey choice model. The behavioral model predicts that predators should always attack the primary prey (more profitable prey of the two), but only attack the alternative prey (less profitable prey of the two) when the density of the prim...

Previous research using computer animation and lures made from dead prey has demonstrated that the East African salticid Evarcha culicivora Wesolowska & Jackson (Araneae: Salticidae) feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by actively choosing blood-carrying female mosquitoes as prey, and also that it singles out mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) by preference. Here, we demons...

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.09.008 0003-3472/© 2014 The Association for the Study of A Among the many hand preference studies on nonhuman primates, several have demonstrated the effect of diverse action demands on the direction and magnitude of hand preference. However, few studies have assessed hand preference in the natural repertoire of motor behaviours in nonhuman primates, esp...

BACKGROUND Biological control provided by natural enemies play an important role in integrated pest management. Generalist insect predators provide an important biological service in the regulation of agricultural insect pests. Our goal is to understand the explicit process of oviposition preference, habitat selection and feeding behavior of predators in farmland ecosystem consisting of multipl...

Intraguild predation (IGP) is pervasive in many managed and unmanaged ecosystems and may have negative, neutral or positive effects on the biological control of pest insects. Both generalist predators and aphelinid parasitoids attack Bemisia tabac i (Gennadius) Biotype B ( B. argentifolii Perring & Bellows) on cotton in the southwestern USA. Free-choice and no-choice laboratory assays were cond...

On the basis of 1115 records of Evarcha culicivora feeding in the field, we can characterize this East African jumping spider (Salticidae) as being distinctively stenophagic. We can also, on the basis of laboratory prey-choice experiments, characterize E. culicivora as having a specialized prey-classification system and a hierarchy of innate preferences for various categories of mosquitoes and ...

This paper extends existing models of frequency-dependent diet selection by considering the optimal diet selection of a predator feeding upon prey populations which can be depleted but are also capable of renewal (e.g. immigration, growth, or reproduction). This model and existing models which include prey depletion, predict partial-preference and a generic diet preference for the commonest pre...

Field studies have demonstrated mixed success in trap cropping to manage Crocidolomia pavonana ( binotalis) [F.], a major pest of cruciferous crops in Asia. A possible explanation for this is an inßuence of host plant phenology on oviposition preference. We tested this in simultaneous two-choice oviposition bioassays under laboratory conditions. In cylindrical cardboard experimental arenas, wit...

the predatory bug orius niger wolff is an important predator of the onion thrips, thrips tabaci lindeman in the potato fields of ardabil region. in this study, preference for prey, predatory rate, body size, and some life history parameters of o. niger were studied on seven potato genotypes (including savalan, agria, morene, kondor, diamant, pi397082-2, and pi397097-2)infested to t. tabaciunder...

Broad-scale models describing predator prey preferences serve as useful departure points for understanding predator-prey interactions at finer scales. Previous analyses used a subjective approach to identify prey weight preferences of the five large African carnivores, hence their accuracy is questionable. This study uses a segmented model of prey weight versus prey preference to objectively qu...