IN THEIR PERSPECTIVE “When the hunter becomes the hunted” (19 June, p. 1312), R. Woodroffe and S. M. Redpath rightly pointed out that a social consensus, in addition to scientific evidence, is critical to effectively control species deemed overabundant, such as some predators, because social conflicts over the need for control undermine management decisions. We stress here that social acceptabi...

Intra-guild predation (IGP) – where a top predator (IGPred) consumes both a basal resource and a competitor for that resource (IGPrey) – has become a fundamental part of understanding species interactions and community dynamics. IGP communities composed of intraguild predators and prey have been well studied; however, we know less about IGP communities composed of predators, pathogens, and reso...

Historically, small mammals have been focal organisms for studying predator-prey dynamics, principally because of interest in explaining the drivers of the cyclical dynamics exhibited by northern vole, lemming, and hare populations. However, many small-mammal species occur at relatively low and fairly stable densities at temperate latitudes, and our understanding of how complex predator assembl...

Braced for savagery and sacrifice, European settlers in the New World came to the Pacific Northwest to tame the final frontier, the last refuge of “dismal wilderness.” While colonists in the East were poisoning, shooting, and trapping cougars to extinction during the 1880s, hundreds of thousands of pioneers flooded into what would soon become the new state of Washington. Following the well-worn...

Prey often evolve defences to deter predators, such as noxious chemicals including toxins. Toxic species often advertise their defence to potential predators by distinctive sensory signals. Predators learn to associate toxicity with the signals of these so-called aposematic prey, and may avoid them in future. In turn, this selects for mildly toxic prey to mimic the appearance of more toxic prey...

Predators can affect prey populations through changes in traits that reduce predation risk. These trait changes (nonconsumptive effects, NCEs) can be energetically costly and cause reduced prey activity, growth, fecundity, and survival. The strength of nonconsumptive effects may vary with two functional characteristics of predators: hunting mode (actively hunting, sit-and-pursue, sit-and-wait) ...

Predators have played a significant role in the evolution of herbivorous insects, and we can observe a wide variety of larval defense mechanisms in nature, especially among members of the Lepidoptera. Slug caterpillars (Limacodidae) are known for their unusual morphologies, including various types of protuberances and stinging spines on their dorsal surfaces, which suggest that their evolution ...