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56 results for “insect predation”
Predation risk estimated on live and artificial insect prey follows different patterns
<p>Models mimicking prey organisms are increasingly used in ecological studies including testing fundamental ecological and evolutionary theories. The general consensus is that predation risk estimated on artificial models may not quantitatively correspond to predation pressure on live prey, but it still can be used in various comparisons. We tested whether the use of live and artificial prey reveals the same patterns of variation in predation risk. We exposed live prey (blowfly larvae and puparia) and plasticine models of blowfly puparia in two boreal forest sites, both openly and in ant- and bird-exclusion treatments, and we quantified attacks by both avian and invertebrate predators. Bird attack rates were always higher on live puparia than on their plasticine models, but the magnitude of this difference declined from 8.4-fold in early summer to 2-fold in mid- and late summer. We attribute these changes to different responses to prey by experienced adult birds that dominate the bird communities in early summer versus explorative juvenile birds that are abundant later in the season. Invertebrate daily predation rates on maggots decreased from 56% in early summer to 28% in late summer, but invertebrate attacks on plasticine models showed no seasonal changes. Overall, invertebrate predation on maggots was 67-fold greater than their predation on models. Observations showed that wood ants did not attack plasticine models and did not leave on them any damage marks. Estimates based on artificial prey indicate a much greater role of bird predation than invertebrate predation, while estimates based on live prey suggest the opposite pattern. Thus, using live and artificial prey may lead to different conclusions about relative importance of different predator groups in a locality. Moreover, for both avian and invertebrate predators, predation risk based on artificial and live prey shows different seasonal changes and may potentially demonstrate different spatial patterns.</p>
The X chromosome of insects likely predates the origin of Class Insecta
<p>Sex chromosomes have evolved independently multiple times, but why some are conserved for more than 100 million years whereas others turnover rapidly remains an open question. Here, we examine the homology of sex chromosomes across nine orders of insects, plus the outgroup springtails. We find that the X chromosome is likely homologous across insects and springtails; the only exception is in the Lepidoptera, which has lost the X and now has a ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system. These results suggest the ancestral insect X chromosome has persisted for more than 450 million years – the oldest known sex chromosome to date. Further, we propose that the shrinking of gene content of the Dipteran X chromosome has allowed for a burst of sex-chromosome turnover that is absent from other speciose insect orders.</p>
Insect seed-predator networks respond positively to restoration on a tropical island
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The X chromosome of insects likely predates the origin of Class Insecta
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Data from: Higher predation risk for insect prey at low latitudes and elevations
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Predation and parasitism on herbivorous insects change in opposite directions in a latitudinal gradient crossing a boreal forest zone
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Predation risk estimated on live and artificial insect prey follows different patterns
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Testing the contribution of vertebrate predators and leaf traits to mainland-island differences in insect herbivory on oaks
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Match and mismatch: Integrating consumptive effects of predators, prey traits, and habitat selection in colonizing aquatic insects
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Data from: The interactive effects of competition and predation risk on dispersal in an insect.
Dispersal dynamics have significant consequences for ecological and evolutionary processes. Previous work has demonstrated that dispersal can be context-dependent. However, factors affecting dispersal are typically considered in isolation, despite the probability that individuals make dispersal decisions in response to multiple, possibly interacting factors. We examined whether two ecological factors, predation risk and intraspecific competition, have interactive effects on dispersal dynamics. We performed a factorial experiment in mesocosms using backswimmers (Notonecta undulata), flight-capable, semi-aquatic insects. Emigration rates increased with density, and increased with predation risk at intermediate densities; however, predation had minimal effects on emigration at high and low densities. Our results indicate that factorial experiments may be required to understand dispersal dynamics under realistic ecological conditions.
Assessing the potential for indirect interactions between tropical tree species via shared insect seed predators
Natural enemies of plants have the potential to influence the dynamics of plant populations and the structure of plant communities. In diverse tropical forests research on the effects of plant enemies has largely focused on the diversity-enhancing effects of highly specialised enemies, while the community-level effects of enemies with broader diets have rarely been considered. We investigated the community of insect seed predators interacting with seven tree species in the family Lauraceae on Barro Colorado Island (Panama). We present one of the first quantitative food webs for pre-dispersal insect seed predators and their host plants, and use the information in the web to assess the potential for indirect interactions between the tree species. Our data suggest that there is high potential for indirect interactions between Lauraceae species via their shared seed predators. The strength and direction of these interactions is largely unrelated to the phylogenetic distance and trait similarity between species but are likely governed by the volume of fruit produced by each tree species.
Data from: Colonization across gradients of risk and reward: nutrients and predators generate species-specific responses among aquatic insects
1. Predation risk and resource abundance are two primary characteristics that determine species abundances and community composition. Colonizing organisms should attempt to minimize the risk of mortality and maximize growth through selection of patches with the highest expected fitness. However, maximizing fitness across multiple gradients of patch quality involves accurate cue assessment, integration, and behavioral responses that consider multiple factors that affect fitness simultaneously. 2. Our goal was to simultaneously and factorially assess the effects of predation risk and resource abundance among an assemblage of aquatic insects to determine the relative importance of each factor, and whether the two factors interact to affect colonization, oviposition, and community assembly. 3. We conducted a field mesocosm experiment in which we crossed predator density (0, 1, 2 fish, Fundulus chrysotus) with supplemental nutrient abundance (0, 4, 8 g rabbit chow) in a 3 × 3 factorial design. We then assayed colonization by natural populations of aquatic beetles and oviposition by Culex mosquitoes. 4. We observed species-specific responses, with many species avoiding fish and some selecting habitats with more nutrients. Nutrients and predator presence only interactively affected oviposition by Culex mosquitoes, and the effect of fish presence exceeded that of nutrients in all but one analysis. 5. Our results illustrate the primacy of predation risk in generating colonization patterns and structuring communities in aquatic habitats, but that colonization responses to variation in multiple components of patch quality are often species-specific. Simultaneous assessments of multiple aspects of patch quality allow for the determination of potential interactions among cue sources and the relative importance of various patch characteristics to colonizers.
Data from: Cascading effects of defaunation on the coexistence of two specialized insect seed predators
Identification of the mechanisms enabling stable coexistence of species with similar resource requirements is a central challenge in ecology. Such coexistence can be facilitated by species at higher trophic levels through complex multi-trophic interactions, a mechanism that could be compromised by ongoing defaunation. We investigated cascading effects of defaunation on Pachymerus cardo and Speciomerus giganteus, the specialized insect seed predators of the Neotropical palm Attalea butyracea, testing the hypothesis that vertebrate frugivores and granivores facilitate their coexistence. Laboratory experiments showed that the two seed parasitoid species differed strongly in their reproductive ecology. Pachymerus produced many small eggs that it deposited exclusively on the fruit exocarp (exterior). Speciomerus produced few large eggs that it deposited exclusively on the endocarp, which is normally exposed only after a vertebrate handles the fruit. When eggs of the two species were deposited on the same fruit, Pachymerus triumphed only when it had a long head start, and the loser always succumbed to intraguild predation. We collected field data on the fates of 6569 Attalea seeds across sites in central Panama with contrasting degrees of defaunation and wide variation in the abundance of vertebrate frugivores and granivores. Speciomerus dominated where vertebrate communities were intact, whereas Pachymerus dominated in defaunated sites. Variation in the relative abundance of Speciomerus across all 84 sampling sites was strongly positively related to the proportion of seeds attacked by rodents, an indicator of local vertebrate abundance. Synthesis. We show that two species of insect seed predators relying on the same host plant species are niche differentiated in their reproductive strategies such that one species has the advantage when fruits are handled promptly by vertebrates and the other when they are not. Defaunation disrupts this mediating influence of vertebrates and strongly favours one species at the expense of the other, providing a case study of the cascading effects of defaunation and its potential to disrupt coexistence of non-target species, including the hyperdiverse phytophagous insects of tropical forests.
Figure 3 in The bat Tonatia bidens (Phyllostomidae) as an insect pest predator in the Brazilian Caatinga
Figure 3: Temporal distribution of insect remains preyed upon by Tonatia bidens in the Brazilian Caatinga. (A) Richness, number of insect remains, and monthly rainfall recorded in each sampled month. (B) Richness and number of insect remains in the dry (September and October 2016, March and August 2017) and rainy (May and November 2022) seasons, considering all data gathered. Rainfall data from https://www.apac.pe.gov. br.
Figure 1 in The bat Tonatia bidens (Phyllostomidae) as an insect pest predator in the Brazilian Caatinga
Figure 1: Abundance of remains of different lepidopteran taxa sampled under feeding perches of the bat Tonatia bidens, in the Brazilian Caatinga. Data collected in September and October 2016, March and August 2017, and May and November 2022. Undet. = undetermined. Lepidopteran silhouettes were used under CC0 1.0 license (www.phylopic.org).
Figure 2 in The bat Tonatia bidens (Phyllostomidae) as an insect pest predator in the Brazilian Caatinga
Figure 2: Abundance of remains of different coleopteran taxa sampled under feeding perches of the bat Tonatia bidens, in the Brazilian Caatinga. Data collected in September and October 2016, March and August 2017, and May and November 2022. Coleopteran silhouettes were used under CC0 1.0 license (www.phylopic.org).
Complex multi-predator effects on demographic habitat selection and community assembly in colonizing insects
<p>Running the gauntlet of predators consumes critical time and energy resources, as all species are vulnerable to one or, typically, more predators at some life stage. Prey employ a vast array of mechanisms to avoid predation, and predators, likewise, come in a bewildering variety. Thus, defensive adaptations are rarely one size fits all. Considerable work has addressed multi-predator consumptive effects, but we now know that non-consumptive effects of predators can dramatically impact individuals, (meta)populations, and (meta)communities. However, little is known regarding the community-wide dynamics of non-consumptive effects generated by multiple predators. Predator avoidance by choosing a patch that is free of a particular predator or predators can be the most effective strategy if conditions at colonization are a reliable predictor of absence, which is often true for fish in freshwater systems. We experimentally manipulated composition of the predator assemblage in aquatic mesocosms in a substitutive design, with zero, one, two, or three caged predatory fish species (one benthic, one pelagic, and one surface fish) at constant density and biomass, and assayed responses of naturally colonizing aquatic insects. We addressed three related questions; first, how do members of a diverse assemblage of colonizing aquatic insects respond to this variation in species and species combinations, second, do individual species (and higher taxa), respond differently to single vs multiple predator species (species richness), and third how do any responses to fish species and species combinations, and effects on species richness, translate into community-wide changes in the composition of colonists. Prey had varied responses to specific predators or combinations of predators, resulting in distinct community composition across treatments and higher β-diversity with predators. Prey showed emergent multi-predator effects, where certain species only responded to predator species combinations, but not to any individual predator, and stronger effects of multiple predator vs single predator treatments, despite strong responses to individual predators in many taxa. Habitat selection effects can range from the individual to the metacommunity, and the dynamics of habitat selection in response to predators is a complex function of predator identity, density, richness, species composition, and patch spatial context.</p>
Data from: Artificial light at night may decrease predation risk for terrestrial insects
<p>Artificial light at night (ALAN) is thought to be detrimental for terrestrial insect populations. Whilst there exists evidence for lower abundance under ALAN, underlying mechanisms remain unclear. One mechanism by which ALAN may contribute to insect declines may be through facilitating increased predation. We investigated this by experimentally manipulating insect-substitute abundance under differential levels of light. We used insect-containing birdfeed placed at varying distances from streetlights as a proxy for terrestrial insects, inspecting the rate of predation before and after dusk (when streetlights are respectively off and on). We found that there was a significantly greater effect of increasing distance on predation after dusk, suggesting that predation was actually reduced by greater levels of artificial light. This may occur because ALAN also increases the vulnerability of insectivores to their own predators. Implications for foraging behaviour and alternative explanations are discussed.</p>
Data from: Decreasing predator density and activity explain declining predation of insect prey along elevational gradients
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Data from: A trait-based framework for understanding predator-prey relationships: trait matching between a specialist snake and its insect prey
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