1
|
Hayashi T, Hayashi K, Hayashi N, Hayashi F. Optimal pit site selection in antlion larvae: the relationship between prey availability and pit maintenance costs. J ETHOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-022-00767-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
|
2
|
Miler K, Scharf I. Wind impairs pit trap construction and hunting success in a pit‐building predator. J Zool (1987) 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. Miler
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals Polish Academy of Sciences Kraków Poland
- School of Zoology The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
| | - I. Scharf
- School of Zoology The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Klokočovnik V, Devetak D. Efficiency of antlion trap design and larval behavior in capture success. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Traps constructed by an animal reduce the amount of energy required to seek prey. The main risk of trap-building predators is the greater uncertainty of encountering prey, owing to their immobility. Sometimes environmental characteristics do not allow them to build efficient traps, resulting in lower capture success. We observed prey escape, capture success, and behavior of two antlion species, Cueta lineosa, a habitat specialist, and Myrmeleon hyalinus, a generalist, building geometrically different traps. The traps of C. lineosa are elaborate and deep, consisting of two inverted cones, while M. hyalinus builds simple inverted cones. Prey escape was observed from traps with antlion larvae present and from artificially constructed traps without antlions. We used a 3D printer to create a replica model of both trap types, pressing the model onto the substrate surface to create a trap. The C. lineosa artificial trap slowed prey escape more effectively than the simpler artificial trap of M. hyalinus. Prey escape time was four times longer for two ant species and three times longer for woodlice from C. lineosa traps. Escape time also decreased with increasing prey length. We also found behavioral differences between these two antlion species. The behavior of M. hyalinus is much more efficient in catching prey than that of C. lineosa. The results indicate that both species are efficient trap-building predators; however, it appears that capture success depends not only on trap design but also on larval behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vesna Klokočovnik
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Department of Biology, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Dušan Devetak
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Department of Biology, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Büsse S, Büscher TH, Heepe L, Gorb SN, Stutz HH. Sand-throwing behaviour in pit-building antlion larvae: insights from finite-element modelling. J R Soc Interface 2021; 18:20210539. [PMID: 34520690 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Sandy pitfall traps of antlions are elaborate constructions to capture prey. Antlions exploit the interactions between the particles in their habitat and build a stable trap. This trap is close to the unstable state; prey items will slide towards the centre-where the antlion ambushes-when entering the trap. This is efficient but requires permanent maintenance. According to the present knowledge, antlions throw sand, mainly to cause sandslides towards the centre of the pit. We hypothesized that: (i) sand-throwing causes sandslides towards the centre of the pit and (ii) sand-throwing constantly maintains the pitfall trap and thus keeps its efficiency high. Using laboratory experiments, as well as finite-element analysis, we tested these hypotheses. We show, experimentally and numerically, that sand that accumulates at the centre of the pit will be removed continuously by sand-throwing, this maintenance is leading to slope condition close to an unstable state. This keeps the slope angle steep and the efficiency of the trap constant. Furthermore, the resulting sandslides can relocate the trapped prey towards the centre of the pit. This study adds further insights from specific mechanical properties of a granular medium into the behavioural context of hunting antlion larvae.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Büsse
- Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Institute of Zoology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Thies H Büscher
- Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Institute of Zoology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Lars Heepe
- Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Institute of Zoology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Stanislav N Gorb
- Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Institute of Zoology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Hans Henning Stutz
- Department of Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Miler K, Czarnoleski M. Past thermal conditions affect hunting behaviour in larval antlions. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:210163. [PMID: 34168890 PMCID: PMC8220275 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Some sit-and-wait predators, such as antlion larvae, construct traps to capture passing prey. The location of these traps depends on many abiotic and biotic factors, including temperature and the presence of conspecifics, which probably stimulate behaviours that minimize the costs and maximize the benefits of trap building. Here, we exposed second instar antlion larvae to elevated temperatures of 25°C (mild treatment) or 31°C (harsh treatment) for one month and then transferred them to common conditions (20°C) to examine the effects of previous thermal treatment on aggregation tendency and trap size. We predicted that antlions that experienced harsh conditions would subsequently increase the neighbouring distance and trap diameter to reduce competition with conspecifics and improve prey capture success, compensating for past conditions. In contrast with these predictions, antlions exposed to harsh conditions displayed a trend in the opposite direction, towards the decreased neighbouring distance. Furthermore, some of these antlions also built smaller traps. We discuss possible reasons for our results. The effects of previous thermal exposure have rarely been considered in terms of trap construction in antlions. Described effects may possibly apply to other sit-and-wait predators and are significant considering that many of these predators are long-lived.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Krzysztof Miler
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland
| | - Marcin Czarnoleski
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Farji-Brener AG, Juncosa-Polzella AS, Madrigal-Tejada D, Centeno-Alvarado D, Hernández-Soto M, Soto-Huaira M, Gutiérrez-Cruz S. Antlion allometry suggests a greater importance of prey capture among first larval instars. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1893825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro G. Farji-Brener
- LIHO (Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Hormigas), INIBIOMA-CONICET y CRUB, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Pasaje Gutiérrez 1125, Bariloche 8400, Argentina
| | | | | | - Diego Centeno-Alvarado
- Laboratório de Biologia Floral e Reproductiva, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brasil
| | | | - Mayori Soto-Huaira
- Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Perú
| | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Devetak D, Podlesnik J, Scharf I, Klenovšek T. Fine sand particles enable antlions to build pitfall traps with advanced three-dimensional geometry. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb224626. [PMID: 32561631 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.224626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Pit-building antlion larvae are predators that construct pitfall traps in fine sand. We used three-dimensional laser scanning and geometric morphometrics to reveal the shape of antlion pits of two antlion species, analysed the particle size composition of sands from the different natural habitats, and measured the slope angles of the pits of the two species. In most antlions, the pits are structured as a simple inverted cone, as in Myrmeleon hyalinus, studied here. The other antlion studied, Cueta lineosa, constructs a unique pit composed of two inverted truncated cones inserted into one another, which feature substantially steeper walls than the pits of any other antlion studied to date. Pit stability depends on the slope inclination, which oscillates between the maximum angle of stability and the angle of repose. The angles in C. linosa substrates were larger than those in M. hyalinus substrates. One reason for the steeper walls is the greater proportion of fine sand in the natural sand inhabited by C. lineosa However, video-recording revealed that both the natural sand of C. lineosa and the finest sand tested had a higher maximum angle of stability than any of the other substrates studied here. Furthermore, experiments with pits built in different substrates revealed that the shape of the pit is variable and depends on the structure of the sand. Myrmeleonhyalinus displayed a more flexible pit construction behaviour than C. lineosa The present demonstration of such differences in pit characteristics contributes to understanding how these two species co-exist in the same habitat.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dušan Devetak
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Jan Podlesnik
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Inon Scharf
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Tina Klenovšek
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Hollis KL, McNew K, Sosa T, Harrsch FA, Nowbahari E. Natural aversive learning in Tetramorium ants reveals ability to form a generalizable memory of predators' pit traps. Behav Processes 2017; 139:19-25. [PMID: 28284794 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Revised: 03/04/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Many species of ants fall prey to pit-digging larval antlions (Myrmeleon spp.), extremely sedentary predators that wait, nearly motionless at the bottom of their pit traps, for prey to stumble inside. Previous research, both in the field and laboratory, has demonstrated a remarkable ability of these ants to rescue trapped nestmates, thus sabotaging antlions' attempts to capture them. Here we show that pavement ants, Tetramorium sp. E, an invasive species and a major threat to biodiversity, possess yet another, more effective, antipredator strategy, namely the ability to learn to avoid antlion traps following a single successful escape from a pit. More importantly, we show that this learned antipredator behavior, an example of natural aversive learning in insects, is more complicated than a single cue-to-consequence form of associative learning. That is, pavement ants were able to generalize, after one experience, from the learned characteristics of the pit and its specific location, to other pits and other contexts that differed in many features. Such generalization, often described as a lack of precise stimulus control, nonetheless would be especially adaptive in nature, enabling ants to negotiate antlions' pit fields, which contain a hundred or more pits within a few centimetres of one another. Indeed, the ability to generalize in exactly this way almost certainly is responsible for the sudden, and heretofore inexplicable, behavioural modifications of ants in response to an invasion of antlions in the vicinity of an ant colony.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen L Hollis
- Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, United States; Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Villetaneuse, France.
| | - Kelsey McNew
- Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, United States
| | - Talisa Sosa
- Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, United States
| | | | - Elise Nowbahari
- Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Villetaneuse, France
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Hollis KL. Ants and antlions: The impact of ecology, coevolution and learning on an insect predator-prey relationship. Behav Processes 2016; 139:4-11. [PMID: 27940217 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Revised: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
A behavioural ecological approach to the relationship between pit-digging larval antlions and their common prey, ants, provides yet another example of how the specific ecological niche that species inhabit imposes selection pressures leading to unique behavioural adaptations. Antlions rely on multiple strategies to capture prey with a minimal expenditure of energy and extraordinary efficiency while ants employ several different strategies for avoiding capture, including rescue of trapped nestmates. Importantly, both ants and antlions rely heavily on their capacity for learning, a tool that sometimes is overlooked in predator-prey relationships, leading to the implicit assumption that behavioural adaptations are the result of fixed, hard-wired responses. Nonetheless, like hard-wired responses, learned behaviour, too, is uniquely adapted to the ecological niche, a reminder that the expression of associative learning is species-specific. Beyond the study of ants and antlions, per se, this particular predator-prey relationship reveals the important role that the capacity to learn plays in coevolutionary arms races.
Collapse
|
10
|
Klokočovnik V, Hauptman G, Devetak D. Effect of substrate temperature on behavioural plasticity in antlion larvae. BEHAVIOUR 2016. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Temperature is of crucial importance, affecting all aspects of insect life such as survival, development and daily activity patterns, and consequently behaviour. In the present study we evaluated the effect of temperature on the behavioural plasticity of antlion larvae, the sit-and-wait predators, which are considerably more dependent on local habitat conditions. We provided ethological descriptions of pit construction and feeding behaviour. An increase in temperature led to greater activity and consequently to greater frequency of sand tossing during pit construction. Larvae constructed bigger pits at higher temperatures, but required less time than at lower temperatures, when the resulting pits were the smallest. At low temperature, larvae required more time for feeding, and behaviour followed a core pattern with little variety, in comparison to behaviour at high temperatures. Two behavioural patterns occurred only at the highest temperature: ‘relocation’ and ‘submergence’, presumably in response to high temperatures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vesna Klokočovnik
- Department of Biology and Institute of Biology, Ecology and Nature Conservation, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| | | | - Dušan Devetak
- Department of Biology and Institute of Biology, Ecology and Nature Conservation, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Hollis KL, Harrsch FA, Nowbahari E. Ants vs. antlions: An insect model for studying the role of learned and hard-wired behavior in coevolution. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2014.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
|
12
|
Scharf I, Lubin Y, Ovadia O. Foraging decisions and behavioural flexibility in trap-building predators: a review. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2010; 86:626-39. [PMID: 21062400 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2010.00163.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Foraging theory was first developed to predict the behaviour of widely-foraging animals that actively search for prey. Although the behaviour of sit-and-wait predators often follows predictions derived from foraging theory, the similarity between these two distinct groups of predators is not always obvious. In this review, we compare foraging activities of trap-building predators (mainly pit-building antlions and web-building spiders), a specific group of sit-and-wait predators that construct traps as a foraging device, with those of widely-foraging predators. We refer to modifications of the trap characteristics as analogous to changes in foraging intensity. Our review illustrates that the responses of trap-building and widely-foraging predators to different internal and external factors, such as hunger level, conspecific density and predation threat are quite similar, calling for additional studies of foraging theory using trap-building predators. In each chapter of this review, we summarize the response of trap-building predators to a different factor, while contrasting it with the equivalent response characterizing widely-foraging predators. We provide here evidence that the behaviour of trap-building predators is not stereotypic or fixed as was once commonly accepted, rather it can vary greatly, depending on the individual's internal state and its interactions with external environmental factors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Inon Scharf
- Department of Biology II, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Grosshadernerstr. 2, D-82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Barkae ED, Scharf I, Subach A, Ovadia O. The involvement of sand disturbance, cannibalism and intra-guild predation in competitive interactions among pit-building antlion larvae. ZOOLOGY 2010; 113:308-15. [DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2010.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2010] [Revised: 03/17/2010] [Accepted: 05/21/2010] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
14
|
Guillette LM, Hollis KL, Markarian A. Learning in a sedentary insect predator: antlions (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) anticipate a long wait. Behav Processes 2010; 80:224-32. [PMID: 20522313 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2008] [Revised: 12/10/2008] [Accepted: 12/11/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Pit-building antlions, the larvae of a winged adult insect, capture food by digging funnel-shaped pits in sand and then lying in wait, buried at the vertex, for prey to fall inside. The sedentary nature of this sit-and-wait predatory behaviour and, especially, antlions' innate ability to detect prey arrival, do not fit the typical profile of insects that possess learning capabilities. However, we show, for the first time, that learning can play an important role in this unique form of predation. In three separate experiments, individual antlions received, once per training day, either a vibrational cue presented immediately before the arrival of food or that same cue presented independently of food arrival. Signalling of food not only produced a learned anticipatory behavioural response (Experiment 1), but also conferred a fitness advantage: Associative learning enabled antlions to dig better pits (Experiments 2 and 3), extract food more efficiently (Experiments 2 and 3), and, in turn, moult sooner (Experiment 3) than antlions not receiving the associative learning treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lauren M Guillette
- Department of Psychology, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075-1462, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|