Skip Navigation


Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on June 19, 2009
Behavioral Ecology 2009 20(5):946-950; doi:10.1093/beheco/arp081
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/5/946    most recent
arp081v2
arp081v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rahmani, H.
Right arrow Articles by Schausberger, P.
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Rahmani, H.
Right arrow Articles by Schausberger, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Adaptive learning in the foraging behavior of the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis

H. Rahmania,b, D. Hoffmanna, A. Walzera and P. Schausbergera

a Department of Applied Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology, Institute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Peter Jordanstrasse 82, A-1190 Vienna, Austria b Department of Plant Protection, Zanjan University, PO Box 313, Tabriz Road km 5, University Boulevard, Zanjan, Iran

Address correspondence to P. Schausberger. E-mail: peter.schausberger{at}boku.ac.at.


  Abstract

Arthropod learning in the context of food acceptance and choice is commonly assumed to be adaptive but documentation of the adaptive value is scarce and lacking for true predators. We examined learning in juveniles of the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis, which has a feeding preference for herbivorous spider mites but may use conspecific larvae as alternative prey. Adult predator females that had experienced conspecific larvae as prey during their juvenile phase attacked conspecific prey earlier than naïve predator females did. Shorter latency to attack of adult females did not depend on the length of exposure to alternative prey in the juvenile phase (24 h or whole juvenile phase). Experience decreased the predation rates of adult females but enhanced their survival chances when feeding on the alternative prey. The suggested proximate cause for enhanced survival of experienced females was greater energetic efficiency in foraging as compared with naïve females. Experience resulted in faster prey recognition and acceptance (indicated by shorter latency to attack) increasing prey profitability, and optimized daily predation rates. Ultimately, juvenile learning allows P. persimilis to better cope with shortage of the innately preferred spider mite prey.

Key words: adaptive value, cannibalism, learning, memory, optimal foraging, Phytoseiidae, predator, survival.

Received 8 September 2008; revised 25 May 2009; accepted 25 May 2009.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.