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

H. Rahmani, D. Hoffmann, A. Walzer and P. Schausberger

Behavioral Ecology, 2009, vol. 20, issue 5, 946-950

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. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2009
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/arp081 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:beheco:v:20:y:2009:i:5:p:946-950

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Behavioral Ecology is currently edited by Louise Barrett

More articles in Behavioral Ecology from International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().