Cool Headed Individuals Are Better Survivors: Non-Consumptive and Consumptive Effects of a Generalist Predator on a Sap Feeding Insect.

ABSTRACT: Non-consumptive effects (NCEs) of predators are part of the complex interactions among insect natural enemies and prey. NCEs have been shown to significantly affect prey foraging and feeding. Leafhopper's (Auchenorrhyncha) lengthy phloem feeding bouts may play a role in pathogen transmission in vector species and also exposes them to predation risk. However, NCEs on leafhoppers have been scarcely studied, and we lack basic information about how anti-predator behaviour influences foraging and feeding in these species. Here we report a study on non-consumptive and consumptive predator-prey interactions in a naturally co-occurring spider-leafhopper system. In mesocosm arenas we studied movement patterns during foraging and feeding of the leafhopper Psammotettix alienus in the presence of the

SUBMITTER: Beleznai O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4546593 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature