Sheep in wolves' clothing: prey rely on proactive defences when predator and non-predator cues are similar.

ABSTRACT: Predation produces intense selection and a diversity of defences. Reactive defences are triggered by predator cues, whereas proactive defences are always in effect. We assess whether prey rely on proactive defences when predator cues do not correlate well with predation risk. Many bats use echolocation to hunt insects, and many insects have evolved to hear bats. However, in species-rich environments like Neotropical forests, bats have extremely diverse foraging strategies, and the presence of echolocation corresponds only weakly to the presence of predators. We assess whether katydids that live in habitats with many non-dangerous bat species stop calling when exposed to echolocation. For 11 species of katydids, we quantified behavioural and neural responses to predator cues, and katydid si

SUBMITTER: Symes LB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7482258 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature