Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Cooperative foraging in neotropical pseudoscorpions: effects of prey changes on behavioral adjustments of colonies

Cooperative foraging in neotropical pseudoscorpions: effects of prey changes on behavioral... The pseudoscorpion Paratemnoides nidificator is a generalist predator that captures large arthropods that live on tree trunks. Few pseudoscorpions species show some degree of sociality. We investigated how colonies of the pseudoscorpion P. nidificator adjust their cooperative capture behavior under a situation of changing prey types as a simulation of variation in prey availability. We hypothesized that colonies would be more efficient at prey capture under repeated exposure to the same prey, and that the change in the availability of prey would be followed by new behavioral adjustments to adequately exploit the new prey. Eight experimental colonies housed in the laboratory received repetitions of three different ant species as prey. The number of pseudoscorpions attacking the prey, the number of behavioral acts, and the time expended subduing prey were evaluated as measures of prey capture performance, in relation to repetitive exposure to the same prey and also in relation to prey type changes. However, only individuals’ recruitment significantly responded to prey type exposure. Prey capture behavior was heterogeneous among colonies, resulting in highly variable behavioral responses. Colonies showed a tendency toward increasing capture success through repeated prey type exposure. However, 50% of the colonies were unable to capture the new prey type and died of starvation. Although it is a generalist predator, prey capture behavior could depend on different coordination components for subduing and handling large prey. Therefore, changes in prey availability could cause the attenuation of a cooperative relationship in some colonies, making them more prone to failure during capture. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png acta ethologica Springer Journals

Cooperative foraging in neotropical pseudoscorpions: effects of prey changes on behavioral adjustments of colonies

Download PDF
9 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/cooperative-foraging-in-neotropical-pseudoscorpions-effects-of-prey-v3lf0pygWc
Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature and ISPA
Subject
Life Sciences; Behavioral Sciences; Zoology; Evolutionary Biology
ISSN
0873-9749
eISSN
1437-9546
DOI
10.1007/s10211-018-0294-7
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The pseudoscorpion Paratemnoides nidificator is a generalist predator that captures large arthropods that live on tree trunks. Few pseudoscorpions species show some degree of sociality. We investigated how colonies of the pseudoscorpion P. nidificator adjust their cooperative capture behavior under a situation of changing prey types as a simulation of variation in prey availability. We hypothesized that colonies would be more efficient at prey capture under repeated exposure to the same prey, and that the change in the availability of prey would be followed by new behavioral adjustments to adequately exploit the new prey. Eight experimental colonies housed in the laboratory received repetitions of three different ant species as prey. The number of pseudoscorpions attacking the prey, the number of behavioral acts, and the time expended subduing prey were evaluated as measures of prey capture performance, in relation to repetitive exposure to the same prey and also in relation to prey type changes. However, only individuals’ recruitment significantly responded to prey type exposure. Prey capture behavior was heterogeneous among colonies, resulting in highly variable behavioral responses. Colonies showed a tendency toward increasing capture success through repeated prey type exposure. However, 50% of the colonies were unable to capture the new prey type and died of starvation. Although it is a generalist predator, prey capture behavior could depend on different coordination components for subduing and handling large prey. Therefore, changes in prey availability could cause the attenuation of a cooperative relationship in some colonies, making them more prone to failure during capture.

Journal

acta ethologica – Springer Journals

Published: Jun 26, 2018

References

  • Amazonian Arachnida and Myriapoda: identification keys, to all classes, orders, families, some genera, and lists of known terrestrial species
    Adis, J; Mahnert, V
  • Animal behavior: an evolutionary approach
    Alcock, J
  • Observational study of behavior: sampling methods
    Altmann, J
  • The evolution of social behavior in insects and arachnids
    Avilés, L
  • Optimizing prey-capture behaviour to maximize expected net benefit
    Bolnick, DI; Ferry-Graham, LA
  • Social behavior in the pseudoscorpion Paratemnus elongatus (Pseudoscorpionida: Atemnidae)
    Brach, V
  • Why are animals cognitive?
    Byrne, RW; Bates, LA
  • The evolution of social behaviour in insects and arachnidse
  • The other insect societies
    Costa, JT
  • An introduction to behavioural ecology
    Davies, NB; Krebs, JR; West, SA
  • Ecological and evolutionary pathways of social behavior in pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)
    Del-Claro, K; Tizo-Pedroso, E
  • Using functional morphology to examine the ecology and evolution of specialization
    Ferry-Graham, LA; Bolnick, DI; Wainwright, PC
  • Diet composition and prey selectivity of Colombian populations of a social pseudoscorpion
    Garcia, LF; Gonzalez-Gomez, JC; Valenzuela-Rojas, JC; Tizo-Pedroso, E; Lacava, M
  • Ecologia e comportamento de aranhas
    Gonzaga, MO
  • Individual personalities shape task differentiation in a social spider
    Grinsted, L; Pruitt, JN; Settepani, V; Bilde, T
  • Australian Arachnology
    Harvey, MS
  • Behavioural ecology: an evolutionary approach
    Krebs, JR; Davies, NB
  • Intraspecific functional repertoires in the feeding mechanisms of the characoid fishes, Lebiasina, Hoplias, and Chalceus
    Lauder, GV
  • The evolution of sociality in spiders
    Lubin, Y; Bilde, T
  • Colony size, habitat structure, and prey size shape the predation ecology of a social pseudoscorpion from a tropical savanna
    Moura, RF; Tizo-Pedroso, E; Del-Claro, K
  • The evolution of cooperative hunting
    Packer, C; Ruttan, L
  • Cooperation and prey capture efficiency in a social spider, Anelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae)
    Pasquet, A; Krafft, B
  • How within-group behavioural variation and task efficiency enhance fitness in a social group
    Pruitt, JN; Riechert, SE
  • Within-group behavioral variation promotes biased task performance and the emergence of a defensive caste in a social spider
    Pruitt, JN; Riechert, SE
  • Behavioural syndromes and their fitness consequences in a socially polymorphic spider, Anelosimus studiosus
    Pruitt, JN; Riechert, SE; Jones, TC
  • Prey capture behaviour in the social spider Anelosimus eximius (Araneae : Theridiidae): responses to prey size and type
    Souza, ALT; Gonzaga, MO; Vasconcellos-Neto, J
  • Food limitation leads to behavioral diversification and dietary specialization in sea otters
    Tinker, MT; Bentall, G; Estes, JA
  • Matriphagy in the neotropical pseudoscorpion Paratemnoides nidificator (Balzan 1888) (Atemnidae)
    Tizo-Pedroso, E; Del-Claro, K
  • Cooperation in the neotropical pseudoscorpion, Paratemnoides nidificator (Balzan, 1888): feeding and dispersal behavior
    Tizo-Pedroso, E; Del-Claro, K
  • Is there division of labor in cooperative pseudoscorpions? An analysis of the behavioral repertoire of a tropical species
    Tizo-Pedroso, E; Del-Claro, K
  • Social parasitism: emergence of the cuckoo strategy between pseudoscorpions
    Tizo-Pedroso, E; Del-Claro, K
  • Capture of large prey and feeding priority in the cooperative pseudoscorpion Paratemnoides nidificator
    Tizo-Pedroso, E; Del-Claro, K
  • Modulation and variability of prey capture kinematics in clariid catfishes
    Wassenbergh, S; Herrel, A; Adriaens, D; Aerts, P
  • The functions of societies and the evolution of group living: spider societies as a test case
    Whitehouse, MEA; Lubin, Y
  • The insect societies
    Wilson, EO
  • Cooperative foraging for large prey by Paratemnus elongatus (Pseudoscorpionida, Atemnidae)
    Zeh, JA; Zeh, DW
  • The evolution of mating systems in insects and arachnids
    Zeh, DW; Zeh, JA