insect prey
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2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Gorman

This book details the natural history and cultural symbolism of a most unusual woodpecker – a species that neither excavates nest holes in trees, nor bores into wood to find insect prey. The elusive Wryneck is best renowned for performing a twisting, writhing head and neck display when threatened, but this ground-breaking study reveals many more secrets of its behaviour and evolution. Detailed information is presented on the species' origins, taxonomy, anatomy, appearance, moult, calls, distribution, conservation status, habitats, movements, breeding, diet and relationships, along with a chapter on its closest relative, the Red-throated Wryneck. The text is richly illustrated throughout with high quality photographs as well as sound spectrograms. This all-encompassing and engaging account has been written for a wide audience, whether professional ornithologist, citizen scientist, amateur birder, woodpecker aficionado and simply someone who wishes to learn more about this curious and remarkable bird.


Author(s):  
Jinseok Park ◽  
Woojoo Kim ◽  
Jungmoon Ha ◽  
Sang-im Lee ◽  
Piotr Grzegorz Jablonski

AbstractEcological specialists utilize a restricted range of resources and have evolved adaptations to exploit their specialized resources. For example, avian insectivores that feed nestlings with grasshoppers, beetles, or moths perform insect prey preparation before feeding nestlings so that the nestlings are able to swallow the prey. This behavior is generally not expected for soft prey such as earthworms. However, an overview of photographic evidence available online suggested that earthworms are sundered by parents before bringing the prey to the nestlings in a range of species from several families of vermivores worldwide. Reports on the provisioning of nestlings by the vermivores are relatively scant and no report on earthworm sundering has been published. We studied earthworm sundering performed by parents provisioning their broods at four nests of the Fairy Pitta in Korea. The birds sundered earthworms more often when nestlings were smaller and when the earthworm was longer. This is the first quantitative description of earthworm sundering in avian vermivores. We present and evaluate four hypotheses for the function of sundering: provisioning of small nestlings, decreased detectability, hunting multiple prey, and transport of prey. Among these, provisioning of small nestlings seems the most feasible explanation of sundering by the Fairy Pitta as sundering the earthworm allows parents to efficiently provision the younger/smaller nestlings who would have difficulties swallowing unsundered earthworms. This specialized prey preparation technique of vermivores suggests a tight adaptive match between their parental behaviors and their diet (vermivory).


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riley F. Bernard ◽  
Emma V. Willcox ◽  
Reilly T. Jackson ◽  
Veronica A. Brown ◽  
Gary F. McCracken

AbstractTemperate bat species use extended torpor to conserve energy when ambient temperatures are low and food resources are scarce. Previous research suggests that migratory bat species and species known to roost in thermally unstable locations, such as those that roost in trees, are more likely to remain active during winter. However, hibernating colonies of cave roosting bats in the southeastern United States may also be active and emerge from caves throughout the hibernation period. We report what bats are eating during these bouts of winter activity. We captured 2,044 bats of 10 species that emerged from six hibernacula over the course of 5 winters (October–April 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2015/2016, 2016/2017, and 2017/2018). Using Next Generation sequencing of DNA from 284 fecal samples, we determined bats consumed at least 14 Orders of insect prey while active. Dietary composition did not vary among bat species; however, we did record variation in the dominant prey items represented in species’ diets. We recorded Lepidoptera in the diet of 72.2% of individual Corynorhinus rafinesquii and 67.4% of individual Lasiurus borealis. Diptera were recorded in 32.4% of Myotis leibii, 37.4% of M. lucifugus, 35.5% of M. sodalis and 68.8% of Perimyotis subflavus. Our study is the first to use molecular genetic techniques to identify the winter diet of North American hibernating bats. The information from this study is integral to managing the landscape around bat hibernacula for insect prey, particularly in areas where hibernating bat populations are threatened by white-nose syndrome.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Helena Vural

Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus are Gram-negative, entomopathogenic bacteria, living in endosymbiosis with the soil-dwelling nematode of the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis. The life cycle of these nematodes consists of non-feeding infective juvenile (IJ) stage, which actively searches for insects in the soil. After penetrating the insect prey, Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus bacteria are released from the nematode gut. The bacteria proliferate and produce toxins to kill the insect. Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus support nematode development throughout the life cycle and to get rid of food competitors by providing a wide variety of specialized metabolites (SMs). However, little is known about which SMs function as so called “food signals” to trigger the development process. The IJs develop into adult, self-fertilizing hermaphrodites in a process called recovery, while feeding on cadaver and bacterial biomass. Heterorhabditis and Steinernema proceed to breed until nutrients are exhausted. Next generation IJs (NG-IJs) develop and leave the cadaver to search for another insect prey. Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus can be cultivated in defined medium under laboratory conditions. By placing IJs on a plate containing their respective bacterial symbiont, the complete life cycle of the nematodes can be observed in vitro. The in vitro nematode bioassay was used as a tool to investigate the development of the nematode. The aim of this study was to find the food signals responsible for nematode development. Different Photorhabdus deletion strains unable to produce one or several SMs were co-cultivated with nematodes in the nematode bioassay. Subsequently, two aspects of the life cycle were investigated: recovery and NG-IJ development. As isopropyl stilbene (IPS) is postulated to function as a food signal to support nematode recovery, it was used as a starting point for investigations. This study was focused on the biosynthetic pathway of IPS, including intermediates, side products and derivatives to investigate which one is in fact responsible for supporting nematode development. The biosynthesis of IPS requires two precursors, phenylalanine and leucine (Figure 5). The first topic was focused on the phenylalanine derived pathway. Photorhabdus laumondii deletion mutants, defective in intermediate steps of this pathway, were created. The deletion of the genes coding for the phenylalanine ammonium lyase (stlA), converting phenylalanine into cinnamic acid (CA), the coenzyme A (CoA) ligase (stlB) and the operon coding for a ketosynthase and aromatase (stlCDE), were used. These strains were used for nematode bioassay including complementation of mutant phenotypes by feeding experiments. Recovery of nematodes grown on the deletion strains was always lower than recovery of nematodes grown on wild type bacteria. Feeding IPS to a deletion strain did not restore wild type level nematode recovery, thus IPS cannot be the food signal. Instead, the food signal must be another compound derived from this part of biosynthetic pathway. Lumiquinone and 2,5-dihydrostilbene are suggested to function as food signals and need to be investigated in future work. The second part of this study was focused on the leucine derived pathway, which involved the Bkd complex forming the iso-branched part of IPS. A deletion of bkd was created and phenotypically analysed, subsequently performed with the nematode bioassay. Not only IPS but also other branched SMs, like photopyrones and phurealipids are synthetised by the Bkd complex. Deletions strains defective in producing photopyrones and phurealipids were also performed in nematode bioassays to investigate effects of these SMs individually. Branched SMs did not have an impact on nematode development, but nematodes grown on the ΔbkdABC strain showed a reduced nematode recovery and almost diminished NG-IJs development. As the Bkd complex also produces branched chain fatty acids (BCFAs), feeding experiments were performed with lipid extracts of wild type and mutant strain. All lipid extracts improved recovery, but only wild type lipids could complement NG-IJ development. This strongly indicates that BCFAs play an important role in NG-IJ development, which needs to be proven with purified BCFA feeding. This is an interesting finding, which could improve nematode production for biocontrol agent usage. The role of IPS derived to epoxy stilbene (EPS) for nematode development, was another focus in the nematode life cycle. Recently it was demonstrated that EPS does not support nematode development. However, EPS forms adducts with amino acids. In my thesis, novel adducts containing the amino acid phenylalanine or a tetrapeptide were characterized. Another adduct, most likely being an EPS dimer, was also characterized. The biological role of such adducts was discussed to be potentially important for insect weakening and the structure of the novel compounds need to be structure elucidated and tested for bioactivity.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. e0240138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Parkinson ◽  
Justine Lawson ◽  
Scott D. Tiegs

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 1480-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine E Parent ◽  
Stewart B Peck ◽  
Charlotte E Causton ◽  
Lázaro Roque-Albelo ◽  
Philip J Lester ◽  
...  

Abstract The yellow paper wasp, Polistes versicolor (Olivier) was first recorded in the Galapagos archipelago in 1988. Its life cycle and ecological impacts were studied on two islands 11 yr after it was first discovered. This invasive wasp adapted quickly and was found in most environments. Colony counts and adult wasp monitoring showed a strong preference for drier habitats. Nest activities were seasonally synchronized, nest building followed the rains in the hot season (typically January–May), when insect prey increases, and peaked as temperature and rains started to decline. Next, the number of adult wasps peaked during the cool season when there is barely any rain in the drier zones. In Galapagos, almost half of the prey loads of P. versicolor were lepidopteran larvae, but wasps also carried spiders, beetles, and flies back to the colonies. An estimated average of 329 mg of fresh insect prey was consumed per day for an average colony of 120–150 wasp larvae. The wasps preyed upon native and introduced insects, but likely also affect insectivorous vertebrates as competitors for food. Wasps may also compete with native pollinators as they regularly visited flowers to collect nectar, and have been recorded visiting at least 93 plant species in Galapagos, including 66 endemic and native plants. Colonies were attacked by a predatory moth, Taygete sphecophila (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Autostichidae), but colony development was not arrested. High wasp numbers also affect the activities of residents and tourists. A management program for this invasive species in the archipelago is essential.


2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1036-1057
Author(s):  
Jayne E Yack ◽  
Brianna H Raven ◽  
Michelle B Leveillee ◽  
Mairelys Naranjo

Synopsis Insects have a diversity of hearing organs known to function in a variety of contexts, including reproduction, locating food, and defense. While the role of hearing in predator avoidance has been extensively researched over the past several decades, this research has focused on the detection of one type of predator-echolocating bats. Here we reassess the role of hearing in antipredator defense by considering how insects use their ears to detect and avoid the wide range of predators that consume them. To identify the types of sounds that could be relevant to insect prey, we first review the topic of hearing-mediated predator avoidance in vertebrates. Sounds used by vertebrate prey to assess predation risk include incidental sound cues (e.g., flight sounds, rustling vegetation, and splashing) produced by an approaching predator or another escaping prey, as well as communication signals produced by a predator (e.g., echolocation calls, songs) or nonpredator (e.g., alarm calls). We then review what is known, and what is not known, about such sounds made by the main predators and parasitoids of insects (i.e., birds, bats, terrestrial vertebrates, and invertebrates) and how insects respond to them. Three key insights emerged from our review. First, there is a lack of information on how both vertebrate and insect prey use passive sound cues produced by predators to avoid being captured. Second, while there are numerous examples of vertebrate prey eavesdropping on the calls and songs of predators and nonpredators to assess risk, there are currently no such examples for eared insect prey. Third, the hearing sensitivity of many insects, including those with ears considered to be dedicated to detecting bats or mates, overlaps with both sound cues and signals generated by nonbat predators. Sounds of particular relevance to insect prey include the flight sounds and calls of insectivorous birds, the flight sounds of insect predators and parasitoids, and rustling vegetation sounds of birds and terrestrial predators. We conclude that research on the role of insect hearing in predator avoidance has been disproportionally focused on bat-detection, and that acoustically-mediated responses to other predators may have been overlooked because the responses of prey may be subtle (e.g., ceasing activity, increasing vigilance). We recommend that researchers expand their testing of hearing-mediated risk assessment in insects by considering the wide range of sounds generated by predators, and the varied responses exhibited by prey to these sounds.


Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Toscano ◽  
James L. L. Lichtenstein ◽  
Raul Costa-Pereira

Conspecific individuals often exhibit behavioral differences that influence susceptibility to predation. Yet, how such trait differences scale to affect prey population regulation and community structure remains unclear. We used an 8 day field mesocosm experiment to explore the effects of intraspecific prey behavioral trait variation on survival in an herbivorous insect community. We further manipulated spider predator composition to test for top-down context-dependence of behavioral effects. Insect prey behavioral trait variance influenced survival through both direct (i.e., variation among conspecifics) and indirect (i.e., variation among heterospecifics) mechanisms. The behavioral variance of two prey species, Philaenus and Orchelimum, directly reduced their survival, though for Philaenus, this direct negative effect only occurred in the presence of a single spider predator species. In contrast, the survival of Scudderia was enhanced by the behavioral trait variance of the surrounding insect community, an indirect positive effect. Taken together, these results emphasize the importance of accounting for intraspecific variation in community ecology, demonstrating novel pathways by which individual-level behavioral differences scale to alter population and community level patterns.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. e0231205
Author(s):  
Alex M. Winsor ◽  
Malika Ihle ◽  
Lisa A. Taylor
Keyword(s):  

EDIS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurel B. Lietzenmayer ◽  
Ronald D Cave ◽  
Lisa A Taylor

The striped lynx spider, Oxyopes salticus (Hentz), is a small, spiny-legged spider and generalist predator that feeds on a wide variety of insect prey, including several economically important insect pests. This lynx spider species is one of the most abundant beneficial spider species in gardens, yards, and agricultural fields throughout North America. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1259 The article is a Featured Creature article on the striped lynx spider, Oxyopes salticus.http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/SPIDERS/striped_lynx.html


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