What determines the antipredator strategy in antlion larvae? Burrowing ability decreases the duration of post‐contact immobility

FARJI-BRENER, ALEJANDRO G.; ENRÍQUEZ, MOISÉS; ROSEY, DIEGO; ARROYO?GERALA, PAULINA; ARROYO?RODRÍGUEZ, VÍCTOR

ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2024 vol. 50 p. 115 - 119

0307-6946

1. For prey exhibiting alternative antipredator strategies, selecting the most effectiveone is critical for survival. However, what determines such selection remains anopen question. We hypothesised that this selection depends on prey skill.2. We test this idea in Myrmeleon immaculatus De Geer, 1773 (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae)antlion larvae that exhibit two alternative antipredator behaviours: postcontactimmobility (PCI) and burying. As the larvae live under sandy soils, PCI is onlya temporary strategy, and eventually, all larvae will burrow. However, deciding howlong to remain immobile before burying may depend on how fast larvae bury themselves(i.e., how quickly the individual can camouflage itself in the substrate).3. In a tropical forest from the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, we measured the PCI duration,bury time and body size of 45 larvae in a fine-grained experimental substrate.We also measured the mandible length to assess their effects on burying skills.4. The PCI duration was consistently shorter in larvae that took less time to bury butwas longer and more variable in larvae that took more time to bury. This effect wasindependent of larvae body size. Mandible length did not affect burial time.5. Our findings suggest that when a given prey should select between two mutuallyexcluding antipredator strategies, the intrinsic skill to perform the most relevantone (how fast burying themselves, in this case) may modulate the duration of theother (PCI, in this case). This reinforces the role of predation as a selective forcethat modulates prey behaviours.