Proximate cues for predator searching: a quantitative analysis of hunger and encounter rate in the ladybird beetle, Coccinella septempunctata

Many mobile predators use different foraging behaviours depending on whether prey are clumped or uniformly distributed in space. It is believed that predators can increase foraging efficiency on patchily distributed prey if they alternate intensive searching (slow speeds and frequent, acute turns) w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnimal behaviour Vol. 69; no. 1; pp. 235 - 244
Main Authors Biesinger, Zy, Haefner, James W.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kent Elsevier Ltd 2005
Elsevier
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
Subjects
Analysis
Animal ethology
Biological and medical sciences
Coccinella septempunctata
Coccinellidae
Coleoptera
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hunger
Insects
Predation
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Searches
Laboratory study
Fourier transformation
Feeding behavior
Coccinella septempunctata
Coleoptera
Insecta
Predatory behavior
Searching behavior
Foraging behavior
Hunger
Coccinellidae
Spontaneous physical activity
Arthropoda
Satiety
Models
Invertebrata
Quantitative analysis
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Summary:Many mobile predators use different foraging behaviours depending on whether prey are clumped or uniformly distributed in space. It is believed that predators can increase foraging efficiency on patchily distributed prey if they alternate intensive searching (slow speeds and frequent, acute turns) with extensive searching (high speeds and infrequent, shallow turns). We used Fourier transforms, fractal dimension analysis and traditional single-value measures of movement to determine which proximate cue caused these changes in behaviour: frequency of encounter or degree of satiation. Over a range of encounter rates and levels of hunger, we found that larval ladybird beetles showed intensive search behaviour for varying levels of encounter frequency, but did not alter their behaviour when hunger level was manipulated. We provide a conceptual model that explains why encounter frequency is more likely than hunger level to determine search behaviour. We discuss the relative merits of Fourier transforms in relation to fractal dimension and single-value measures.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0003-3472
1095-8282
DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.02.023