title: Consequences of the instar stage for behavior in a pit-building antlion.
abstract: Pit-building antlion larvae are opportunistic predators that dig conical pits in loose soils, and prey on small arthropods that fall into their traps. We investigated different behavioral traits of second and third instar larvae selected for similar body masses, while also exploring the behavioral consistency and personalities of the third instar stage. Second instar larvae constructed smaller pits than third instar larvae. The former also responded more slowly to prey and exploited prey less efficiently. Notably, all these instar-based differences disappeared after molting into the third instar stage. In addition, third instar larvae exhibited consistent behavior in their pit size, response times to prey and to less extent in relocation distances. We detected two axes of behavior. The first axis included a correlation between pit size, response time and prey exploitation efficiency, thus reflecting investment in foraging activity. The second axis seemed to represent a trade-off between response time and relocation distance, implying that individuals that responded more slowly to prey, relocated over larger distances. These results point to coordinated behavior reflecting different levels of investment in foraging, while also emphasizing the importance of instar stage, in addition to body mass, when studying the behavior of such organisms characterized by a complex life cycle.
authors: Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors: Yehonatan
authors: Y
authors: Alcalay
authors: Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors: Erez David
authors: ED
authors: Barkae
authors: Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors: Ofer
authors: O
authors: Ovadia
authors: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: scharfi@post.tau.ac.il.
authors: Inon
authors: I
authors: Scharf
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D007206:Individuality; D007313:Insecta / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D010551:Personality; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time
keywords: Behavioral profiles; Behavioral syndromes; Consistency; Morphology; Personality; Trap-building predators