title: Cool Headed Individuals Are Better Survivors: Non-Consumptive and Consumptive Effects of a Generalist Predator on a Sap Feeding Insect.
abstract: Non-consumptive effects (NCEs) of predators are part of the complex interactions among insect natural enemies and prey. NCEs have been shown to significantly affect prey foraging and feeding. Leafhopper's (Auchenorrhyncha) lengthy phloem feeding bouts may play a role in pathogen transmission in vector species and also exposes them to predation risk. However, NCEs on leafhoppers have been scarcely studied, and we lack basic information about how anti-predator behaviour influences foraging and feeding in these species. Here we report a study on non-consumptive and consumptive predator-prey interactions in a naturally co-occurring spider-leafhopper system. In mesocosm arenas we studied movement patterns during foraging and feeding of the leafhopper Psammotettix alienus in the presence of the spider predator Tibellus oblongus. Leafhoppers delayed feeding and fed much less often when the spider was present. Foraging movement pattern changed under predation risk: movements became more frequent and brief. There was considerable individual variation in foraging movement activity. Those individuals that increased movement activity in the presence of predators exposed themselves to higher predation risk. However, surviving individuals exhibited a 'cool headed' reaction to spider presence by moving less than leafhoppers in control trials. No leafhoppers were preyed upon while feeding. We consider delayed feeding as a "paradoxical" antipredator tactic, since it is not necessarily an optimal strategy against a sit-and-wait generalist predator.
authors: Zoology Department, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; Institute for Plant Protection, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, Keszthely, Hungary.
authors: Orsolya
authors: O
authors: Beleznai
authors: Zoology Department, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Institute of Biology, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Gergely
authors: G
authors: Tholt
authors: Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Zoltán
authors: Z
authors: Tóth
authors: Zoology Department, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary.
authors: Vivien
authors: V
authors: Horváth
authors: Institute for Plant Protection, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, Keszthely, Hungary.
authors: Zsolt
authors: Z
authors: Marczali
authors: Zoology Department, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: Ferenc
authors: F
authors: Samu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D020387:Food Chain; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000502:physiology*; D001467:Hordeum / Q000254:growth & development; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013112:Spiders / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors