The ability to modulate prey capture behaviors is of interest to organismal biologists as it suggests that predators can perceive features of the prey and select suitable behaviors from an available repertoire to successfully capture the item. Thus, behavior may be as important a trait as morphology in determining an organism's diet. Using high-speed video, we measured prey capture kinematics i...

Direct and indirect interactions between two prey species can strongly alter the dynamics of predator-prey systems. Most predators are cannibalistic, and as a consequence, even systems with only one predator and one prey include two prey types: conspecifics and heterospecifics. The effects of the complex direct and indirect interactions that emerge in such cannibalistic systems are still poorly...

Venom toxicity assessments are often based upon non-native surrogate prey species that are not consumed in the wild by the venomous predator. This raises questions about the relevance of toxicity results on these "model" prey in addressing ecological or evolutionary questions about venom effects on native prey. We explore this issue by comparing the toxicity of venom from pygmy rattlesnakes (Si...

We study the degree of success of a single predator hunting a herd of prey on a two-dimensional square lattice landscape. We explicitly consider the self volume of the prey restraining their dynamics on the lattice. The movement of both predator and prey is chosen to include an intelligent, decision making step based on their respective sighting ranges, the radius in which they can detect the o...

Predator density, refuge availability, and body size of prey can all affect the mortality rate of prey. We assume that more predators will lead to an increase in prey mortality rate, but behavioral interactions between predators and prey, and availability of refuge, may lead to nonlinear effects of increased number of predators on prey mortality rates. We tested for nonlinear effects in prey mo...

-A model that weighs the energetic cost of parasitism for a predator against the energetic value of prey items that transmit the parasite to the predator suggests that there is often no selective pressure to avoid parasitized prey. This offers an explanation for why parasites so frequently exploit predators and prey as definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively. Furthermore, predators may ...

—We examined the diet of the Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum) in the western United States and evaluated predictions about ontogenetic shifts, sexual divergence, and geographic variation in diet. Identifiable prey items were found in 139 specimens, and 41 additional prey items were recorded from the literature, for 180 prey items in total from 175 individual snakes. Lampropeltis triangulum i...

Changes in intraoral pressure during prey capture were recorded for a trophic generalist, Hexagrammos decagrammus, feeding on different prey species. Prey were grouped into elusive (shrimps), grasping (isopods and crabs) and non-elusive (pieces of shrimp) categories. Elusive and grasping prey elicited strikes with a larger and faster reduction in buccal pressure than did non-elusive prey. The s...