................................................................................................................. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES .........................

The foundation of integrated pest management (IPM) practices is biological control, and natural enemies are a more appealing option. A common class invertebrate utilized as bio-control agents the insect mite predators. In recent years, traditional methods control have become less important than preservation naturally occurring predators in agricultural eco-systems. However, these strategies mus...

Swarming behaviours in animals have been extensively studied owing to their implications for the evolution of cooperation, social cognition and predator-prey dynamics. An important goal of these studies is discerning which evolutionary pressures favour the formation of swarms. One hypothesis is that swarms arise because the presence of multiple moving prey in swarms causes confusion for attacki...

Stable isotope and gut content analyses were completed on multiple age classes of Detroit River rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) and bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) to determine the importance of resource partitioning in littoral centrarchids. d15N signatures ranged from 10.9‰ to 12.8‰ in young of the year (YOY) to 7-yrold rock bass and from 10.3‰ to 12.1‰ for YOY to 4-yr-old bluegills....

While foraging theory predicts that predatory responses should be determined by the energy content and size of prey, it is becoming increasingly clear that carnivores regulate their intake of specific nutrients. We tested the hypothesis that prey nutrient composition and predator nutritional history affects foraging intensity, consumption, and prey selection by the wolf spider, Pardosa milvina....

Behavioral ecology and ecology have projects in common. Community ecology can provide behavioral ecology with the tools to ask realistic questions about the current action of natural selection. Evolutionary ecology has moved beyond asking ‘‘Why does trait x contribute to reproductive success?’’ and on to ‘‘What are the conditions under which trait x contributes to reproductive success?’’ We nee...

A hallmark of Lotka-Volterra models, and other ecological models of predator-prey interactions, is that in predator-prey cycles, peaks in prey abundance precede peaks in predator abundance. Such models typically assume that species life history traits are fixed over ecologically relevant time scales. However, the coevolution of predator and prey traits has been shown to alter the community dyna...

Spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta were once considered mere scavengers; however, detailed research revealed that they are very efficient predators. Information on what spotted hyaenas actually prefer to prey on and what they avoid is lacking, as well as the factors that influence prey selection. Data from 14 published and one unpublished study from six countries throughout the distribution of the...

Food habits of tigers Panthera tigris in terms of prey abundance were studied in the semi-arid deciduous forests of Ranthambhore National Park, western India, between November 2000 and April 2001. Wild prey availability was assessed by line transects (n = 8) and prey selection by the tigers was determined from analysis of scats (n = 109). Compared to some other parts of the country, prey abunda...