Ecological speciation is well-known from adaptive radiations in cichlid fishes inhabiting lentic ecosystems throughout the African rift valley and Central America. Here, we investigate the ecological and morphological diversification of a recently discovered lotic predatory Neotropical cichlid species flock in subtropical South America. We document morphological and functional diversification u...

Adults and nymphs of Empoasca fabae Harris (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and adults of predatory species in the families Coccinellidae, Anthocoridae, Nabidae, Chrysopidae, and Hemerobiidae were sampled in Iowa alfalfa fields from June to September in 1999 and 2000. The relationship between each predatory taxa and E. fabae was examined using regression analysis. In 2000, all predators were found to ...

Experiments were carried out on the toxicity of selected insecticides and fungicides to the predatory mites species: Amblyseius swirskii, A. andersoni, and Phytoseiulus persimilis. Among the tested active substances: abamectin, hexytiazox, and spinosad were safe to the predators. The mortality level of the tested predator was comparable to the control treatment, seven days after application. Th...

Plant traits can influence the interactions between herbivore arthropods and their natural enemies. In these interactions generalist predators are often present, preying on herbivores and also on other arthropods in the same trophic guild. Variation in the strength of intraguild predation (IGP) may be related to habitat structural complexity and to additional resources outside the narrow predat...

This letter addresses the current scenario ofpredatory publishers in the medical fieldand strategies to curb young researchers frompredatory publishing. Today, the increasingtrend and magnitude of predatory publishershave proposed a big challenge to youngresearchers in the medical field (1). Predatorypublishers are publishers which publish paperswith questionable peer review, charge enormouspub...

While ocean acidification is predicted to threaten marine biodiversity, the processes that directly impact species persistence are not well understood. For marine species, early life history stages are inherently vulnerable to predators and an innate ability to detect predators can be critical for survival. However, whether or not acidification inhibits predator detection is unknown. Here, we s...

We investigated the potential relationships between foraging strategies and relative brain and brain region volumes in predatory (animal-eating) echolocating bats. The species we considered represent the ancestral state for the order and approximately 70% of living bat species. The two dominant foraging strategies used by echolocating predatory bats are substrate-gleaning (taking prey from surf...

Aggressive mimicry is an adaptive tactic of parasitic or predatory species that closely resemble inoffensive models in order to increase fitness via predatory gains. Although similarity of distantly related species is often intuitively implicated with mimicry, the exact mechanisms and evolutionary causes remain elusive in many cases. Here, we report a complex aggressive mimicry strategy in Plec...

BACKGROUND Invasive predators may change the structure of invaded communities through predation and competition with native species. In Europe, the invasive signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus is excluding the native white clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS This study compared the predatory functional responses and prey choice of native and inva...