Plant choice, herbivory and weight gain of wood crickets under the risk of predation. Issue 2 (15th March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bucher, Roman; Heinrich, Hannah; Entling, Martin H.
• Is Part Of: Entomologia experimentalis et applicata. Volume 155:Issue 2(2015:May)
• Page Start: 148
• Page End: 153
• Publication Date: 2015-03-15
• Subjects: Entomology -- Periodicals; 595.7
• DOI: 10.1111/eea.12291
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-8703

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="eea12291-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Predators can indirectly reduce herbivory by killing herbivores. In addition, predation risk can influence the feeding rate and feeding location of herbivores. Herbivores are expected to avoid plants currently occupied by a predator. Consequently, less herbivory is expected on plants bearing fresh predator cues. We examined whether wood crickets, <italic>Nemobius sylvestris </italic>Bosc (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), avoided plants bearing the chemical cues of nursery web spiders, <italic>Pisaura mirabilis </italic>Clerck (Araneae: Pisauridae), or red wood ants, <italic>Formica rufa </italic>L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). We conducted a series of behavioural experiments, in which crickets had the choice between a plant with spider or ant cues vs. a control plant, a plant with spider cues vs. a plant with ant cues, or two control plants. For all plants, we quantified leaf damage and the position and weight change in the crickets. Crickets avoided plants with spider cues. In contrast, ant cues did not significantly deter crickets. The herbivory pattern among the plants reflected the plant choice of the crickets. However, net herbivory was not affected by the presence of predator cues. Thus, our results suggest that spider cues affect feeding location rather than the total amount of herbivory.</p> </abstract>