The enemy of my enemy: multiple interacting selection pressures lead to unexpected anti-predator responses

Sharma, M and Quader, S and Guttal, V and Isvaran, K (2020) The enemy of my enemy: multiple interacting selection pressures lead to unexpected anti-predator responses. In: Oecologia, 192 (1). pp. 1-12.

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Abstract

Despite being a major selective force, predation can induce puzzling variability in anti-predator responses—from lack of predator aversion to lifelong predator-induced fear. This variability is hypothesised to result from variation in the trade-offs associated with avoiding predators. But critical information on fitness outcomes of these trade-offs associated with anti-predator behaviours is lacking. We tested this trade-off hypothesis in Aedes aegypti, by examining oviposition site selection decisions in response towards larval predation risk and comprehensively measuring the fitness implications of trade-offs of avoiding larval predators, using three fitness measures: larval survival, development time and size. In a field study, we find that adult females show a surprisingly variable response to predators, ranging from attraction to avoidance. This variation is explained by fitness outcomes of oviposition along a predation-risk gradient that we measured in the laboratory. We show that ovipositing females could gain fitness benefits from ovipositing in pools with a low density of predators, rather than in predator-free pools, as predators provide a release from negative density effects of conspecific larvae that might co-occur in a pool. Interacting selection pressures may thus explain diverse prey responses. We suggest other systems in which similarly unexpected prey behaviour is likely to occur.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Oecologia
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH.
Keywords:	antipredator defense; conspecific; fitness; mosquito; oviposition; predation risk; predator; site selection; trade-off, Aedes aegypti, animal; egg laying; female; larva; predation, Animals; Female; Larva; Oviposition; Predatory Behavior
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	08 Feb 2023 08:49
Last Modified:	08 Feb 2023 08:49
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/80065

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