Huseynov Elchin F, Jackson Robert R, Cross Fiona R
Institute of Zoology, Block 504, Passage 1128, Baku 370073, Azerbaijan.
Behav Processes. 2008 Mar;77(3):389-99. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2007.11.006. Epub 2007 Nov 23.
The distinctions between a predator's diet, its prey-choice behaviour and its preference are illustrated in a study of Aelurillus m-nigrum Kulczyn'ski, a salticid spider from Azerbaijan. The natural diet of A. m-nigrum was determined from records of individuals feeding in the field (N=58). Ten arthropod orders were represented. Nine were from the class Insecta (Coleoptera, Collembola, Diptera, Heteroptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Psocoptera) and one from the class Arachnida (Araneae). Of 50 insects among the prey, 21 (42%) were Hymenoptera, with ants (family Formicidae) alone accounting for 31% of all prey records. Although the majority (69%) of the natural prey were not ants, results from prey-choice testing in the laboratory implied that A. m-nigrum preferred ants as prey. However, this preference was evident only when the testing environment included sand and a small stone. Our findings illustrate the importance of not conflating the concept of a predator's preference with the concept of a predator's natural diet and illustrate that physical features of a predator's habitat may be an important factor in influencing how strongly preference is expressed.
对来自阿塞拜疆的跳蛛科蜘蛛——黑线艾蛛（Aelurillus m-nigrum Kulczyn'ski）的一项研究，阐释了捕食者的饮食、猎物选择行为及其偏好之间的区别。黑线艾蛛的自然饮食是根据野外个体进食记录确定的（N = 58）。猎物中有10个节肢动物目。其中9个来自昆虫纲（鞘翅目、弹尾目、双翅目、半翅目、同翅目、膜翅目、鳞翅目、直翅目、啮虫目），1个来自蛛形纲（蜘蛛目）。在50只昆虫猎物中，21只（42%）是膜翅目，仅蚂蚁（蚁科）就占所有猎物记录的31%。虽然自然猎物中的大多数（69%）不是蚂蚁，但实验室猎物选择测试结果表明，黑线艾蛛更喜欢蚂蚁作为猎物。然而，这种偏好只有在测试环境包括沙子和一块小石头时才明显。我们的研究结果说明了不要将捕食者偏好的概念与捕食者自然饮食的概念混为一谈的重要性，并表明捕食者栖息地的物理特征可能是影响偏好表达强度的一个重要因素。
