Townsend Colin R, Hildrew Alan G
School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, NR4 7TJ, Norwich, UK.
Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, Queen Mary College, Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, UK.
Oecologia. 1980 Jan;47(2):219-221. doi: 10.1007/BF00346824.
The predatory larvae of the caddis Plectrocnemia conspersa (Curtis) cause significant prey depletion in a habitat in which prey are patchily distributed. Optimal foraging theory predicts that under these circumstances a predator should stay in any given patch until the prey capture rate there drops to a value equal to the average for the habitat as a whole. This was tested using a combination of field and laboratory data and the results were in broad agreement with the prediction. A second prediction is that the marginal capture rate should be higher in a habitat richer in prey and this was not supported. It is argued that by using a simple rule-of-thumb (constant giving-up-time) P. conspersa is able to approach the optimal solution for much of the time.
毛翅目昆虫斑石蚕（Plectrocnemia conspersa，柯蒂斯）的捕食性幼虫会使猎物分布零散的栖息地中的猎物数量显著减少。最优觅食理论预测，在这种情况下，捕食者应停留在任何一个给定的斑块中，直到该斑块的猎物捕获率降至与整个栖息地的平均捕获率相等的值。通过结合野外和实验室数据对此进行了测试，结果与该预测大致相符。另一个预测是，在猎物丰富的栖息地中，边际捕获率应该更高，但这一预测未得到支持。有人认为，通过使用一个简单的经验法则（恒定放弃时间），斑石蚕能够在大部分时间内接近最优解决方案。
