Kelly Meg, Wehi Priscilla M, Johnson Sheri L
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Curr Res Insect Sci. 2023 May 6;3:100058. doi: 10.1016/j.cris.2023.100058. eCollection 2023.
Insects have evolved a wide range of behavioural traits to avoid predation, with anti-predator behaviours emerging as important adaptive responses to the specific strategies employed by predators. These responses may become ineffective, however, when a species is introduced to a novel predator type. When individuals cannot recognise an introduced predator for instance, they may respond in ways that mean they fail to avoid, escape, or neutralize a predator encounter. New Zealand's endemic insect fauna evolved in the absence of terrestrial mammalian predators for millions of years, resulting in the evolution of unique fauna like the large, flightless Orthopteran, the wētā. Here we investigate how experience with introduced mammalian predators might influence anti-predator behaviours by comparing behaviours in a group of Wellington tree wētā () living in an ecosanctuary, Zealandia, protected from non-native mammalian predators, and a group living in adjacent sites without mammalian predator control. We used behavioural phenotyping assays with both groups to examine rates of activity and defensive aggression shortly after capture, and again after a period of acclimation. We found that wētā living in protected areas were more active shortly after capture than wētā in non-protected habitats where mammalian predators were present. Male wētā living in non-protected areas tended to be less aggressive than any other group. These results suggest that lifetime experience with differing predator arrays may influence the expression of antipredator behaviour in tree wētā. Disentangling innate and experiential drivers of these behavioural responses further will have important implications for insect populations in rapidly changing environments.
昆虫已经进化出了广泛的行为特征来避免被捕食，反捕食行为作为对捕食者所采用的特定策略的重要适应性反应而出现。然而，当一个物种被引入到一种新的捕食者类型时，这些反应可能会变得无效。例如，当个体无法识别引入的捕食者时，它们可能会以意味着它们无法避免、逃脱或抵御捕食者遭遇的方式做出反应。新西兰的本土昆虫群落在数百万年的时间里是在没有陆生哺乳动物捕食者的情况下进化的，这导致了独特动物群的进化，比如大型的、不会飞的直翅目昆虫——巨沙螽。在这里，我们通过比较生活在一个生态保护区——西兰蒂亚（Zealandia）、免受非本土哺乳动物捕食者侵害的一群惠灵顿树巨沙螽（）和生活在相邻没有哺乳动物捕食者控制区域的一群树巨沙螽的行为，来研究与引入的哺乳动物捕食者的接触经历如何影响反捕食行为。我们对两组都使用了行为表型分析方法，以检查捕获后不久以及经过一段时间适应后的活动率和防御性攻击行为。我们发现，与生活在有哺乳动物捕食者的非保护区的巨沙螽相比，生活在保护区的巨沙螽在捕获后不久更加活跃。生活在非保护区的雄性巨沙螽往往比其他任何组的巨沙螽攻击性都要弱。这些结果表明，与不同捕食者组合的终生接触经历可能会影响树巨沙螽反捕食行为的表现形式。进一步厘清这些行为反应的先天和经验驱动因素，将对快速变化环境中的昆虫种群产生重要影响。
