The role of vision and color in the close proximity foraging behavior of four coccinellid species |
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Authors: | Jason P Harmon John E Losey A R Ives |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA, US |
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Abstract: | The role of vision and color in close-proximity foraging behavior was investigated for four species of lady beetles: Coccinella septempunctata, Hippodamia convergens, Harmonia axyridis, and Coleomegilla maculata. The effect of light level and color cues on consumption rates varied among the four predator species. The consumption rates
of these predators on the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) was measured under light and dark conditions. C. septempunctata,H. convergens, and Ha. axyridis consumed significantly more aphids in the light than in the dark, while the consumption rate of Col. maculata was not affected by light level. Foraging ability was also measured on red and green color morphs of the pea aphid on red,
green, and white backgrounds. C. septempunctata consumed significantly more of the aphid morph that contrasted with the background color, and showed no difference between
morphs on the white background. H. axyridis consumed significantly more red morph aphids regardless of background. The remaining two species showed no difference in
consumption rates on the two color morphs. The variation in the use of visual cues demonstrates how different species of predators
can exhibit different foraging behaviors when searching for the same prey.
Received: 4 August 1997 / Accepted: 3 February 1998 |
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Keywords: | Coccinellidae Foraging behavior Vision |
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