Evolution, prey-specificity, and venom in assassin flies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Elizabeth Herbert
Keyword(s):  
Prey Specificity

scholarly journals Feeding of Fragilidium cf. duplocampanaeforme and F. subglobosum on four Dinophysis species: prey specificity, local adaptation and fate of toxins

2014 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Rodríguez ◽  
P Riobó ◽  
P Rial ◽  
B Reguera ◽  
JM Franco
Keyword(s):  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Prey Specificity

Prey Specificity in Chrysopa: An Interspecific Comparison of Larval Feeding and Defensive Behavior

Ecology ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1384-1393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey R. Milbrath ◽  
Maurice J. Tauber ◽  
Catherine A. Tauber
Keyword(s):  
Defensive Behavior ◽  
Larval Feeding ◽  
Interspecific Comparison ◽  
Prey Specificity

scholarly journals Comparative Prey Spectra Analyses on the Endangered Aquatic Carnivorous Waterwheel Plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa, Droseraceae) at Several Naturalized Microsites in the Czech Republic and Germany

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Horstmann ◽  
L Heier ◽  
S Kruppert ◽  
L C Weiss ◽  
R Tollrian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Trapping Efficiency ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Prey Specificity ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Trap Size ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Prey Mobility ◽  
Successful Capture

Synopsis The critically endangered carnivorous waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa, Droseraceae) possesses underwater snap traps for capturing small aquatic animals, but knowledge on the exact prey species is limited. Such information would be essential for continuing ecological research, drawing conclusions regarding trapping efficiency and trap evolution, and eventually, for conservation. Therefore, we performed comparative trap size measurements and snapshot prey analyses at seven Czech and one German naturalized microsites on plants originating from at least two different populations. One Czech site was sampled twice during 2017. We recorded seven main prey taxonomic groups, that is, Cladocera, Copepoda, Ostracoda, Ephemeroptera, Nematocera, Hydrachnidia, and Pulmonata. In total, we recorded 43 different prey taxa in 445 prey-filled traps, containing in sum 461 prey items. With one exception, prey spectra did not correlate with site conditions (e.g. water depth) or trap size. Our data indicate that A. vesiculosa shows no prey specificity but catches opportunistically, independent of prey species, prey mobility mode (swimming or substrate-bound), and speed of movement. Even in cases where the prey size exceeded trap size, successful capture was accomplished by clamping the animal between the traps’ lobes. As we found a wide prey range that was attracted, it appears unlikely that the capture is enhanced by specialized chemical- or mimicry-based attraction mechanisms. However, for animals seeking shelter, a place to rest, or a substrate to graze on, A. vesiculosa may indirectly attract prey organisms in the vicinity, whereas other prey capture events (like that of comparably large notonectids) may also be purely coincidental.

scholarly journals Diet Breadth Mediates the Prey Specificity of Venom Potency in Snakes

Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Lyons ◽  
Michel M. Dugon ◽  
Kevin Healy
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Diet Breadth ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Physiological Diversity ◽  
Prey Specificity ◽  
Prey Items

Venoms are best known for their ability to incapacitate prey. In predatory groups, venom potency is predicted to reflect ecological and evolutionary drivers relating to diet. While venoms have been found to have prey-specific potencies, the role of diet breadth on venom potencies has yet to be tested at large macroecological scales. Here, using a comparative analysis of 100 snake species, we show that the evolution of prey-specific venom potencies is contingent on the breadth of a species’ diet. We find that while snake venom is more potent when tested on species closely related to natural prey items, we only find this prey-specific pattern in species with taxonomically narrow diets. While we find that the taxonomic diversity of a snakes’ diet mediates the prey specificity of its venom, the species richness of its diet was not found to affect these prey-specific potency patterns. This indicates that the physiological diversity of a species’ diet is an important driver of the evolution of generalist venom potencies. These findings suggest that the venoms of species with taxonomically diverse diets may be better suited to incapacitating novel prey species and hence play an important role for species within changing environments.

Evolution of prey specificity via three steps

1993 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 1113-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Tauber ◽  
C. A. Tauber ◽  
J. R. Ruberson ◽  
L. R. Milbrath ◽  
G. S. Albuquerque
Keyword(s):  
Prey Specificity

scholarly journals An Appetite for Destruction: Detecting Prey-Selective Binding of α-Neurotoxins in the Venom of Afro-Asian Elapids

Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Harris ◽  
Christina N. Zdenek ◽  
David Harrich ◽  
Nathaniel Frank ◽  
Bryan G. Fry
Keyword(s):  
Prey Type ◽  
Prey Selectivity ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Crude Venom ◽  
Dietary Breadth ◽  
Relative Binding ◽  
Prey Specificity ◽  
Differential Selectivity ◽  
Ophiophagus Hannah ◽  
Opening Up

Prey-selective venoms and toxins have been documented across only a few species of snakes. The lack of research in this area has been due to the absence of suitably flexible testing platforms. In order to test more species for prey specificity of their venom, we used an innovative taxonomically flexible, high-throughput biolayer interferometry approach to ascertain the relative binding of 29 α-neurotoxic venoms from African and Asian elapid representatives (26 Naja spp., Aspidelaps scutatus, Elapsoidea boulengeri, and four locales of Ophiophagus hannah) to the alpha-1 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor orthosteric (active) site for amphibian, lizard, snake, bird, and rodent targets. Our results detected prey-selective, intraspecific, and geographical differences of α-neurotoxic binding. The results also suggest that crude venom that shows prey selectivity is likely driven by the proportions of prey-specific α-neurotoxins with differential selectivity within the crude venom. Our results also suggest that since the α-neurotoxic prey targeting does not always account for the full dietary breadth of a species, other toxin classes with a different pathophysiological function likely play an equally important role in prey immobilisation of the crude venom depending on the prey type envenomated. The use of this innovative and taxonomically flexible diverse assay in functional venom testing can be key in attempting to understanding the evolution and ecology of α-neurotoxic snake venoms, as well as opening up biochemical and pharmacological avenues to explore other venom effects.

FEEDING AND MATING IN THE INSECTIVOROUS CERATOPOGONINAE (DIPTERA)

1978 ◽  
Vol 110 (S104) ◽  
pp. 1-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Downes
Keyword(s):  
Initial Response ◽  
Cellular Tissue ◽  
Monophyletic Group ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Auditory Recognition ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Unique Method ◽  
Prey Specificity ◽  
Prey Individual

AbstractThe subfamily Ceratopogoninae (sensu Wirth, 1965a) is probably a natural (monophyletic) group but includes both blood sucking forms (Culicoidini) and predators on small insects. The insectivorous forms consist of a diversified array of six tribes and many genera represented in moist habitats throughout the world and especially abundant at lake margins.Many predator/prey observations are recorded. The prey consists almost exclusively of the males of other Nematocera or the smaller Ephemeroptera, which the female captures in flight by entering the male (mating) swarms of these insects and hovering until in a position to strike. The initial response is to the swarm-determining landmark, and the female hovers there whether or not potential prey is in flight; groups of hovering females can be induced artificially by suitable markers. These midges themselves form male swarms which the female enters for mating, and the unique method of hunting thus follows a pattern of behaviour already established in relation to another function. The insectivorous tribes have probably been derived from the more plesiomorphic Culicoidini, but the stages in the development of their radically different manner of hunting are not clear.The characteristic form of the mouthparts in the insectivorous genera is described and figured. The prey, after capture in flight, is usually held by the raptorial legs and quickly perforated by the mandibles. A proteolytic saliva is injected and the cellular tissue, except in the longer appendages, is liquefied and sucked out. In most species a single prey individual is not sufficient for one ovarian cycle, and the midge feeds several times. There is some degree of prey specificity, based at least in part on specific responses to the swarm-marker. In several genera there are long tubular "glands" in the abdomen, often everted in flight, whose function is not clearly established. Mobbing of the predator by the intended prey (mosquitoes) is described.The distinctive feature of mating is that the female, in addition to her other prey, often eats the male during mating. Nearly all the records come from the three tribes Heteromyiini, Sphaeromiini, and Palpomyiini. In these tribes (which probably form a relatively apomorphic monophyletic group) the male is usually a dwarf, and the plumose (auditory) antenna is more or less strongly reduced. It is suggested that the female remains in hunting phase when entering her conspecific swarm and captures the male as prey, and that the typical auditory recognition of female by male has become reduced or vestigial. In the more plesiomorphic tribes Ceratopogonini and Stilobezziini the male is normal in size and the antennal plume is fully developed, as in Culicoides, and there are only two records, at most, of the male being eaten during mating.The males eaten during mating are pierced through the head and reduced to an empty cuticle by the action of the lytic saliva. The terminalia however retain their hold, perhaps because of the early destruction of the suboesophageal ganglion, and the dry male cuticle often breaks away leaving the terminalia still attached. The structure of the terminalia and the mating position is described and discussed. Insemination is by spermatophore, which if the male is eaten never leaves the male duct. The terminalia of the male are inverted during mating and in some genera become so permanently early in adult life.An attempt is made throughout to view the phenomena in a phylogenetic context.Numerous illustrations are provided.

scholarly journals Venus Flytrap Seedlings Show Growth-Related Prey Size Specificity

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Hatcher ◽  
Adam G. Hart
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Lower Growth ◽  
Venus Flytrap ◽  
Dionaea Muscipula ◽  
Juvenile Stages ◽  
Prey Specificity ◽  
Trap Size

Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) has had a conservation status of vulnerable since the 1970s. Little research has focussed on the ecology and even less has examined its juvenile stages. For the first time, reliance on invertebrate prey for growth was assessed in seedling Venus flytrap by systematic elimination of invertebrates from the growing environment. Prey were experimentally removed from a subset of Venus flytrap seedlings within a laboratory environment. The amount of growth was measured by measuring trap midrib length as a function of overall growth as well as prey spectrum. There was significantly lower growth in prey-eliminated plants than those utilising prey. This finding, although initially unsurprising, is actually contrary to the consensus that seedlings (traps < 5 mm) do not catch prey. Furthermore, flytrap was shown to have prey specificity at its different growth stages; the dominant prey size for seedlings did not trigger mature traps. Seedlings are capturing and utilising prey for nutrients to increase their overall trap size. These novel findings show Venus flytrap to have a much more complex evolutionary ecology than previously thought.

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