Effects of Predation on Behavior and Life History of Tree Hole Mosquitoes

通过杀死猎物，捕食者对猎物数量有明显的直接影响。捕食者对猎物也有重要的间接影响，而这些间接影响比直接影响了解得少。捕食者可以通过选择性地杀死参与增加捕获机会的活动的个体来影响猎物的行为。当捕食者在附近时，被捕食的个体也可能通过采取低风险的行为来改变它们的行为。昆虫等猎物经历不同的幼虫和成虫阶段，也可以通过改变它们从幼虫转变为成虫的时间和体型来改变它们暴露于捕食者的环境。尽管所有这些捕食的间接影响都是可能的，但所有这些对捕食的行为和生活史反应的整合还没有得到很好的理解。本研究拟测试树洞蚊子幼虫对捕食的固定（总是表达）、灵活和灵活（仅在捕食者附近表达）行为和生活史反应。对已知的暴露于捕食、行为和易受捕食的不同种群进行比较。这项研究的结果将表明，固定和灵活的行为和生活史特征是如何整合到整体生活方式中的，以及这种生活方式与捕食行为之间的关系。这些实验将提供一个明确的测试，以预测对捕食反应的生活史进化的数学模型。因为这种蚊子的叮咬有时会传播长曲棍球脑炎，了解这种物种对捕食的反应，以及这些反应如何影响成年蚊子的数量，对于了解这种物种的医学影响也很重要。

By killing their prey, predators have an obvious direct affect on prey populations. Predators also have important indirect effects on prey, and these indirect effects are less well understood than are the direct effects. Predation can effect prey behavior by selectively killing individuals that engage in activities that increase the chance of capture. Prey individuals may also modify their behavior by adopting low-risk behaviors when predators are nearby. Prey such as insects that go through distinct larval and adult stages can also alter their exposure to predation by altering the time and body size at which they transform from larva to adult. Although all of these indirect effects of predation are possible, the integration of all of these behavioral and life history responses to predation is not well understood. The proposed research tests for fixed (always expressed) and flexible and flexible (expressed only when predators are nearby) behavioral and life history responses to predation in larvae of a tree-hole dwelling mosquito. Populations known to differ in exposure to predation, behavior, and vulnerability to predation are compared. The results of this study will show how fixed and flexible behavioral and life history traits are integrated into an overall life style, and how this life style is related to predation. These experiments will provide an explicit test of the predictions of a mathematical model for the evolution of life history in response to predation. Because the bite of this mosquito sometimes transmits LaCrosse encephalitis, understanding how this species responds to predation, and how these responses affect populations of adult mosquitoes, may also be important for understanding the medical impact of this species.