Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance
- Autores
- Farji-Brener, Alejandro G.; Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith; Rodríguez-Malacara, Jorge Tanit; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor
- Año de publicación
- 2024
- Idioma
- inglés
- Tipo de recurso
- artículo
- Estado
- versión aceptada
- Descripción
- Understanding why animals avoid some locations is needed to improve the theory of habitat selection. This is key in semi-sedentary organisms, such as antlion larvae, because once established they rarely move, and their performance largely depends on local environmental conditions. Antlion larvae are sit-and-wait predators that build conical pitfall traps in sandy soils to capture passing prey. They clean constantly their traps, expelling soil, prey carcasses and debris out of the pit to maintain their trapping success. Therefore, we propose that they avoid soils with leaf litter because leaves hinder the maintenance of their pits; a hypothesis that has not yet been tested. We first demonstrated that antlion larvae (Myrmeleon inmaculatus) are rare from soils with leaf litter in a tropical semi-deciduous forest in Mexico. We then experi- mentally tested the effect of leaf litter on pit maintenance by adding debris in 90 antlion traps, 45 of which were covered with a leaf, and 45 remained uncovered. Two hours after adding the debris, we recorded its location and quantified the variation in depth and diameter of the pits. Larvae in uncovered traps were twice as effective at cleaning up the debris than larvae in covered traps. Furthermore, in just 2 h, covered traps were on average 21% shallower than control traps, probably because unsuccessful attempts to clean debris caused sand slides to fill the pit partially. Leaf litter seems to hinder the proper maintenance of antlion traps, explaining at least partially, why these animals are rare under leaf litter.
Fil: Farji-Brener, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina.
Fil: Farji-Brener, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina.
Fil: Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Facultad de Ciencias; Colombia.
Fil: Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith. Universidad de Córdoba. Departamento de Biología; Colombia.
Fil: Rodríguez-Malacara, Jorge Tanit. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala. Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular y Evolución; México.
Fil: Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad; México.
Fil: Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, unidad Mérida; México. - Fuente
- Ecological Entomology: Volume 49, Issue 1
- Materia
-
Habitat avoidance
Myrmeleontidae
Sit-and-wait predator
Tropical dry forest
Ciencias de la Tierra y Medio Ambiente - Nivel de accesibilidad
- acceso abierto
- Condiciones de uso
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
- Repositorio
- Institución
- Universidad Nacional del Comahue
- OAI Identificador
- oai:rdi.uncoma.edu.ar:uncomaid/18122
Ver los metadatos del registro completo
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Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenanceFarji-Brener, Alejandro G.Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly YenedithRodríguez-Malacara, Jorge TanitArroyo-Rodríguez, VíctorHabitat avoidanceMyrmeleontidaeSit-and-wait predatorTropical dry forestCiencias de la Tierra y Medio AmbienteUnderstanding why animals avoid some locations is needed to improve the theory of habitat selection. This is key in semi-sedentary organisms, such as antlion larvae, because once established they rarely move, and their performance largely depends on local environmental conditions. Antlion larvae are sit-and-wait predators that build conical pitfall traps in sandy soils to capture passing prey. They clean constantly their traps, expelling soil, prey carcasses and debris out of the pit to maintain their trapping success. Therefore, we propose that they avoid soils with leaf litter because leaves hinder the maintenance of their pits; a hypothesis that has not yet been tested. We first demonstrated that antlion larvae (Myrmeleon inmaculatus) are rare from soils with leaf litter in a tropical semi-deciduous forest in Mexico. We then experi- mentally tested the effect of leaf litter on pit maintenance by adding debris in 90 antlion traps, 45 of which were covered with a leaf, and 45 remained uncovered. Two hours after adding the debris, we recorded its location and quantified the variation in depth and diameter of the pits. Larvae in uncovered traps were twice as effective at cleaning up the debris than larvae in covered traps. Furthermore, in just 2 h, covered traps were on average 21% shallower than control traps, probably because unsuccessful attempts to clean debris caused sand slides to fill the pit partially. Leaf litter seems to hinder the proper maintenance of antlion traps, explaining at least partially, why these animals are rare under leaf litter.Fil: Farji-Brener, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina.Fil: Farji-Brener, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina.Fil: Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Facultad de Ciencias; Colombia.Fil: Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith. Universidad de Córdoba. Departamento de Biología; Colombia.Fil: Rodríguez-Malacara, Jorge Tanit. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala. Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular y Evolución; México.Fil: Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad; México.Fil: Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, unidad Mérida; México.Royal Entomological Society2024info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfPP. 138-144application/pdfhttp://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/handle/uncomaid/18122Ecological Entomology: Volume 49, Issue 1reponame:Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo)instname:Universidad Nacional del Comahueenghttps://doi.org/10.1111/een.13290info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/2025-09-29T14:29:10Zoai:rdi.uncoma.edu.ar:uncomaid/18122instacron:UNCoInstitucionalhttp://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/oaimirtha.mateo@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.ar; adriana.acuna@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:71082025-09-29 14:29:10.476Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) - Universidad Nacional del Comahuefalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance |
title |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance |
spellingShingle |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance Farji-Brener, Alejandro G. Habitat avoidance Myrmeleontidae Sit-and-wait predator Tropical dry forest Ciencias de la Tierra y Medio Ambiente |
title_short |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance |
title_full |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance |
title_fullStr |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance |
title_sort |
Why are antlion larvae rare under the leaf litter? Testing the hypothesis of improper trap maintenance |
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Farji-Brener, Alejandro G. Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith Rodríguez-Malacara, Jorge Tanit Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor |
author |
Farji-Brener, Alejandro G. |
author_facet |
Farji-Brener, Alejandro G. Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith Rodríguez-Malacara, Jorge Tanit Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith Rodríguez-Malacara, Jorge Tanit Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor |
author2_role |
author author author |
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Habitat avoidance Myrmeleontidae Sit-and-wait predator Tropical dry forest Ciencias de la Tierra y Medio Ambiente |
topic |
Habitat avoidance Myrmeleontidae Sit-and-wait predator Tropical dry forest Ciencias de la Tierra y Medio Ambiente |
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv |
Understanding why animals avoid some locations is needed to improve the theory of habitat selection. This is key in semi-sedentary organisms, such as antlion larvae, because once established they rarely move, and their performance largely depends on local environmental conditions. Antlion larvae are sit-and-wait predators that build conical pitfall traps in sandy soils to capture passing prey. They clean constantly their traps, expelling soil, prey carcasses and debris out of the pit to maintain their trapping success. Therefore, we propose that they avoid soils with leaf litter because leaves hinder the maintenance of their pits; a hypothesis that has not yet been tested. We first demonstrated that antlion larvae (Myrmeleon inmaculatus) are rare from soils with leaf litter in a tropical semi-deciduous forest in Mexico. We then experi- mentally tested the effect of leaf litter on pit maintenance by adding debris in 90 antlion traps, 45 of which were covered with a leaf, and 45 remained uncovered. Two hours after adding the debris, we recorded its location and quantified the variation in depth and diameter of the pits. Larvae in uncovered traps were twice as effective at cleaning up the debris than larvae in covered traps. Furthermore, in just 2 h, covered traps were on average 21% shallower than control traps, probably because unsuccessful attempts to clean debris caused sand slides to fill the pit partially. Leaf litter seems to hinder the proper maintenance of antlion traps, explaining at least partially, why these animals are rare under leaf litter. Fil: Farji-Brener, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina. Fil: Farji-Brener, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Fil: Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith. Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Facultad de Ciencias; Colombia. Fil: Carrillo-Fajardo, Merly Yenedith. Universidad de Córdoba. Departamento de Biología; Colombia. Fil: Rodríguez-Malacara, Jorge Tanit. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala. Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular y Evolución; México. Fil: Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad; México. Fil: Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, unidad Mérida; México. |
description |
Understanding why animals avoid some locations is needed to improve the theory of habitat selection. This is key in semi-sedentary organisms, such as antlion larvae, because once established they rarely move, and their performance largely depends on local environmental conditions. Antlion larvae are sit-and-wait predators that build conical pitfall traps in sandy soils to capture passing prey. They clean constantly their traps, expelling soil, prey carcasses and debris out of the pit to maintain their trapping success. Therefore, we propose that they avoid soils with leaf litter because leaves hinder the maintenance of their pits; a hypothesis that has not yet been tested. We first demonstrated that antlion larvae (Myrmeleon inmaculatus) are rare from soils with leaf litter in a tropical semi-deciduous forest in Mexico. We then experi- mentally tested the effect of leaf litter on pit maintenance by adding debris in 90 antlion traps, 45 of which were covered with a leaf, and 45 remained uncovered. Two hours after adding the debris, we recorded its location and quantified the variation in depth and diameter of the pits. Larvae in uncovered traps were twice as effective at cleaning up the debris than larvae in covered traps. Furthermore, in just 2 h, covered traps were on average 21% shallower than control traps, probably because unsuccessful attempts to clean debris caused sand slides to fill the pit partially. Leaf litter seems to hinder the proper maintenance of antlion traps, explaining at least partially, why these animals are rare under leaf litter. |
publishDate |
2024 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2024 |
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo |
format |
article |
status_str |
acceptedVersion |
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
http://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/handle/uncomaid/18122 |
url |
http://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/handle/uncomaid/18122 |
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13290 |
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf PP. 138-144 application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Royal Entomological Society |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Royal Entomological Society |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Ecological Entomology: Volume 49, Issue 1 reponame:Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) instname:Universidad Nacional del Comahue |
reponame_str |
Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) |
collection |
Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) |
instname_str |
Universidad Nacional del Comahue |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) - Universidad Nacional del Comahue |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
mirtha.mateo@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.ar; adriana.acuna@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.ar |
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1844621563254538240 |
score |
12.559606 |