Abstract
When juvenile praying mantids (Tenodera sinensis)were exposed to unpalatable prey (the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus),they attacked, sampled, and then usually rejected the prey. About 70% of the handling time was spent feeding. When offered a second milkweed bug, the mantids usually attacked the prey. However, the overall time required for the mantids to sample, recognize, and then reject the unpalatable prey decreased by half. The proportion of handling time that was spent feeding remained the same as in the first encounter. In contrast, when the second prey individuals encountered by mantids were Drosophila melanogaster,the flies were completely consumed and the proportion of handling time that was spent feeding significantly increased. When praying mantids were exposed to the milkweed bugs for the first time, up to 33% of the bugs survived attack by the mantids. Survival of milkweed bugs increased to 55% when mantids had been previously exposed to the bugs. In contrast, flies that were caught never survived.
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Paradise, C.J., Stamp, N.E. Prey recognition time of praying mantids (Dictyoptera: Mantidae) and consequent survivorship of unpalatable prey (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae). J Insect Behav 4, 265–273 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048277
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048277