Optimal Foraging Theory: A Critical Review

Pyke, Graham H.

doi:10.1146/annurev.es.15.110184.002515

Cited by 1,749 publications

(713 citation statements)

References 130 publications

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“…Originally developed for deceptive orchids, we were able to convert the findings of Lammi and Kuitunen to a system where cheating is normally absent. The remote habitat hypothesis incorporates assumptions from both optimal foraging theory (Pyke 1984) and biological market theory (Johnstone and Bshary 2008;Noe and Hammerstein 1995), which both predict that pollinators should become less discriminative when plant densities are low. This is because choice options and total nectar abundance are lower and distances between food sources increase so that the optimal foraging strategy becomes to inspect any potential resource.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variable responses of hawkmoths to nectar-depleted plants in two native Petunia axillaris (Solanaceae) populations

Brandenburg

Bshary

2011

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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Pollination success of deceptive orchids is affected by the density and distribution of nectar providing plant species and overall plant density. Here we extended the framework of how plant density can affect pollination to examine how it may promote the success of plant intraspecific cheaters. We compared hawkmoth behaviour in two native populations of Petunia axillaris, where we simultaneously offered rewarding and manually depleted P. axillaris. We asked whether pollinator foraging strategies change as a function of plant density and whether such changes may differentially affect nectarless plants. We observed the first choice and number of flowers visited by pollinators and found that in the dense population, pollinators visited more flowers on rewarding plants than on nectar-depleted plants. In the sparse population, such discrimination was absent. As we found no differences in nectar volume between plants of the two populations, the observed differences in plant density may be temporal. We reason that if differences were more permanent, an equivalent of the remote habitat hypothesis prevails: in a sparse population, cheating plants benefit from the absence of inter-and intraspecific competitors because pollinators tend to visit all potential resources. In a denser population, a pollinator's optimal foraging strategy involves more selectivity. This would cause between-plant competition for pollinators in a pollinator-limited context, which applies to most hawkmoth-pollinated systems. We propose that nectar-provisioning of plants can be density-dependant, with cheaters able to persist in low density areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variable responses of hawkmoths to nectar-depleted plants in two native Petunia axillaris (Solanaceae) populations

Brandenburg

Bshary

2011

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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“…Nesting site choice results from the trade‐off among the habitability of the location, its safety from predators and the distance to resources (Osborne et al., 1999, 2008; Pyke, Pulliam, & Charnov, 1977; Williams & Kremen, 2007). To limit foraging costs, individuals optimize different parameters linked to foraging such as the distance they travel (Bell, 1990; Pyke, 1984). For example, bumblebees are able to adjust their trap lines linking different flowers in few foraging bouts to reduce the duration of the nectar collection (Lihoreau et al., 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Poidatz

Monceau

Bonnard

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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In social insects, the activity rhythm of foragers and their action range determinate the activity of the colony. In vespids, which are mostly predators, the foraging range of workers determines their maximum predation pressure round the nest. One of these species, Vespa velutina, a recently invasive species introduced into Europe, exerts a strong predation on honeybees at the hive. Therefore, the definition of its activity rhythm and spatial range of predation is of primary importance. Using radio frequency identification tags (RFID), two experiments were carried out to (a) determine their return ability (called homing) in releasing 318 individuals at different distance from their colony and (b) monitor their foraging activity rhythm and the duration of their flights based on 71 individuals followed 24 hr/24 during 2 months. The homing ability of V. velutina was evaluated to be up to 5,000 m and was not affected by the cardinal orientation of release point. The lag time to return to the nest increased with the distance of release. Most of the flight activity took place between 07:00 a.m. and 08:00 p.m., hornets doing principally short flights of less than an hour. Foraging range was thus estimated ca. 1,000 m around the nest. This study of V. velutina assisted by RFID tags provides for the first time a baseline for its potential foraging distance that increase our knowledge of this species to (a) refine more accurately models for risk assessment and (b) define security perimeter for early detection of predation on invasion front.

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“…However, failure-time analyses revealed that specialists enjoyed significantly lower capture rates, even in a brief 5-min bioassay. According to optimal foraging theory, resistance characters that increase the time required to subdue, handle, and assimilate prey may induce opportunistic generalist predators, like bugs, to switch to different, less costly prey that can be more efficiently dispatched (Rabb and Lawson 1957;Pyke 1984;Paradise and Stamp 1990;Olmstead and Denno 1993). Furthermore, some invertebrate predators can learn to avoid unpalatable prey and so may switch to more palatable prey before further direct encounters (Bernays 1989;Paradise and Stamp 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary specialization influences the efficacy of larval tortoise beetle shield defenses

et al. 2005

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Plant chemical defenses and escape from natural enemies have been postulated to select for dietary specialization in herbivorous insects. In field and laboratory bioassays, we evaluated the effectiveness of intact and chemically modified larval shield defenses of the generalist Chelymorpha alternans and the specialists Acromis sparsa and Stolas plagiata (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) against three natural predators, using larvae reared on two morning glory (Convolvulaceae) species. We assessed whether: (1) specialists were better defended than generalists when both were fed and assayed on the same plant; (2) larval shield defenses were chemical, physical, or both; and (3) specialists exploit chemistry better than generalists. Live specialist larvae survived at higher rates than did generalists in predator bioassays with the bug Montina nigripes (Reduviidae), but there were no differences among groups against two species of Azteca ants (Hymenoptera: Dolichoderinae). Solvent leaching by H 2 O or MeOH significantly reduced shield efficacy for all species compared to larvae with intact shields. In contrast, freshly killed specialist larvae exhibited significantly lower capture rates and frequencies than the generalists. Although solvent leaching significantly reduced overall shield efficacy for freshly killed larvae of all species, the pattern of leaching effects differed between specialists and generalists, with H 2 O-leaching having a greater impact on the specialists. The overall vulnerability of the generalists appears due to lower chemical protection, which is ameliorated by increased escape behaviors, suggesting a selective trade-off between these defensive components. These experiments indicate that shield defenses are essential for larval survival and that specialists are superior at exploiting plant compounds residing in the aqueous fraction. Our results support the hypothesis that diet-specialized herbivorous insects have more effective defenses than generalists when both feed on the same plant due to the differential ability to exploit defensive precursors obtained from the host. The evolution of dietary specialization may therefore confer the advantage of enhanced enemy-free space.

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Optimal Foraging Theory: A Critical Review

Cited by 1,749 publications

References 130 publications

Variable responses of hawkmoths to nectar-depleted plants in two native Petunia axillaris (Solanaceae) populations

Variable responses of hawkmoths to nectar-depleted plants in two native Petunia axillaris (Solanaceae) populations

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Dietary specialization influences the efficacy of larval tortoise beetle shield defenses

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