Search

In this study, we observed diverse ambush predators on the flowers of nine plant species and detected some of these predators eating flower-visiting moths at night. Praying mantises were the most abundant group of ambush predators found on flowers; they frequently ate flower-visiting moths as well as diurnal flower visitors. Attacks by ambush predators on diurnal pollinators affect subsequent flower-visiting behavior. [Extracted from the article]

However, the flower visitors differed greatly between day and night; diurnal flower visitors were mainly bees (54.7%), hoverflies (9.0%), and butterflies (34.5%), whereas nocturnal flower visitors were exclusively moths (99.7%; Appendix S1: Table S6). If settling moths can recognize ambush predators on flowers, they should avoid the flowers with predators more frequently than those without predators. Although nocturnal insects such as moths are important pollinators of many flowering plants (Hahn and Brühl 2016), the impact of ambush predators on nocturnal pollinators remains unclear. Keywords: mantis; mantisfly; Mantodea; Neuroptera; pollinators; predation; Scutigeromorpha; settling moths EN mantis mantisfly Mantodea Neuroptera pollinators predation Scutigeromorpha settling moths 1 4 4 11/02/21 20211101 NES 211101 Ambush predators such as spiders affect the flower-visiting behavior of diurnal pollinators such as bees (Dukas 2001, Dukas and Morse 2003), potentially causing diurnal pollinators to avoid flowers where ambush predators wait (Dukas 2001). [Extracted from the article]