Abstract
Fed and unfed first instars of the spined assassin bugSinea diadema were paired to evaluate the effects of food deprivation on their behaviour during encounters. Fed nymphs encountering starved 5-day-old nymphs retreated from 69% of the encounters after contacting the starved nymph. In contrast, starved nymphs initiated grappling during 30% of the encounters with fed nymphs and retreated significantly less often than the fed nymphs. When a single fed nymph was placed together with two unfed 3-day-old nymphs in a closed arena, the fed nymphs generally were not the first nymph cannibalized and were the final survivors in 67% of 24 replicates. These results are discussed in the context of the relative costs and benefits of escalating or retreating from encounters.
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Taylor, J.R., Schmidt, J.M. The effect of hunger on intraspecific interactions between first-instarSinea diadema (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). J Insect Behav 9, 37–45 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213722
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213722