Prey preferences for three aquatic hemipterans provide insights about their coexistence

We explored the potential of differences in foraging preferences to
contribute to long-term species coexistence in aquatic predatory
hemipterans. We hypothesized that predatory hemipterans would have
distinct foraging preferences informed by their morphology. We used a prey
choice experiment to test whether Belostoma flumineum, Pelocoris
biimpressus, and Ranatra australis differed in their relative preferences
of amphipod, damselfly naiad, and physid snail prey. We discovered that
the predators showed complementarity in their foraging preferences with B.
flumineum preferring snails, P. biimpressus damselfly naiads and R.
australis amphipods as prey. Our results suggest that the disparate
foraging preferences of aquatic hemipterans may facilitate their
coexistence in aquatic systems but caution that studies need to explore
whether patterns uncovered in the laboratory experiment reflect
interactions in nature.