Data from: Fine-scale analysis of an assassin bug's behaviour: predatory strategies to bypass the sensory systems of prey

Some predators sidestep environments that render them conspicuous to the sensory systems of prey. However, these challenging environments are unavoidable for certain predators. Stenolemus giraffa is an assassin bug that feeds on web-building spiders; the web is the environment in which this predator finds its prey, but it also forms part of its preys' sophisticated sensory apparatus, blurring the distinction between environment and sensory systems. Stenolemus giraffa needs to break threads in the web that obstruct its path to the spiders, and such vibrations can alert the spiders. Using laser vibrometry, this study demonstrates how S. giraffa avoids alerting the spiders during its approach. When breaking threads, S. giraffa attenuates the vibrations produced by holding on to the loose ends of the broken thread and causing them to sag prior to release. In addition, S. giraffa releases the loose ends of a broken thread one at a time (after several seconds or minutes) and in this way spaces out the production of vibrations in time. Furthermore, S. giraffa was found to maximally reduce the amplitude of vibrations when breaking threads that are prone to produce louder vibrations. Finally, S. giraffa preferred to break threads in the presence of wind, suggesting that this araneophagic insect exploits environmental noise that temporarily impairs the spiders' ability to detect vibrations. The predatory behaviour of S. giraffa seems to be adaptated in intricate manner for bypassing the sophisticated sensory systems of web-building spiders. These findings illustrate how the physical characteristics of the environment, along with the sensory systems of prey can shape the predatory strategies of animals.

Usage Notes
Peak amplitude of vibrations and times for measured components of thread breaking behaviourThe folder contains several excel files. Please refer to the titles of each excel file for a description of the specific data contained in the file. Data are either of peak amplitudes (in kU) produced when breaking or releasing threads, or of time (in seconds) elapsed between different components of thread breaking behaviour.dryad.zip

某些捕食者规避那些使其在猎物感官系统中显眼的生态环境。然而，对于某些捕食者而言，这些充满挑战的生态环境是不可避免的。Stenolemus giraffa是一种以结网蜘蛛为食的猎蝽，网络是其捕食的环境，同时也是猎物复杂感官系统的一部分，模糊了环境与感官系统之间的界限。Stenolemus giraffa需要破坏阻碍其通往蜘蛛路径的蛛网丝线，而这些振动可能会惊动蜘蛛。本研究通过激光振动测量技术，展示了S. giraffa如何在接近时避免惊动蜘蛛。在破坏丝线时，S. giraffa会减弱因抓握断裂丝线的松散端并使其在释放前下垂而产生的振动。此外，S. giraffa会逐一释放断裂丝线的松散端（在数秒或数分钟后），从而在时间上分散振动的产生。更进一步，S. giraffa在破坏易产生较大振动的丝线时，能够最大限度地降低振动的振幅。最后，S. giraffa倾向于在有风的情况下破坏丝线，这表明这种蛛食性昆虫利用环境噪音暂时削弱了蜘蛛检测振动的能力。S. giraffa的捕食行为似乎以一种复杂的方式适应，以绕过结网蜘蛛的复杂感官系统。这些发现揭示了环境的物理特征以及猎物的感官系统如何塑造动物的捕食策略。

使用说明

文件夹包含多个Excel文件。请参考每个Excel文件的标题，以了解文件中包含的具体数据描述。数据包括在破坏或释放丝线时产生的峰值振幅（以kU为单位），或在不同丝线破坏行为组件之间经过的时间（以秒为单位）。dryad.zip