Efficiency of antlion trap design and larval behavior in capture success

Traps constructed by an animal reduce the amount of energy required to seek prey. The main risk of trap-building predators is the greater uncertainty of encountering prey, owing to their immobility. Sometimes environmental characteristics do not allow them to build efficient traps, resulting in lower capture success. We observed prey escape, capture success, and behavior of two antlion species, Cueta lineosa, a habitat specialist, and Myrmeleon hyalinus, a generalist, building geometrically different traps. The traps of C. lineosa are elaborate and deep, consisting of two inverted cones, while M. hyalinus builds simple inverted cones. Prey escape was observed from traps with antlion larvae present and from artificially constructed traps without antlions. We used a 3D printer to create a replica model of both trap types, pressing the model onto the substrate surface to create a trap. The C. lineosa artificial trap slowed prey escape more effectively than the simpler artificial trap of M....动物构筑的陷阱（trap）可降低其搜寻猎物所需的能量成本。构筑陷阱的捕食者所面临的核心风险，在于自身无法移动，导致遭遇猎物的不确定性显著提升。部分环境条件会限制其构筑高效陷阱的能力，进而导致捕食成功率下降。本研究针对两种蚁狮（antlion）的猎物逃逸行为、捕食成功率及行为模式展开观测：分别为栖息地特化种线纹库蚁狮（Cueta lineosa）与广食性种透明蚁狮（Myrmeleon hyalinus），二者所构筑的陷阱在几何形态上存在显著差异。线纹库蚁狮的陷阱结构复杂且深度更大，由两个倒圆锥结构组成；而透明蚁狮仅构筑简易的倒圆锥陷阱。本研究分别在栖息有蚁狮幼虫的自然陷阱，以及无蚁狮的人工陷阱中开展猎物逃逸行为观测。我们使用3D打印机（3D printer）制作了两类陷阱的复刻模型，将其按压至基质表面以构建人工陷阱。相较于透明蚁狮的简易人工陷阱，线纹库蚁狮的人工陷阱能更有效地延缓猎物逃逸……