Watch out for your neighbor: climbing onto shrubs is related to risk of cannibalism in the scorpion Buthus cf. occitanus

The distribution and behavior of foraging animals usually imply a balance between resource availability and predation risk. In some predators such as scorpions, cannibalism constitutes an important mortality factor determining their ecology and behavior. Climbing on vegetation by scorpions has been related both to prey availability and to predation (cannibalism) risk. We tested different hypotheses proposed to explain climbing on vegetation by scorpions. We analyzed shrub climbing in Buthus cf. occitanus with regard to the following: a) better suitability of prey size for scorpions foraging on shrubs than on the ground, b) selection of shrub species with higher prey load, c) seasonal variations in prey availability on shrubs, and d) whether or not cannibalism risk on the ground increases the frequency of shrub climbing. Prey availability on shrubs was compared by estimating prey abundance in sticky traps placed in shrubs. A prey sample from shrubs was measured to compare prey size. Scor...觅食动物的分布与行为，通常体现了资源可获得性与捕食风险之间的权衡平衡。在蝎子等捕食者类群中，同类相食是决定其生态学特征与行为模式的重要死亡因素。蝎子的植被攀爬行为，既与猎物可获得性相关，也与捕食（同类相食）风险存在关联。本研究针对学界提出的多种解释蝎子植被攀爬行为的假说开展了验证。本研究针对奥氏杀人蝎近似种（Buthus cf. occitanus）的灌丛攀爬行为展开分析，具体围绕以下四项内容：a) 灌丛上的猎物体型更适配于在灌丛中觅食的蝎子；b) 蝎子会优先选择猎物承载量更高的灌丛物种；c) 灌丛生境中猎物可获得性的季节变化；d) 地面上的同类相食风险是否会提升蝎子的灌丛攀爬频次。研究通过放置于灌丛中的粘性诱捕器估算猎物丰度，以此对比不同灌丛间的猎物可获得性差异。采集灌丛中的猎物样本以开展体型对比分析。Scor...