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1 December 2017 A Shift in Escape Strategy by Grasshopper Prey in Response to Repeated Pursuit
Alex Collier, Jay Y.S. Hodgson
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Abstract

We used grasshoppers as a model organism to examine the response of prey to repeated approach from a persistent predator (human observer). We randomly assigned adult Chortophaga australior (Southern Greenstriped Grasshopper) to either low- or highrisk treatments. For both groups, we approached each grasshopper during 15 consecutive encounters and recorded the distance fled (DF) and overall flight path. We approached grasshoppers assigned to the low-risk treatment after a 30-second delay upon landing between each escape flight. Those in the high-risk treatment were approached immediately upon landing and given no opportunity to recover. Grasshoppers assigned to the low-risk treatment exhibited an erratic, or protean flight path to evade detection and traveled shorter distances across consecutive encounters. Those in the high-risk treatment exhibited longer escape flights that were more commonly oriented directly away from the approach of the observer. The results of our study provide additional evidence that prey may shift escape strategies in response to real-time assessment of predation risk.

Alex Collier and Jay Y.S. Hodgson "A Shift in Escape Strategy by Grasshopper Prey in Response to Repeated Pursuit," Southeastern Naturalist 16(4), 503-515, (1 December 2017). https://doi.org/10.1656/058.016.0403
Published: 1 December 2017
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