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Interpopulation variation in predator foraging behaviour promotes the evolutionary divergence of prey
Author(s) -
TOJU H.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01329.x
Subject(s) - biology , foraging , predation , predator , weevil , ecology , trait , natural selection , zoology , selection (genetic algorithm) , botany , artificial intelligence , computer science , programming language
Despite intensive investigation of the role of predation on evolutionary processes, few studies have questioned the possibility of the evolutionary divergence of prey populations in response to interpopulation variation in predator foraging behaviour. In an interaction between a seed‐predatory insect, the camellia weevil ( Curculio camelliae ), and its host plant, the Japanese camellia ( Camellia japonica ), I tested whether the evolutionary differentiation of the plant's defensive trait, pericarp thickness, was related to the interpopulation variation in the foraging behaviour of female weevils. I found that the preference of weevils for the plant fruit based on pericarp thickness varied across 13 populations in Japan. Importantly, variation in weevil behaviour explained interpopulation variation in pericarp thickness and the direction/strength of natural selection on the trait. Overall, I show that adaptive foraging of predators can result in the evolutionary divergence of predator–prey interactions.