The daily activity of two intraguild predators, Tityus pusillus and Ananteris mauryi

How to eat and how to avoid being eaten naturally have a great impact on the behavior of scorpions, especially if two or more species inhabit the same habitat/niche (intraguild predation).

Welton Dionisio-da-Silva and co-workers have now published a study on the daily activity of two intraguild predators, Tityus pusillus Pocock, 1893 and Ananteris mauryi Lourenço, 1982 (both Buthidae), and looked for differences in behavior in the presence and absence of each other. Not surprisingly, the presence of a potential predator in the habitat changed the behavior of a potential prey, and vica versa. See abstract and full article for further details.

Abstract:
Intraguild predators can have behavioral mechanisms to maximize foraging and/or avoid predation. However, there is a lack of information about the influence of such prey-predator interactions on the daily activity of the species involved. Therefore, we investigated the daily activity of two intraguild predators, Tityus pusillus Pocock, 1893 and Ananteris mauryi Lourenço, 1982, in the presence and absence of each other. Animals were observed in three experimental conditions, containing individuals of T. pusillus (control 1), A. mauryi (control 2), and both species (treatment). In addition, we evaluated the correlation between the number of active individuals with air temperature and humidity. Our results showed that T. pusillus and A. mauryi have similar daily activity between 18:00 and 05:00 h. However, T. pusillus was more active and shifted from a sit-and-wait hunting mode to actively hunting when in the presence of A. mauryi. In contrast, under predation risk, A. mauryi did not change its level of activity but became more vigilant by reducing the frequency of rest, hydration, and mating attempts. Activity of A. mauryi was positively correlated with air humidity whereas activity of T. pusillus was negatively correlated. This work highlights the influence of intraguild predators in the behavioral decisions during daily activities of each other, indicating adaptive behaviors in both prey and predator.

Reference:
Dionisio-da-Silva W, de Araujo Lira AF, de Albuquerque CMR. Prey-predator interactions between two intraguild predators modulate their behavioral decisions. Acta Ethologica. 2019:1-7 (Published online 12. September 2019).

Thanks to Welton Dionisio-da-Silva for sending me their article!