ABSTRACT
Predators with extraoral digestion may consider several factors to attack a prey item based not only on the nutritional value but also on the energy expended in prey handling (capture, digestion and ingestion of liquefied content). The predatory stinkbug may require a large amount of water to produce saliva and enzymes used to digest prey tissues and, hence, exhibit behavior related to the water source. Thus, this study investigated the behavioral choice of the predator between a moisture source (water and plant) and a prey item and weight gain by the predatory stinkbug Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Predator adults had free choice to feed between water and the pre-pupa of Alabama argillacea (Hübner, 1823) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (i), between the host plant (cotton) and larvae of A. argillacea (ii), or on each of these food sources individually (iii). Although starved for 48h, P. nigrispinus exhibited a similar choice between feeding either on water or on prey, and preferred to feed on plants compared to prey when having access to prey and cotton plants simultaneously. Under the non-choice test, predators chose to feed on the prey, and showed a similar choice to feed or not on the water and plant. Thus, the predator P. nigrispinus exhibited feeding behavior driven by the availability of the moisture source. Despite the greater time of feeding on prey, predators gained weight in all food items indicating significant ingestion of food material. Therefore, these results characterize the role of the moisture source on P. nigrispinus predatory behavior, indicating it as one factor that should be considered when studying predation rate with this and other predators with extra-oral digestion.
KEY WORDS
Asopinae; extra-oral digestion; predatory behavior; predatory stinkbug
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