Pit-building decisions of larval ant lions: Effects of larval age, temperature, food, and population source

Foraging decisions are an integral component of growth and maintenance and may reflect both environmental and genetic effects. We used p common garden experiment to evaluate the effects of food, temperature, and population so urce on pit-building decisions of the larval ant lion Myrmeleon immaculatus . In a laboratory common garden experiment, first-instar larvae from two so uthern (Georgia, South Carolina) and two northern (Connecticut, Rhode Islan d populations were reared for 14 months in incubators under high- and low-f ood and high- and low-temperature regimes. For all populations, there was n o effect of larval age on pit-building behavior A II larvae built and maint ained pits more frequently fit high temperatures than at low temperatures, and larvae in the low-food treatments built and maintained pits more freque ntly than larvae in the high-food treatments Larvae from the southern popul ations built and maintained pits more frequently than larvae from northern populations These results suggest that regional differences in foraging beh avior may contribute to latitudinal gradients in life history strategies be en in this insect.