Alternative prey and abundance covariance switches an intraguild predator’s functional response

Abstract

Positive or negative prey abundance covariances play an important role in determining prey preference of predators. The goal here was to understand how variations in abundance of two blowfly prey species, a native and a non-native species, influence the switching behavior and functional response of Chrysomya albiceps, an intraguild predatory blowfly, under laboratory conditions. The results suggest C. albiceps prefers to consume a native prey species rather than a non-native prey species. However, when prey densities covariate negatively, both species were consumed at the same rate, changing predator’s functional response from type II to type III. The conditions that trigger the switching behavior in blowfly communities are discussed in detail in this study.