Categorizing experience-based foraging plasticity in mites: age dependency, primacy effects and memory persistence.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Animal Behavior
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Behavioral plasticity, crucial for adaptation, includes immediate activational and learning-based developmental forms.
• Age-related decline in plasticity is known, but its differential impact on plasticity types and early life experiences remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how age-dependent prey experience influences foraging plasticity in the predatory mite *Amblyseius swirskii*.
• To differentiate between activational and developmental plasticity in response to first-in-life experiences.

Main Methods:

• Predatory mites (*Amblyseius swirskii*) were exposed to thrips and spider mites at different life stages (juvenile vs. adult).
• Foraging plasticity was assessed by offering both prey types to gravid females, measuring attack latency and prey inclusion.
• The adaptive value of plasticity was evaluated by correlating foraging behavior with egg production.

Main Results:

• Juvenile mite experience led to learning effects (earlier attacks, higher inclusion of familiar prey), indicating developmental plasticity.
• Adult mite experience resulted in less specific changes, with spider mites yielding higher energy gains, suggesting activational plasticity.
• First prey-in-life experience in juveniles, but not adults, showed primacy effects and adaptive benefits (linked to egg production).

Conclusions:

• Age significantly influences the type of behavioral plasticity expressed, with juveniles exhibiting developmental plasticity and adults showing activational plasticity.
• First-in-life experiences have distinct, age-dependent effects on foraging behavior and adaptive outcomes in predatory mites.
• Understanding age-specific plasticity is key to predicting behavioral responses and ecological success in changing environments.