Global pattern in predation

Plasticine 'dummy caterpillars' were used in the study and deployed across the world at sites including Tai Po Kau, Hong Kong. Image credit: Chung Yun Tak A new Oxford University collaboration revealing the world's prime insect predation hotspots, achieved its landmark findings using an unusual aid: plasticine 'dummy caterpillars.' The new study published in Science has revealed a global pattern of predation on insect herbivores. The trends observed were surprising, revealing that predatory behaviour in the tropics is not driven by birds or mammals but by ants and other small arthropods. The international team made the discovery by examining a fraction of caterpillars eaten along an 11,635 km gradient from the Arctic Circle to southern Australia. The work revealed that a caterpillar living near the Equator is eight times more likely to be eaten, than a caterpillar at the poles. Tomas had used plasticine caterpillars in Greenland and thought they didn't work when he found very low attack rates. I had used them in Borneo, and detected very high attack rates.