Size and sex of cricket prey predict capture by a sphecid wasp
Being female makes you more susceptible to predation, at least that is the case for sexually dimorphic tree crickets being attacked by sphecid wasps. Ph.D. student Kyla Ercit (Gwynne Lab) just published a sole-authored paper in Ecological Entomology entitled “Size and sex of cricket prey predict capture by a sphecid wasp”. The wasp Isodontia mexicana often takes more female than male cricket prey, but female-biased predation is otherwise a rare phenomenon in nature. It was previously hypothesized that wasps targeted females because of their larger body size. Kyla found that when differences in species, age, and body size of prey are taken into account, wasps still prefer attacking adult females. This result suggests that some other trait, such as a behavioural or life history trait, may cause these females to be more vulnerable to predation.
Great paper Kyla!