The most cunning hunters: what happens to the victim in the embrace of a boa constrictor
MOSCOW, 5 Jul — RIA Novosti, Alfia Enikeeva. If there are claws and fangs, it is very difficult to find food. To catch prey, the boa brings it to a heart attack, the octopus uses a stratagem, and cuttlefish pretending to be a cancer-hermit. About the most amazing ways to hunt in the wild — in the material RIA Novosti.
The main hunting strategy of predators to jump out of ambush, to catch, grab and bite. This behavior is typical for a variety of animals, and he meets a small part of the brain — the amygdala. If you stimulate his neurons, not even the most bloodthirsty rush to everything: not only on its usual prey, but completely non-edible items. For example, rats try to attack the caps from plastic bottles.
But some predators are different.
When the prey eats the hunter
It is known that frogs eat insects, snakes frogs, birds and animals — snakes. This is a common food chain. However, sometimes fails.
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For example, aggressive ground beetles of the genus Epomis eat five species of amphibians: the green toad (Bufo viridis), banded tree-frog (Hyla savignyi), the Bidryahy frog (Rana bedriagae), banded newt (Triturus vittatus) and fire Salamander (Salamandra Salamandra infraimmaculata).
The adult insects prey on amphibians is quite traditional: to ambush and paralyze the victim with a bite in the back.
But their larvae have a different strategy: they pretend to be harmless victims, and when the frog or toad trying to eat them, tightly gripping the throat of amphibian jaws. To free amphibians can not — the larvae eat them alive.
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However, as noted by scientists from the University of tel Aviv (Israel), sometimes amphibians luck. The larva in the early stages of development to the next molt may accidentally release the victim. In the memory will remain only a big ugly scar. If attacked, the larva is in the middle of development or will develop into the adult insect, no chances: beetle won’t stop until I eat all the bones.
The victim of fraud
Cuttlefish (Sepiidae), depending on the circumstances, changing the strategy of the hunt. As scientists have found that episodic memory allows these clams to use their life experience. The animal chooses as a way to lure different fish: pretend to be a stone, seaweed, or even cancer-hermit.
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Master of disguise
The fact that the hunting success of cuttlefish depends on how close to it is production. Finding a small crustacean or small fish, she throws two Tentacula — long tentacles with suckers at the ends. Grabbing the victim, pulling her to a strong chitinous beak, capable of crushing even the shell of a small mollusk. If the prey is far away, hunting is likely to be unsuccessful — fish swim faster cephalopod predators.
So, hoping to lure the victim closer cuttlefish mimics the environment. Due to the special pigment cells — chromatophores, whose activity is regulated by the nervous system, the predator changes color in less than a second.
Some members of the order Sepiidae, if necessary. They even imitate the movements and behavior of animals for whom they are. For example, Pharaoh cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis), hunting, takes the form of a hermit crab: folds tentacles so they looked like claws, moves sideways. Scientists suggest that it not only misleads the unsuspecting fish, but also serves as protection from predators.
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Octopuses, unlike the octopus, not forward: patiently waiting for a victim in wait, and when she accidentally turns around, grab her with all eight tentacles at once. But not so the Pacific striped octopus.
If the production (shrimp and small fish) swims close enough to it, cephalopods pulls one of the tentacles and gently pushes the victim in the back. The frightened animal, trying to escape, turns the other way, where he was waiting for the remaining seven powerful octopus tentacles and a beak like a parrot.