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Data and code from: Microscale temperatures affect the incidence and implications of predator-avoidance behavior in monarch caterpillars

Singh, Prabhjot1; Yang, Louie1

Research facility: University of California, Davis
Published Feb 20, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1c59zw46j

Data files

Feb 20, 2026 version files 57.99 KB

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Abstract

The non-consumptive effects associated with the predator-avoidance behaviors of potential prey species may commonly be context-dependent. In this study, we examined how temperature differences between the plant surface and the ground change the consequences of predator-avoidance dropping behavior in monarch caterpillars. We hypothesized that these temperature differences change on both diel and seasonal timescales, and that the risk associated with exposure to potentially high ground temperatures is likely to be greater for smaller caterpillars that have less thermal inertia and movement ability. We conducted field experiments to assess the mortality risk associated with dropping to the ground for different-sized caterpillars at a wide range of ground temperatures and to assess whether caterpillars show a willingness to drop that is consistent with their actual survival probability. We found that the survivorship consequences of dropping depend on both temperature and caterpillar size and that monarch caterpillars show context-dependent predator-avoidance behaviors consistent with adaptive expectations across a wide range of temperatures and body sizes. However, we also observed a potentially non-adaptive willingness to drop at high temperatures, consistent with a biological constraint imposed by increased reactivity. These results contribute to a general knowledge gap regarding the context dependence of non-consumptive effects in nature.