Avoiding the very hungry caterpillar

by Kyoto University
April 10, 2026

Predators don’t expect to be preyed upon, and especially not by herbivores such as caterpillars. The slow-moving, leaf-eating larvae may only intend to consume plants, but sometimes tiny creatures making their homes under leaves unwittingly become dinner: cue the mites.

Tiny herbivores can be subject to intraguild predation, or IGP, when larger herbivores accidentally consume them along with a host plant. Vegetarian spider mites are intentionally preyed upon by predatory mites, which climb onto leaves to eat spider mites and to lay eggs in sheltered spots. Adult predatory mites can evade approaching caterpillars, but eggs laid on leaves cannot escape.

Inspired by their previous finding that spider mites avoid traces left by large caterpillars, a team of researchers at Kyoto University investigated whether female predatory mites avoid caterpillar traces when laying their eggs. While other previous research has shown that some predators avoid counterattacks by herbivores, there are few reports of predators evading large herbivores to avoid being accidentally eaten.

“Because such incidents are unintended and accidental, their ecological importance has often been overlooked; however, the consequences are fatal for the prey,” says corresponding author Shiori Kinto.

Keep reading: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/research-news/2026-04-10

Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70627