Lack of preference for low-predation-risk habitats in larval damselflies explained by costs of intraspecific interactions

Many studies indicate prey organisms select microhabitats with high structural complexity as a way of reducing risk of predation. We used laboratory experiments to show that damselfly larvae, Ischnura verticalis, suffer higher predation rates from pumpkinseed sunfish in low-density vegetation. However, larvae do not preferentially occupy microhabitats with high vegetation density in either the presence or absence of sunfish; when given a …