Editing Predation (section)

==Foraging==
{{See also|Foraging}}

[[File:Foraging Sequence.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|A basic [[foraging]] cycle for a predator, with some variations indicated<ref name=Kramer2001/>]]

To feed, a predator must search for, pursue and kill its prey. These actions form a [[foraging]] cycle.<ref name=Griffiths>{{cite journal |last1=Griffiths |first1=David |title=Foraging costs and relative prey size |journal=The American Naturalist |date=November 1980 |volume=116 |issue=5 |pages=743–752|jstor=2460632|doi=10.1086/283666 |bibcode=1980ANat..116..743G |s2cid=85094710 }}</ref><ref name="WetzelLikens2000">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4757-3250-4_17 |chapter=Predator-Prey Interactions |title=Limnological Analyses |date=2000 |last1=Wetzel |first1=Robert G. |last2=Likens |first2=Gene E. |pages=257–262 |isbn=978-1-4419-3186-3 }}</ref> The predator must decide where to look for prey based on its geographical distribution; and once it has located prey, it must assess whether to pursue it or to wait for a better choice. If it chooses pursuit, its physical capabilities determine the mode of pursuit (e.g., ambush or chase).<ref name=Pianka>{{cite book |last1=Pianka |first1=Eric R. |title=Evolutionary ecology |date=2011 |publisher=Eric R. Pianka |pages=78–83 |edition=7th (eBook)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=The economics of consumer choice |last1=MacArthur |first1=Robert H. |title=Geographical ecology : patterns in the distribution of species |date=1984 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691023823 |pages=59–76}}</ref> Having captured the prey, it may also need to expend energy ''handling'' it (e.g., killing it, removing any shell or spines, and ingesting it).<ref name=Kramer2001>{{cite book |doi=10.1093/oso/9780195131543.003.0024 |chapter=Foraging Behavior |title=Evolutionary Ecology |date=2001 |last1=Kramer |first1=Donald L. |isbn=978-0-19-513154-3 }}</ref><ref name=Griffiths/>

===Search===

Predators have a choice of search modes ranging from ''sit-and-wait'' to ''active'' or ''widely foraging''.<ref name=Bell4>{{harvnb|Bell|2012|pages=4–5}}</ref><ref name=Kramer2001/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eastman |first1=Lucas B. |last2=Thiel |first2=Martin |contribution=Foraging behavior of crustacean predators and scavengers |editor-last1=Thiel |editor-first1=Martin |editor-last2=Watling |editor-first2=Les |title=Lifestyles and feeding biology |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199797066 |pages=535–556}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=Gad |title=The Evolution of Search Modes: Ecological versus Phylogenetic Perspectives |journal=The American Naturalist |date=January 1999 |volume=153 |issue=1 |pages=98–109 |doi=10.1086/303145|pmid=29578765 |bibcode=1999ANat..153...98P |s2cid=4334462 }}</ref> The sit-and-wait method is most suitable if the prey are dense and mobile, and the predator has low energy requirements.<ref name=Bell4/> Wide foraging expends more energy, and is used when prey is sedentary or sparsely distributed.<ref name=Pianka/><ref name=Bell4/> There is a continuum of search modes with intervals between periods of movement ranging from seconds to months. Sharks, [[Molidae|sunfish]], [[Insectivorous]] birds and [[shrew]]s are almost always moving while web-building spiders, aquatic invertebrates, praying mantises and [[kestrel]]s rarely move. In between, [[plover]]s and other [[shorebirds]], freshwater fish including [[crappie]]s, and the larvae of [[Coccinellidae|coccinellid beetles (ladybirds)]], alternate between actively searching and scanning the environment.<ref name=Bell4/>

[[File:Thalassarche melanophrys in flight 2 - SE Tasmania.jpg|thumb|left|The [[black-browed albatross]] regularly flies hundreds of kilometres across the nearly empty ocean to find patches of food.]]

Prey distributions are often clumped, and predators respond by looking for ''patches'' where prey is dense and then searching within patches.<ref name=Kramer2001/> Where food is found in patches, such as rare shoals of fish in a nearly empty ocean, the search stage requires the predator to travel for a substantial time, and to expend a significant amount of energy, to locate each food patch.<ref name=Bell2012/> For example, the [[black-browed albatross]] regularly makes foraging flights to a range of around {{convert|700|km|mi|abbr=off|-1}}, up to a maximum foraging range of {{convert|3000|km|mi|abbr=off|-1}} for breeding birds gathering food for their young.{{efn|A range of 3000 kilometres means a flight distance of at least 6000 kilometres out and back.}}<ref name="Gremillet2000">{{cite journal |last1=Gremillet |first1=D. |last2=Wilson |first2=R. P. |last3=Wanless |first3=S. |last4=Chater |first4=T. |title=Black-browed albatrosses, international fisheries and the Patagonian Shelf |journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series |date=2000 |volume=195 |pages=69–280|doi=10.3354/meps195269 |bibcode=2000MEPS..195..269G |doi-access=free }}</ref> With static prey, some predators can learn suitable patch locations and return to them at intervals to feed.<ref name=Bell2012>{{harvnb|Bell|2012|pages=69–188}}</ref> The [[optimal foraging theory|optimal foraging]] strategy for search has been modelled using the [[marginal value theorem]].<ref name="Charnov1976">{{cite journal |last=Charnov |first=Eric L. |title=Optimal foraging, the marginal value theorem |journal=Theoretical Population Biology |volume=9 |issue=2 |year=1976 |doi=10.1016/0040-5809(76)90040-x |pmid=1273796 |pages=129–136 |bibcode=1976TPBio...9..129C }}</ref>

Search patterns often appear random. One such is the [[Lévy flight|Lévy walk]], that tends to involve clusters of short steps with occasional long steps. It is a [[Lévy flight foraging hypothesis|good fit to the behaviour]] of a wide variety of organisms including bacteria, honeybees, sharks and human hunter-gatherers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=Andy |title=Liberating Lévy walk research from the shackles of optimal foraging |journal=Physics of Life Reviews |date=September 2015 |volume=14 |pages=59–83 |doi=10.1016/j.plrev.2015.03.002 |pmid=25835600 |bibcode=2015PhLRv..14...59R }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buchanan |first1=Mark |title=Ecological modelling: The mathematical mirror to animal nature |journal=Nature |date=5 June 2008 |volume=453 |issue=7196 |pages=714–716 |doi=10.1038/453714a |pmid=18528368 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Assessment===

[[File:Ladybug aphids.JPG|thumb|[[Seven-spot ladybird]]s select plants of good quality for their [[aphid]] prey.]]

Having found prey, a predator must decide whether to pursue it or keep searching. The decision depends on the costs and benefits involved. A bird foraging for insects spends a lot of time searching but capturing and eating them is quick and easy, so the efficient strategy for the bird is to eat every palatable insect it finds. By contrast, a predator such as a lion or falcon finds its prey easily but capturing it requires a lot of effort. In that case, the predator is more selective.<ref name=Pianka/>

One of the factors to consider is size. Prey that is too small may not be worth the trouble for the amount of energy it provides. Too large, and it may be too difficult to capture. For example, a mantid captures prey with its forelegs and they are optimized for grabbing prey of a certain size. Mantids are reluctant to attack prey that is far from that size. There is a positive correlation between the size of a predator and its prey.<ref name=Pianka/>

A predator may assess a patch and decide whether to spend time searching for prey in it.<ref name=Kramer2001/> This may involve some knowledge of the preferences of the prey; for example, [[ladybird]]s can choose a patch of vegetation suitable for their [[aphid]] prey.<ref name="WilliamsFlaxman2012">{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Amanda C. |last2=Flaxman |first2=Samuel M. |title=Can predators assess the quality of their prey's resource? |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=83 |issue=4 |year=2012 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.01.008 |pages=883–890 |s2cid=53172079}}</ref>

===Capture===

To capture prey, predators have a spectrum of pursuit modes that range from overt chase (''[[pursuit predation]]'') to a sudden strike on nearby prey (''[[ambush predator|ambush predation]]'').<ref name=Kramer2001/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scharf |first1=Inon |last2=Nulman |first2=Einat |last3=Ovadia |first3=Ofer |last4=Bouskila |first4=Amos |date=September 2006 |title=Efficiency evaluation of two competing foraging modes under different conditions |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=168 |issue=3 |pages=350–357 |doi=10.1086/506921 |pmid=16947110|bibcode=2006ANat..168..350S |s2cid=13809116 }}</ref><ref name=Stevens2010>{{cite journal |author=Stevens, Alison N. P. |date=2010 |title=Predation, Herbivory, and Parasitism |journal=Nature Education Knowledge |volume=3 |issue=10 |page=36 |url=https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/predation-herbivory-and-parasitism-13261134}}</ref> Another strategy in between ambush and pursuit is ''ballistic interception'', where a predator observes and predicts a prey's motion and then launches its attack accordingly.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/>

====Ambush====
{{main|Ambush predation}}

{{multiple image
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| caption1 = [[Western green lizard]] [[ambush predator|ambushes]] its [[grasshopper]] prey.
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| caption2 = A [[trapdoor spider]] waiting in its burrow to ambush its prey
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Ambush or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture prey by stealth or surprise. In animals, ambush predation is characterized by the predator's scanning the environment from a concealed position until a prey is spotted, and then rapidly executing a fixed surprise attack.<ref name=deVries>{{cite journal |author=deVries, M. S. |author2=Murphy, E. A. K. |author3=Patek S. N. |title=Strike mechanics of an ambush predator: the spearing mantis shrimp |year=2012 |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=215 |issue=Pt 24 |pages=4374–4384 |doi=10.1242/jeb.075317 |pmid=23175528 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012JExpB.215.4374D }}</ref><ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Vertebrate ambush predators include frogs, fish such as the [[angel shark]], the [[northern pike]] and the [[eastern frogfish]].<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/><ref name="WhosWho">{{cite web |url=http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518235841/http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-date=18 May 2007 |title=Cougar |website=Hinterland Who's Who |access-date=22 May 2007 |publisher=[[Canadian Wildlife Service]] and [[Canadian Wildlife Federation]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pikes (Esocidae) |url=https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-pikes.pdf |publisher=Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife |access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref><ref name=fishes>{{cite web |last1=Bray |first1=Dianne |title=Eastern Frogfish, Batrachomoeus dubius |url=http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2835 |website=Fishes of Australia |access-date=14 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914181407/http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2835 |archive-date=14 September 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Among the many invertebrate ambush predators are [[trapdoor spider]]s and [[Thomisus spectabilis|Australian Crab spiders]] on land and [[mantis shrimp]]s in the sea.<ref name=deVries/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Liphistius |title=Trapdoor spiders |publisher=BBC |access-date=12 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_trapdoor_spider.php|access-date=12 December 2014 |title=Trapdoor spider |publisher=[[Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum]] |year=2014}}</ref> Ambush predators often construct a burrow in which to hide, improving concealment at the cost of reducing their field of vision. Some ambush predators also use lures to attract prey within striking range.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> The capturing movement has to be rapid to trap the prey, given that the attack is not modifiable once launched.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/>

{{anchor|Ballistic}}

====Ballistic interception====

{{multiple image
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| image1   = Chameleon gab fbi.png
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| caption1 = Tongue, adapted for prey capture
| image2   = Chameleon-Stage 03.jpg
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| caption2 = Capturing a fly at a distance
| footer   = The [[chameleon]] attacks prey by shooting out its sticky tongue.
}}

Ballistic interception is the strategy where a predator observes the movement of a prey, predicts its motion, works out an interception path, and then attacks the prey on that path. This differs from ambush predation in that the predator adjusts its attack according to how the prey is moving.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Ballistic interception involves a brief period for planning, giving the prey an opportunity to escape. Some frogs wait until snakes have begun their strike before jumping, reducing the time available to the snake to recalibrate its attack, and maximising the angular adjustment that the snake would need to make to intercept the frog in real time.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Ballistic predators include insects such as dragonflies, and vertebrates such as [[archerfish]] (attacking with a jet of water), [[chameleon]]s (attacking with their tongues), and some [[Colubridae|colubrid snakes]].<ref name="MooreBiewener2015">{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Talia Y. |last2=Biewener |first2=Andrew A. |title=Outrun or Outmaneuver: Predator–Prey Interactions as a Model System for Integrating Biomechanical Studies in a Broader Ecological and Evolutionary Context |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=55 |issue=6 |pages=1188–97 |date=2015 |doi=10.1093/icb/icv074 |pmid=26117833 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Pursuit====
{{main|Pursuit predation}}

{{multiple image
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| caption1 = [[Humpback whale]]s are lunge feeders, filtering thousands of [[krill]] from seawater and swallowing them alive.
| image2 = Gomphus vulgatissimus with a prey 002.jpg
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| caption2 = [[Dragonfly|Dragonflies]], like this [[Gomphus vulgatissimus|common clubtail]] with captured prey, are invertebrate [[Pursuit predation|pursuit predators]].
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In pursuit predation, predators chase fleeing prey. If the prey flees in a straight line, capture depends only on the predator's being faster than the prey.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> If the prey manoeuvres by turning as it flees, the predator must react in real time to calculate and follow a new intercept path, such as by [[parallel navigation]], as it closes on the prey.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Many pursuit predators use camouflage to approach the prey as close as possible unobserved (''stalking'') before starting the pursuit.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Pursuit predators include terrestrial mammals such as humans, African wild dogs, spotted hyenas and wolves; marine predators such as dolphins, orcas and many predatory fishes, such as tuna;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gazda |first1=S. K. |last2=Connor |first2=R. C. |last3=Edgar |first3=R. K. |last4=Cox |first4=F. |year=2005 |title=A division of labour with role specialization in group-hunting bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Cedar Key, Florida |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society |volume=272 |issue=1559 |pages=135–140 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2004.2937 |pmid=15695203 |pmc=1634948}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tyus |first=Harold M. |title=Ecology and Conservation of Fishes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2fNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA233 |year=2011 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4398-9759-1 |page=233}}</ref> predatory birds (raptors) such as falcons; and insects such as [[dragonfly|dragonflies]].<ref name=Combes>{{cite journal |last1=Combes |first1=S. A. |last2=Salcedo |first2=M. K. |last3=Pandit |first3=M. M. |last4=Iwasaki |first4=J. M. |year=2013 |title=Capture Success and Efficiency of Dragonflies Pursuing Different Types of Prey |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume= 53 |issue=5 |pages=787–798 |doi=10.1093/icb/ict072 |pmid=23784698 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

An extreme form of pursuit is [[Persistence hunting|endurance or persistence hunting]], in which the predator tires out the prey by following it over a long distance, sometimes for hours at a time. The method is used by human [[hunter-gatherer]]s and by [[Canidae|canids]] such as [[African wild dog]]s and domestic hounds. The African wild dog is an extreme persistence predator, tiring out individual prey by following them for many miles at relatively low speed.<ref name="HubelMyattJordanDewhirst2016">{{cite journal |last1=Hubel |first1=Tatjana Y. |last2=Myatt |first2=Julia P. |last3=Jordan |first3=Neil R. |last4=Dewhirst |first4=Oliver P. |last5=McNutt |first5=J. Weldon |last6=Wilson |first6=Alan M. |title=Energy cost and return for hunting in African wild dogs |journal=Nature Communications |volume=7 | date=29 March 2016 |doi=10.1038/ncomms11034 |pmid=27023457 |pmc=4820543 | page=11034 |quote=Cursorial hunting strategies range from one extreme of transient acceleration, power and speed to the other extreme of persistence and endurance with prey being fatigued to facilitate capture.Dogs and humans are considered to rely on endurance rather than outright speed and manoeuvrability for success when hunting cursorially.}}</ref>

A specialised form of pursuit predation is the [[lunge feed]]ing of [[baleen whale]]s. These very large marine predators feed on [[plankton]], especially [[krill]], diving and actively swimming into concentrations of plankton, and then taking a huge gulp of water and [[Filter feeder|filtering]] it through their feathery [[baleen]] plates.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldbogen |first1=J. A. |last2=Calambokidis |first2=J. |last3=Shadwick |first3=R. E. |last4=Oleson |first4=E. M. |last5=McDonald |first5=M. A. |last6=Hildebrand |first6=J. A. |year=2006 |title=Kinematics of foraging dives and lunge-feeding in fin whales |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=209 |issue=7 |pages=1231–1244 |doi=10.1242/jeb.02135 |pmid=16547295 | s2cid=17923052 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006JExpB.209.1231G }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanders |first1=Jon G. |last2=Beichman |first2=Annabel C. |last3=Roman |first3=Joe |last4=Scott |first4=Jarrod J. |last5=Emerson |first5=David |last6=McCarthy |first6=James J. |last7=Girguis |first7=Peter R. |author7-link=Peter Girguis |year=2015 |title=Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |journal=Nature Communications |volume=6 |pages=8285 |doi=10.1038/ncomms9285 |pmid=26393325 |pmc=4595633 |bibcode=2015NatCo...6.8285S}}</ref>

Pursuit predators may be [[Social predator|social]], like the lion and wolf that hunt in groups, or solitary.<ref name=LaffertyKuris2002/><!--Ambush predators are often solitary.-->

===Handling===

{{multiple image
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| image1            = Bluecat5A.jpg
| width1            = 225
| caption1          = [[Catfish]] have sharp [[fish fin|dorsal and pectoral spines]] which are held erect to discourage predators such as [[heron]]s which swallow prey whole.
| image2            = Osprey eating a fish.jpg
| width2            = 165
| caption2          = [[Osprey]] tears its fish prey apart, avoiding dangers such as sharp spines.
}}

Once the predator has captured the prey, it has to handle it: very carefully if the prey is dangerous to eat, such as if it possesses sharp or poisonous spines, as in many prey fish. Some [[catfish]] such as the [[Ictaluridae]] have [[fish fin|spines on the back (dorsal) and belly (pectoral)]] which lock in the erect position; as the catfish thrashes about when captured, these could pierce the predator's mouth, possibly fatally. Some fish-eating birds like the [[osprey]] avoid the danger of spines by tearing up their prey before eating it.<ref name="Forbes1989">{{cite journal |last=Forbes |first=L. Scott |title=Prey Defences and Predator Handling Behaviour: The Dangerous Prey Hypothesis |journal=Oikos |volume=55 |issue=2 |year=1989|doi=10.2307/3565418 |pages=155–158 |jstor=3565418 |bibcode=1989Oikos..55..155F }}</ref>

===Solitary versus social predation===
{{See also|Cooperative hunting}}

In social predation, a group of predators cooperates to kill prey. This makes it possible to kill creatures larger than those they could overpower singly; for example, [[hyena]]s, and [[Wolf|wolves]] collaborate to catch and kill herbivores as large as buffalo, and lions even hunt elephants.<ref name="LangFarine2017">{{cite journal |last1=Lang |first1=Stephen D. J. |last2=Farine |first2=Damien R. |title=A multidimensional framework for studying social predation strategies |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=1 |issue=9 |year=2017 |pages=1230–1239 |doi=10.1038/s41559-017-0245-0 |pmid=29046557 |bibcode=2017NatEE...1.1230L |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:379eff38-903d-45d9-a19b-ccc01a114e9e }}</ref><ref name="MacNulty2014">{{cite journal |last1=MacNulty |first1=Daniel R. |last2=Tallian |first2=Aimee |last3=Stahler |first3=Daniel R. |last4=Smith |first4=Douglas W. | editor-last=Sueur | editor-first=Cédric |title=Influence of Group Size on the Success of Wolves Hunting Bison |journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9 |issue=11 | date=12 November 2014 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0112884 |pmid=25389760 |pmc=4229308 | page=e112884|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9k2884M |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Power |first1=R. John |last2=Shem Compion |first2=R.X. |title=Lion Predation on Elephants in the Savuti, Chobe National Park, Botswana |journal=African Zoology |date=April 2009 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=36–44 |doi=10.3377/004.044.0104 }}</ref> It can also make prey more readily available through strategies like flushing of prey and herding it into a smaller area. For example, when mixed flocks of birds forage, the birds in front flush out insects that are caught by the birds behind. [[Spinner dolphin]]s form a circle around a school of fish and move inwards, concentrating the fish by a factor of 200.<ref name=Beauchamp2012>{{harvnb|Beauchamp|2012|pages=7–12}}</ref> By hunting socially [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s can catch [[colobus monkey]]s that would readily escape an individual hunter, while cooperating [[Harris hawk]]s can trap rabbits.<ref name="LangFarine2017"/><ref name=Dawson1988>{{cite thesis |last1=Dawson |first1=James W. |title=The cooperative breeding system of the Harris' Hawk in Arizona |hdl=10150/276864 |date=1988 |degree=Masters }}{{pn|date=July 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Journal.pone.0112884.g001 a.png|thumb|upright=2.3|center|[[Wolf|Wolves]], [[social predator]]s, cooperate to hunt and kill [[bison]].]]

Predators of different species sometimes cooperate to catch prey. In [[coral reefs]], when fish such as the [[grouper]] and [[coral trout]] spot prey that is inaccessible to them, they signal to [[Giant moray|giant moray eels]], [[Humphead wrasse|Napoleon wrasses]] or [[octopus]]es. These predators are able to access small crevices and flush out the prey.<ref name=Vail2013>{{cite journal |last1=Vail |first1=Alexander L. |last2=Manica |first2=Andrea |last3=Bshary |first3=Redouan |title=Referential gestures in fish collaborative hunting |journal=Nature Communications |date=23 April 2013 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1765 |doi=10.1038/ncomms2781|pmid=23612306 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013NatCo...4.1765V }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yong |first1=Ed |title=Groupers Use Gestures to Recruit Morays For Hunting Team-Ups |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2013/04/24/groupers-use-gestures-to-recruit-morays-for-hunting-team-ups/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215312/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2013/04/24/groupers-use-gestures-to-recruit-morays-for-hunting-team-ups/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 September 2018 |access-date=17 September 2018 |work=National Geographic |date=24 April 2013}}</ref> [[Killer whale]]s have been known to help whalers hunt [[baleen whale]]s.<ref name=eden>{{cite AV media|people=Toft, Klaus (Producer) |date=2007 |url=http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=743192 |title=Killers in Eden (DVD documentary) |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090812231151/http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=743192 |archive-date=12 August 2009 }} ISBN R-105732-9.</ref>

Social hunting allows predators to tackle a wider range of prey, but at the risk of competition for the captured food. Solitary predators have more chance of eating what they catch, at the price of increased expenditure of energy to catch it, and increased risk that the prey will escape.<ref name="BryceWilmers2017"/><ref name="MajerHolm2018">{{cite journal |last1=Majer |first1=Marija |last2=Holm |first2=Christina |last3=Lubin |first3=Yael |last4=Bilde |first4=Trine |title=Cooperative foraging expands dietary niche but does not offset intra-group competition for resources in social spiders|journal=Scientific Reports |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=11828 |year=2018 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-30199-x|pmid=30087391 |pmc=6081395 |bibcode=2018NatSR...811828M }}</ref> Ambush predators are often solitary to reduce the risk of becoming prey themselves.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambush Predators |url=https://sibleynaturecenter.org/photo-essays/ambush-predators |website=Sibley Nature Center |access-date=17 September 2018 |language=en |archive-date=2 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802002919/https://sibleynaturecenter.org/photo-essays/ambush-predators |url-status=dead }}</ref> Of 245 terrestrial members of the [[Carnivora]] (the group that includes the cats, dogs, and bears), 177 are solitary; and 35 of the 37 [[Felidae|wild cats]] are solitary,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elbroch |first1=L. Mark |last2=Quigley |first2=Howard |title=Social interactions in a solitary carnivore |journal=Current Zoology |volume=63 |issue=4 |date=10 July 2016 |pages=357–362 |doi=10.1093/cz/zow080|pmid=29491995 |pmc=5804185 }}</ref> including the cougar and cheetah.<ref name="BryceWilmers2017">{{cite journal |last1=Bryce |first1=Caleb M. |last2=Wilmers |first2=Christopher C. |last3=Williams |first3=Terrie M. |title=Energetics and evasion dynamics of large predators and prey: pumas vs. hounds |journal=PeerJ |volume=5 |year=2017 |pages=e3701 |doi=10.7717/peerj.3701|pmid=28828280 |pmc=5563439 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=LaffertyKuris2002/> However, the solitary cougar does allow other cougars to share in a kill,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Quenqua |first1=Douglas |title=Solitary Pumas Turn Out to Be Mountain Lions Who Lunch |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/science/pumas-solitary-social.html?hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well |access-date=17 September 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=11 October 2017 |language=en}}</ref> and the [[coyote]] can be either solitary or social.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flores |first1=Dan |title=Coyote America : a natural and supernatural history |date=2016 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0465052998}}</ref> Other solitary predators include the northern pike,<ref name="StowNyqvist2012">{{cite journal |last1=Stow |first1=Adam |last2=Nyqvist |first2=Marina J. |last3=Gozlan |first3=Rodolphe E. |last4=Cucherousset |first4=Julien |last5=Britton |first5=J. Robert |title=Behavioural Syndrome in a Solitary Predator Is Independent of Body Size and Growth Rate |journal=PLOS ONE|volume=7 |issue=2 |year=2012 |pages=e31619 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0031619|pmid=22363687 |pmc=3282768 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...731619N |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[wolf spider]]s and all the thousands of species of [[solitary wasp]]s among arthropods,<ref>{{cite web |title=How do Spiders Hunt? |url=https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/on-exhibit-posts/how-do-spiders-hunt/ |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=5 September 2018 |date=25 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="WeselohHare2009">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Weseloh |first1=Ronald M. |title=Encyclopedia of Insects |last2=Hare |first2=J. Daniel |edition=Second |year=2009 |pages=837–839 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-374144-8.00219-8|isbn=9780123741448 |chapter=Predation/Predatory Insects }}</ref> and many [[microorganism]]s and [[zooplankton]].<ref name=VelicerMendes-Soares2007>{{cite journal |last1=Velicer |first1=Gregory J. |last2=Mendes-Soares |first2=Helena |title=Bacterial predators |journal=Cell |date=2007 |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=R55–R56 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.043 |pmid=19174136 |s2cid=5432036 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Zooplankton |date=17 June 2018 |url=http://marinebio.org/oceans/zooplankton/ |publisher=MarineBio Conservation Society |access-date=5 September 2018}}</ref>