Definition of predation and key distinctions

Summary

Predation is a biological interaction in which a predator kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is part of a broader set of feeding relationships that includes parasitism, micropredation, and parasitoidism, but predation is specifically distinguished by the predator’s direct killing and consumption of the prey. It also differs from scavenging on dead prey (though many predators will scavenge when possible) and overlaps with herbivory in cases like seed predation and destructive frugivory, where living plant parts are consumed. A key distinction is between predators and parasitoids: parasitoids (e.g., ichneumon wasps) lay eggs in or on a host, and the host is eventually killed by the developing larva, typically with only one host per larva. Predation also differs from micropredation, where the prey is usually not killed (e.g., fleas, mosquitoes, and aphids). Other borderline cases include grazing on phytoplankton or microbes (predatory because the organisms are consumed and killed), seed and egg predation (predatory because entire living organisms are consumed), and scavenging (not predation because it involves only already-dead organisms).

Key Points

• 1

  Predation is defined as an interaction where the predator kills and eats its prey.

• 2

  Predation is distinct from parasitoidism (parasitoids typically involve one host that is eventually killed by a larva).

• 3

  Predation differs from micropredation because micropredators usually do not kill their hosts.

• 4

  Some feeding strategies are borderline but can be predatory depending on whether the food organisms are killed (e.g., seed/egg predation; grazing on microbes).