[en] Coccinellids and syrphids that feed on aphids and coccids face the same problem: an unstable food supply. Their eggs and larvae face cannibalism and/or starvation if the aphid colony they attack declines in abundance before they mature. Optimal foraging theory predicts that such predators should lay a few eggs early in the development of an aphid colony. Studies on two species of coccinellid and one species of syrphid revealed that they do respond to the quality as well as the abundance of their prey. By refraining from laying eggs in aphid colonies already exploited by predators and those that are shortly to decline in abundance when the aphids disperse, these predators are able to forage in a way that is consistent with the predictions of optimal foraging theory.
