Heat waves affect prey and predators differently via developmental plasticity: who may benefit most from global warming?

An accelerated development may result in the reduction of the exposure time of susceptible juvenile stages to heat waves and prey stages to predators. Plastic size adjustments caused a shift in the female predator-prey body size ratio in favor of the prey, which may lead to higher heat resistance and reduced predation risk for prey females under extreme heat waves. In conclusion, our findings indicate that species-specific shifts in age and size at maturity may result in lower suppression efficacy of the predator P. persimilis against its prey T. urticae with severe consequences for biological control of spider mites, if global warming continues.