Animals employ various strategies to defend themselves against predators. Our research focuses on the anti-predator defenses of invertebrates, including caterpillars, beetles, wasps, assassin bugs, praying mantises, and snails. We have used predator such as carabid beetles, braconid parasitoids, orb-weaving spiders, praying mantises, toads, and frogs to conduct our investigations.
Publication
Sugiura, S. (2025) Effects of predator species and size on prey escape success through the digestive tract. Ecology and Evolution, 15: in press.
Sugiura, S. & Urano, K. (2025) Pseudostingers as defensive weapons: Male scoliid wasps counterattack frogs. Ecology, 106(10): e70213.
Sugiura, S. & Hayashi, M. (2025) Mimicry between adult rove beetles and assassin bug nymphs with unequal defenses: antagonistic or mutualistic? PeerJ, 13:e19942.
Matsubara, S. & Sugiura, S. (2025) Suspended resting of caterpillars as an anti-predator strategy. Ecological Entomology, 50(1): 24–32.
Sugiura, S. & Hayashi, M. (2025) Invasive predators can alter mimetic interactions between native insects. Biological Invasions, 27: 48.
Sugiura, S. & Hayashi, M. (2024) Defenses of whirligig beetles against native and invasive frogs. PeerJ, 12: e17214. [Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. & Hayashi, M. (2023) Bombardiers and assassins: mimetic interactions between unequally defended insects. PeerJ, 11: e15380. [Altmetric]
Okai, K. & Sugiura, S. (2023) Death feigning in adult diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, 26(2): 102082.
Sugiura, S. & Tsujii, M. (2022) Male wasp genitalia as an anti-predator defense. Current Biology, 32(24): R1336–R1337. [Highlighted in Science, Scientific American, New Scientist, etc.; Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. & Date, T. (2022) Bombardier beetles repel invasive bullfrogs. PeerJ, 10:e13805. [Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. (2021) Beetle bombing always deters praying mantises. PeerJ, 9: e11657. [Altmetric]
Matsubara, S. & Sugiura, S. (2021) Effects of host plant growth form on dropping behaviour in leaf beetles. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 132(3): 539–551.
Hayashi, M. & Sugiura, S. (2021) Active behaviour of terrestrial caterpillars on the water surface. PeerJ, 9: e11981. [Highlighted in Science, etc.; Altmetric]
Hayashi, M. & Sugiura, S. (2021) Shell-breaking predation on gastropods by Badister pictus (Coleoptera, Carabidae) with strikingly asymmetric mandibles. ZooKeys, 1044: 815-830.
Sugiura, S. (2020) Active escape of prey from predator vent via the digestive tract. Current Biology, 30(15): R867–R868. [Highlighted in Nature Index, Nature, CNN, The Guardian, Science News, etc.; Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. (2020) Predators as drivers of insect defenses. Entomological Science, 23(3): 316– 337 (invited review). [Highlighted in New York Times, etc.]
Hayashi, M & Sugiura, S. (2020) Climbing rice plants above the waterline: escape of freshwater snails from underwater predation by snail-eating specialists. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 130(4): 751–755. [Altmetric]
Sugiura, S., Takanashi, T., Kojima, W. & Kajiura, Z. (2020) Squeaking caterpillars: independent evolution of sonic defense in wild silkmoths. Ecology, 101(10): e03112. [Altmetric]
Sugiura, S., Sakagami, K., Harada, M. & Shimada, N. (2019) Can praying mantises escape from spider webs? Ecology, 100(11): e02799. [Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. (2018) Anti-predator defences of a bombardier beetle: is bombing essential for successful escape from frogs? PeerJ, 6:e5942. [Highlighted in New York Times, etc.; Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. & Sato, T. (2018) Successful escape of bombardier beetles from predator digestive systems. Biology Letters, 14: 20170647. [Highlighted in National Geographic, Science, Nature, etc.; Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. & Takanashi, T. (2018) Hornworm counterattacks: Defensive strikes and sound production in response to invertebrate attackers. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 123: 496–505. [Highlighted in Science, etc.; Altmetric]
Sugiura S (2016) Bagworm bags as portable armour against invertebrate predators. PeerJ, 4: e1686.
Kageyama, A. & Sugiura, S. (2016) Caterpillar hairs as an anti-parasitoid defence. The Science of Nature – Naturwissenschaften, 103:86. [Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. & Yamazaki, K. (2014) Caterpillar hair as a physical barrier against invertebrate predators. Behavioral Ecology, 25:975–983. [Altmetric]
Sugiura, S. & Yamazaki, K. (2006) The role of silk threads as a lifeline in caterpillars: pattern and significance of lifeline climbing behaviour. Ecological Entomology, 31 (1): 52-57. [Highlighted in American Entomologist]