Abstract
SUMMARY A passive haemagglutination inhibition (PHI) assay for the identification of stomach contents of invertebrate predators is described. When used in a system involving a wolf spider preying on three species of aquatic insects, PHI was up to two orders of magnitude more sensitive than the precipitin test while exhibiting between-genus specificity. The facilities needed for the performance of PHI assays are about as elaborate as those used in precipitin testing. The principal disadvantage of PHI is its requirement for a continual source of antigen, a requirement which should not, however, be difficult to satisfy where the prey are in culture or otherwise abundant. PHI has been used to detect a wide variety of plant and animal materials, suggesting that it is generally applicable to studies of predator-prey interactions regardless of prey taxon.
Published Version
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