Abstract
Classical models of foraging behaviour1–3 assume that feeding patterns maximising the net caloric gain per unit time or minimising the tune spent in foraging will be favoured by natural selection. There is some evidence for this behaviour in some foragers4, mostly higher vertebrates for which time and energy constraints are frequently paramount. However, while these models may suffice under some circumstances, nutritional information from the veterinary, wildlife management, and entomological literature shows that an animal requires a diet containing all necessary nutrients to be truly fit (physiologically and evolutionarily). Therefore unless animals are very severely constrained energetically, foraging behaviour should lead to nutritional as well as caloric optimisation. Here I show that free-living wolf spiders will tend to prey on three species in proportions which optimise the proportions of the essential amino acids they provide in the diet.
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