Predators of asymmetric prey (such as snails) are often asymmetric themselves or display a predation behaviour that is adapted to the asymmetry of their prey. We studied predation of sinistral and dextral forms of the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis (Linnaeus, 1758) by two snail-feeding beetle species, Phosphuga atrata (Linnaeus, 1758) and Carabus granulatus Linnaeus, 1758. We investigated a possible preference for or more efficient predation of prey items with a certain coiling direction. We found that C. granulatus displayed a preference for dextral snails, as opposed to P. atrata, which did not show any preference. We also looked at the asymmetry of the mandibles. In C. granulatus the left mandible overlay the right one in a higher... |