A key problem faced by foragers is how to forage when resources are distributed heterogeneously in space. This heterogeneity and associated trade‐offs may change with spatial scale. Furthermore, foragers may also have to optimize acquiring multiple resources. Such complexity of decision‐making while foraging is poorly understood. We studied the butterfly Ypthima huebneri to examine how foraging decisions of adults are influenced by spatial scale and multiple resources. We predicted that, at a small‐spatial scale, the time spent foraging in a patch should be proportional to resources in the patch, but at large‐spatial scales, due to limitations arising from large travel costs, this relationship should turn negative. We also predicted that both adult and larval resources should jointly affect foraging butterflies. To test these predictions, we laid eleven plots and sub‐divided them into patches. We mapped nectar and larval resources and measured butterfly behavior in these patches and plots. We found that adult foraging behavior showed contrasting relationships with adult resource density at small versus large‐spatial scales. At the smaller‐spatial scale, butterflies spent more time feeding in resource‐rich patches, whereas at the large‐scale, butterflies spent more time feeding in resource‐poor plots. Furthermore, both adult and larval resources appeared to affect foraging decisions, suggesting that individuals may optimize search costs for different resources. Overall, our findings suggest that the variation in foraging behavior seen in foragers might result from animals responding to complex ecological conditions, such as resource heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales and the challenges of tracking multiple resources.

中文翻译：

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自然中的觅食：在小型和大型空间上对资源异质性的不同响应

觅食者面临的一个关键问题是当资源在空间中异构分布时如何觅食。这种异质性和相关的取舍可能随空间规模而变化。此外，觅食者可能还必须优化获取多个资源。人们对这种觅食决策的复杂性了解甚少。我们研究了蝴蝶Ypthima huebneri研究成年人的觅食决策如何受到空间规模和多种资源的影响。我们预测，在小空间范围内，在补丁中觅食的时间应与补丁中的资源成比例，但在大空间范围内，由于高昂的旅行成本而造成的限制，这种关系应变为负值。我们还预测，成虫和幼虫资源应共同影响蝴蝶的觅食。为了检验这些预测，我们绘制了11个图并将其细分为小块。我们在这些斑块和地块中绘制了花蜜和幼虫资源的图，并测量了蝴蝶的行为。我们发现，成年觅食行为与成年资源密度在小空间尺度和大空间尺度上都呈现出相反的关系。在较小的空间范围内，蝴蝶将更多的时间花在资源丰富的补丁上，而在大规模的情况下，蝴蝶花更多的时间在资源贫乏的土地上觅食。此外，成虫和幼虫资源似乎都影响觅食决策，这表明个人可以优化不同资源的搜索成本。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，觅食者中觅食行为的变化可能是由于动物对复杂的生态条件做出了响应，例如在多个空间尺度上的资源异质性以及跟踪多种资源的挑战。