Intraguild predation among aphidophagous predators

Since the publication of papers by Polis et al. (1989, 1992), intraguild predation (IGP) has been considered in numerous systems and a growing number of papers have been published, demonstrating the ubiquity and the importance of this interaction. It appears that aphidophagous guilds constitute especially favourable systems for IGP. Temporal and spatial distributions of aphids promote interactions, such as IGP, among natural enemies. However, despite extensive laboratory and field studies, several questions remain to be answered: Which traits of the different protagonists of the system may promote or hamper the occurrence of IGP? How do ants tending aphids modulate the interaction? How should one consider the sub-lethal effects (and the defensive mechanisms) associated with the risk of IGP? May IGP disrupt or enhance aphid control? These different issues are discussed by focusing on the predatory species in the complex system of aphidophagous guilds. It appears that, first, IGP may constitute one of the main forces influencing the structure and dynamics of aphidophagous guilds, and therefore it has to be taken into account in research studies, and second, because of the ephemeral nature of aphid colonies and the great number of species belonging to aphidophagous guilds, understanding all the implications of the interaction, both direct and indirect, constitutes a very complex task.