The responses of polyphagous predators to prey spatial heterogeneity: aggregation by carabid and staphylinid beetles to their cereal aphid prey

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Abstract
1. Discrete patches of aphids were artificially created in winter wheat fields in 1982 and in 1983 using field cages.2. Aggregation by polyphagous predators at these patches following cage removal was measured using pitfall traps in patch and control areas.3. Several species of polyphagous beetle (Carabidae and Staphylinidae) aggregated in these patches while other species did not.4. The consequences of aggregation by polyphagous predators to a single prey species are discussed.