Editing Predation (section)

====Ambush====
{{main|Ambush predation}}

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| image1 = Western Green Lizard.jpg
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| caption1 = [[Western green lizard]] [[ambush predator|ambushes]] its [[grasshopper]] prey.
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| caption2 = A [[trapdoor spider]] waiting in its burrow to ambush its prey
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Ambush or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture prey by stealth or surprise. In animals, ambush predation is characterized by the predator's scanning the environment from a concealed position until a prey is spotted, and then rapidly executing a fixed surprise attack.<ref name=deVries>{{cite journal |author=deVries, M. S. |author2=Murphy, E. A. K. |author3=Patek S. N. |title=Strike mechanics of an ambush predator: the spearing mantis shrimp |year=2012 |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=215 |issue=Pt 24 |pages=4374–4384 |doi=10.1242/jeb.075317 |pmid=23175528 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012JExpB.215.4374D }}</ref><ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Vertebrate ambush predators include frogs, fish such as the [[angel shark]], the [[northern pike]] and the [[eastern frogfish]].<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/><ref name="WhosWho">{{cite web |url=http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518235841/http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-date=18 May 2007 |title=Cougar |website=Hinterland Who's Who |access-date=22 May 2007 |publisher=[[Canadian Wildlife Service]] and [[Canadian Wildlife Federation]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pikes (Esocidae) |url=https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-pikes.pdf |publisher=Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife |access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref><ref name=fishes>{{cite web |last1=Bray |first1=Dianne |title=Eastern Frogfish, Batrachomoeus dubius |url=http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2835 |website=Fishes of Australia |access-date=14 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914181407/http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2835 |archive-date=14 September 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Among the many invertebrate ambush predators are [[trapdoor spider]]s and [[Thomisus spectabilis|Australian Crab spiders]] on land and [[mantis shrimp]]s in the sea.<ref name=deVries/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Liphistius |title=Trapdoor spiders |publisher=BBC |access-date=12 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_trapdoor_spider.php|access-date=12 December 2014 |title=Trapdoor spider |publisher=[[Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum]] |year=2014}}</ref> Ambush predators often construct a burrow in which to hide, improving concealment at the cost of reducing their field of vision. Some ambush predators also use lures to attract prey within striking range.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> The capturing movement has to be rapid to trap the prey, given that the attack is not modifiable once launched.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/>

{{anchor|Ballistic}}