Ecological traps are scenarios in which rapid environmental change leads organisms to prefer to settle in poor-quality habitats.
[2] Despite being a behavioural mechanism, ecological traps can have far-reaching population consequences for species with large dispersal capabilities, such as the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos).
[2][5][6] As a corollary, novel environments may represent fitness opportunities that are unrecognized by native species if high-quality habitats lack the appropriate cues to encourage settlement; these are known as perceptual traps.
[7] Theoretical[8] and empirical studies[1][4] have shown that errors made in judging habitat quality can lead to population declines or extinction.
There are now roughly 30 examples of ecological traps affecting a broad diversity of taxa including birds, mammals, arthropods, fish and reptiles.
Are traps simply an inevitable consequence of the inability of evolution to anticipate novelty or react quickly to rapid environmental change?
[10] Orientation to polarized sources of light is the most important mechanism that guides at least 300 species of dragonflies, mayflies, caddisflies, tabanid flies, diving beetles, water bugs, and other aquatic insects in their search for the water bodies they require for suitable feeding/breeding habitat and oviposition sites (Schwind 1991; Horváth and Kriska 2008).
Consequently, dragonflies, mayflies, caddisflies, and other water-seeking species actually prefer to mate, settle, swarm, and oviposit upon these surfaces than on available water bodies.