Time delay can enhance spatio-temporal chaos in a prey–predator model

• A delay-diffusion model for prey–predator interaction with interference competition among the predators is analyzed.
• Hopf-bifurcation thresholds in terms of discrete delay for the temporal model and spatio-temporal model are derived and compared.
• Hutchinson's type delay can lead to chaotic dynamics for the temporal model.
• Three types of stationary pattern and two non-stationary patterns are identified.
• Spatio-temporal chaotic pattern dominates over the parametric domain for large delay.

In this paper we explore how the time delay induced Hopf-bifurcation interacts with Turing instability to determine the resulting spatial patterns. For this study, we consider a delayed prey–predator model with Holling type-II functional response and intra-specific competition among the predators. Analytical criteria for the delay induced Hopf-bifurcation and for the delayed spatio-temporal model are provided with numerical example to validate the analytical results. Exhaustive numerical simulation reveals the appearance of three types of stationary patterns, cold spot, labyrinthine, mixture of stripe-spot and two non-stationary patterns, quasi-periodic and spatio-temporal chaotic patterns. The qualitative features of the patterns for the non-delayed and the delayed spatio-temporal model are the same but their occurrence is solely controlled by the temporal parameters, rate of diffusivity and magnitude of the time delay. It is evident that the magnitude of time delay parameter beyond the Hopf-bifurcation threshold mostly produces spatio-temporal chaotic patterns.