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Robledo-Ospina LE, Morehouse N, Escobar F, Tapia-McClung H, Narendra A, Rao D. Visual antipredator effects of web flexing in an orb web spider, with special reference to web decorations. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2023; 110:23. [PMID: 37219696 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-023-01849-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Some visual antipredator strategies involve the rapid movement of highly contrasting body patterns to frighten or confuse the predator. Bright body colouration, however, can also be detected by potential predators and used as a cue. Among spiders, Argiope spp. are usually brightly coloured but they are not a common item in the diet of araneophagic wasps. When disturbed, Argiope executes a web-flexing behaviour in which they move rapidly and may be perceived as if they move backwards and towards an observer in front of the web. We studied the mechanisms underlying web-flexing behaviour as a defensive strategy. Using multispectral images and high-speed videos with deep-learning-based tracking techniques, we evaluated body colouration, body pattern, and spider kinematics from the perspective of a potential wasp predator. We show that the spider's abdomen is conspicuous, with a disruptive colouration pattern. We found that the body outline of spiders with web decorations was harder to detect when compared to spiders without decorations. The abdomen was also the body part that moved fastest, and its motion was composed mainly of translational (vertical) vectors in the potential predator's optical flow. In addition, with high contrast colouration, the spider's movement might be perceived as a sudden change in body size (looming effect) as perceived by the predator. These effects alongside the other visual cues may confuse potential wasp predators by breaking the spider body outline and affecting the wasp's flight manoeuvre, thereby deterring the wasp from executing the final attack.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis E Robledo-Ospina
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México
- Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Nathan Morehouse
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Federico Escobar
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Horacio Tapia-McClung
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Inteligencia Artificial, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Ajay Narendra
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Dinesh Rao
- Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
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Toupin LP, Ratz T, Montiglio PO. Effects of resource availability on the web structure of female western black widows: is the web structure constrained by physiological trade-offs? Behav Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arac086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
A major challenge of biological research is to understand what generates and maintains consistent behavioral variation among animals. Time and energy trade-offs, where expressing one behavior is achieved at the expense of another, are often suggested to favor the maintenance of behavioral differences between individuals. However, few studies have investigated how individuals adjust their allocation to different functions over time and depending on resource abundance. Black widow spiders of the genus Latrodectus build persistent webs that include structural threads which protect against predators and sticky trap threads to capture prey. Web structure consistently differs among individuals in the number of trap and structural threads. To quantify the intensity of a trade-off, we assessed the relationship between the number of structural and trap threads and tested whether varying food abundance affected individual differences in web structure. We further quantified how these individual differences change over time and with food abundance. We subjected spiders to three different levels of prey abundance and monitored the structure of their webs every twelve hours. We found no evidence for a trade-off between trap and structural threads. Instead, spiders that produced more structural threads also produced more trap threads, showing that spiders invested equally in both types of threads. Interestingly, the magnitude of individual differences in web structure was greatest when spiders were fed ad libitum and at the beginning of web construction. We suggest that variation in web structure between spiders could be the result of stable developmental differences in morphology or genetic differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louis-Philippe Toupin
- Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal , CP-8888 Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P , Canada
| | - Tom Ratz
- Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal , CP-8888 Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P , Canada
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU) , Planegg-Martinsried , Germany
| | - Pierre-Olivier Montiglio
- Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal , CP-8888 Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P , Canada
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Robledo-Ospina LE, Rao D. Dangerous visions: a review of visual antipredator strategies in spiders. Evol Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-022-10156-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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Walter A. Tracing the evolutionary origin of a visual signal: the coincidence of wrap attack and web decorating behaviours in orb web spiders (Araneidae). Evol Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-018-9930-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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Jayakumar S, Paramanandham JP, Duraimurugan V, Sankari A, Ramya A, Sathishkumar S, Durga A. Study on Web-Site Attributes and Predatory Efficiency of Dark Tetragnathid Spider in Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. INTERNATIONAL LETTERS OF NATURAL SCIENCES 2017. [DOI: 10.56431/p-a9wk60] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Spiders represent one of the most abundant components of the predatory arthropods in terrestrial ecosystem. Their effectiveness at restricting pest populations, both alone and as part of natural enemy complex has well demonstrated in many countries. The web, web-site attributes and predatory efficiency of Dark Tetragnathid Spider Tetragnatha mandibulata were assessed in Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary between August 2015 and March 2016. In the present study, the spiders used limited number of plants species. The relationship between web architecture and web-site attributes was estimated using Pearson’s correlation. Number of spiders recorded in the web showed the positive correlation with web horizontal and vertical length of the capture areas (p<0.05). Similarly, the web circumference showed the positive interaction with plant height and canopy width (p<0.05), which clearly indicated the importance of vegetations across the webs of Dark Tetragnathid Spider. Further, the microhabitat selection and utilization could also be impacted by non-trophic factors like structural features of plants that provide architectural supports to spiders. A total of 4620 insect pests comprising seven orders were entangled by the webs of dark tetragnathid spiders. Number of spiders in the web were positively correlated with number of insect pests (p<0.05), which clearly explained that the Dark Tetragnathid spiders restricting pest populations and therefore they are considered as useful organism in biological control.
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Host utilization of koinobiont spider-ectoparasitoids (Ichneumonidae, Ephialtini, Polysphincta genus-group) associated with Cyclosa spp. (Araneae, Araneidae) across the Palaearctic. ZOOL ANZ 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2017.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Jayakumar S, Paramanandham J, Duraimurugan V, Sankari A, Ramya A, Sathiskumar S, Durga A. Study on Web-Site Attributes and Predatory Efficiency of Dark Tetragnathid Spider in Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. INTERNATIONAL LETTERS OF NATURAL SCIENCES 2017. [DOI: 10.18052/www.scipress.com/ilns.62.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Spiders represent one of the most abundant components of the predatory arthropods in terrestrial ecosystem. Their effectiveness at restricting pest populations, both alone and as part of natural enemy complex has well demonstrated in many countries. The web, web-site attributes and predatory efficiency of Dark Tetragnathid Spider Tetragnatha mandibulata were assessed in Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary between August 2015 and March 2016. In the present study, the spiders used limited number of plants species. The relationship between web architecture and web-site attributes was estimated using Pearson’s correlation. Number of spiders recorded in the web showed the positive correlation with web horizontal and vertical length of the capture areas (p<0.05). Similarly, the web circumference showed the positive interaction with plant height and canopy width (p<0.05), which clearly indicated the importance of vegetations across the webs of Dark Tetragnathid Spider. Further, the microhabitat selection and utilization could also be impacted by non-trophic factors like structural features of plants that provide architectural supports to spiders. A total of 4620 insect pests comprising seven orders were entangled by the webs of dark tetragnathid spiders. Number of spiders in the web were positively correlated with number of insect pests (p<0.05), which clearly explained that the Dark Tetragnathid spiders restricting pest populations and therefore they are considered as useful organism in biological control.
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Nakata K, Mori Y. Cost of complex behaviour and its implications in antipredator defence in orb-web spiders. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Nakata K, Shigemiya Y. Body-colour variation in an orb-web spider and its effect on predation success. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kensuke Nakata
- Tokyo Keizai University; Minami-cho, 1-7-34 Kokubunji Tokyo 185-8502 Japan
- Kyoto Women's University; Kitahiyoshi-cho 35 Higashiyama-ku Kyoto 605-8501 Japan
| | - Yusuke Shigemiya
- Faculty of Environment and Architecture; Nagasaki Institute for Applied Science; Abamachi 536 Nagasaki 851-0193 Japan
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Takasuka K, Yasui T, Ishigami T, Nakata K, Matsumoto R, Ikeda K, Maeto K. Host manipulation by an ichneumonid spider ectoparasitoid that takes advantage of preprogrammed web-building behaviour for its cocoon protection. J Exp Biol 2015; 218:2326-32. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.122739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Host manipulation by parasites and parasitoids is a fascinating phenomenon within evolutionary ecology, representing an example of extended phenotypes. To elucidate the mechanism of host manipulation, revealing the origin and function of the invoked actions is essential. Our study focused on the ichneumonid spider ectoparasitoid Reclinervellus nielseni, which turns its host spider (Cyclosa argenteoalba) into a drugged navvy, to modify the web structure into a more persistent cocoon web so that the wasp can pupate safely on this web after the spider's death. We focused on whether the cocoon web originated from the resting web that an unparasitized spider builds before moulting, by comparing web structures, building behaviour and silk spectral/tensile properties. We found that both resting and cocoon webs have reduced numbers of radii decorated by numerous fibrous threads and specific decorating behaviour was identical, suggesting that the cocoon web in this system has roots in the innate resting web and ecdysteroid-related components may be responsible for the manipulation. We also show that these decorations reflect UV light, possibly to prevent damage by flying web-destroyers such as birds or large insects. Furthermore, the tensile test revealed that the spider is induced to repeat certain behavioural steps in addition to resting web construction so that many more threads are laid down for web reinforcement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keizo Takasuka
- Laboratory of Insect Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
| | - Tomoki Yasui
- Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
| | - Toru Ishigami
- Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
| | - Kensuke Nakata
- Faculty for the Study of Contemporary Society, Kyoto Women's University, Kyoto 605-8501, Japan
| | | | - Kenichi Ikeda
- Laboratory of Stress Cytology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
| | - Kaoru Maeto
- Laboratory of Insect Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
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Liu MH, Blamires SJ, Liao CP, Tso IM. Evidence of bird dropping masquerading by a spider to avoid predators. Sci Rep 2014; 4:5058. [PMID: 24875182 PMCID: PMC4038025 DOI: 10.1038/srep05058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2014] [Accepted: 05/06/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Masquerading comes at various costs and benefits. The principal benefit being the avoidance of predators. The orb-web spider Cyclosa ginnaga has a silver body and adds a white discoid-shaped silk decoration to its web. The size, shape and colour of C. ginnaga's body resemble, when viewed by the human eye against its decoration, a bird dropping. We therefore hypothesized that their body colouration might combine with its web decoration to form a bird dropping masquerade to protect it from predators. We measured the spectral reflectance of: (i) the spider's body, (ii) the web decoration, and (iii) bird droppings, in the field against a natural background and found that the colour of the spider bodies and decorations were indistinguishable from each other and from bird droppings when viewed by hymentopteran predators. We monitored the predatory attacks on C. ginnaga when the spider's body and/or its decorations were blackened and found that predator attack probabilities were greater when only the decorations were blackened. Accordingly, we concluded that C. ginnaga's decoration and body colouration forms a bird dropping masquerade, which reduces its probability of predation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min-Hui Liu
- 1] Department of Life Science, National Chung-Hsin University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan [2] Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute, Nantou 55244, Taiwan
| | - Sean J Blamires
- 1] Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung 40704, Taiwan [2]
| | - Chen-Pan Liao
- Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung 40704, Taiwan
| | - I-Min Tso
- 1] Department of Life Science, National Chung-Hsin University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan [2] Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung 40704, Taiwan
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Nutrient-mediated architectural plasticity of a predatory trap. PLoS One 2013; 8:e54558. [PMID: 23349928 PMCID: PMC3551802 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2012] [Accepted: 12/14/2012] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Nutrients such as protein may be actively sought by foraging animals. Many predators exhibit foraging plasticity, but how their foraging strategies are affected when faced with nutrient deprivation is largely unknown. In spiders, the assimilation of protein into silk may be in conflict with somatic processes so we predicted web building to be affected under protein depletion. Methodology/Principal Findings To assess the influence of protein intake on foraging plasticity we fed the orb-web spiders Argiope aemula and Cyclosa mulmeinensis high, low or no protein solutions over 10 days and allowed them to build webs. We compared post-feeding web architectural components and major ampullate (MA) silk amino acid compositions. We found that the number of radii in webs increased in both species when fed high protein solutions. Mesh size increased in A. aemula when fed a high protein solution. MA silk proline and alanine compositions varied in each species with contrasting variations in alanine between the two species. Glycine compositions only varied in C. mulmeinensis silk. No spiders significantly lost or gained mass on any feeding treatment, so they did not sacrifice somatic maintenance for amino acid investment in silk. Conclusions/Significance Our results show that the amount of protein taken in significantly affects the foraging decisions of trap-building predators, such as orb web spiders. Nevertheless, the subtle differences found between species in the association between protein intake, the amino acids invested in silk and web architectural plasticity show that the influence of protein deprivation on specific foraging strategies differs among different spiders.
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Walter A, Elgar MA. The evolution of novel animal signals: silk decorations as a model system. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2012; 87:686-700. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2012.00219.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Signals for damage control: web decorations in Argiope keyserlingi (Araneae: Araneidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1200-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Rodríguez RL, Gloudeman MD. Estimating the repeatability of memories of captured prey formed by Frontinella communis spiders (Araneae: Linyphiidae). Anim Cogn 2011; 14:675-82. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-011-0402-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2010] [Revised: 04/05/2011] [Accepted: 04/06/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Gan W, Liu FX, Ren Y, Chen J, Li D. The effects of abiotic and biotic factors on web-decorating behaviour of an orb-weaving spider,Cyclosa octotuberculataKarsch (Araneae: Araneidae). J NAT HIST 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2010.512398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Blamires SJ, Lee YH, Chang CM, Lin IT, Chen JA, Lin TY, Tso IM. Multiple structures interactively influence prey capture efficiency in spider orb webs. Anim Behav 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Blamires SJ. Plasticity in extended phenotypes: orb web architectural responses to variations in prey parameters. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010; 213:3207-12. [PMID: 20802123 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.045583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
A spider orb web is an extended phenotype; it modifies and interacts with the environment, influencing spider physiology. Orb webs are plastic, responding to variations in prey parameters. Studies attempting to understand how nutrients influence spider orb-web plasticity have been hampered by the inability to decouple prey nutrients from other, highly correlated, prey factors and the intrinsic link between prey protein and prey energy concentration. I analyzed the nutrient concentrations of cockroaches, and adult and juvenile crickets to devise experiments that controlled prey protein concentration while varying prey size, ingested mass, energy concentration and feeding frequency of the orb web spider Argiope keyserlingi. I found that A. keyserlingi alters overall architecture according to feeding frequency. Decoration length was inversely related to ingested prey mass and/or energy density in one experiment but directly related to ingested prey mass in another. These contradictory results suggest that factors not examined in this study have a confounding influence on decoration plasticity. As decorations attract prey as well as predators decreasing decoration investment may, in some instances, be attributable to benefits no longer outweighing the risks. Web area was altered according to feeding frequency, and mesh size altered according to feeding frequency and prey length. The number of radii in orb webs was unaffected by prey parameters. A finite amount of silk can be invested in the orb web, so spiders trade-off smaller mesh size with larger web capture area, explaining why feeding frequency influenced both web area and mesh size. Mesh size is additionally responsive to prey size via sensory cues, with spiders constructing webs suitable for catching the most common or most profitable prey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean J Blamires
- School of Biological Science, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia.
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