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Schraft HA, Bilbrey C, Olenski M, DiRienzo N, Montiglio PO, Dornhaus A. Injected serotonin decreases foraging aggression in black widow spiders (Latrodectus hesperus), but dopamine has no effect. Behav Processes 2023; 204:104802. [PMID: 36509355 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
A fundamental goal of animal behavior research is to discover the proximate mechanisms driving individual behavioral differences. Biogenic amines are known to mediate various aspects of behavior across many species, including aggression, one of the most commonly measured behavioral traits in animals. Arthropods provide an excellent system to manipulate biogenic amines and quantify subsequent behavioral changes. Here, we investigated the role of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) on foraging aggression in western black widow spiders (Latrodectus hesperus), as measured by the number of attacks on a simulated prey animal in the web. We injected spiders with DA or 5-HT and then quantified subsequent changes in behavior over 48 h. Based on previous work on insects and spiders, we hypothesized that increasing DA levels would increase aggression, while increasing 5-HT would decrease aggression. We found that injection of 5-HT did decrease black widow foraging aggression, but DA had no effect. This could indicate that the relationship between DA and aggression is complex, or that DA may not play as important a role in driving aggressive behavior as previously thought, at least in black widow spiders. Aggressive behavior is likely also influenced by other factors, such as inter-individual differences in genetics, metabolic rates, environment, and other neurohormonal controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannes A Schraft
- Université du Québec à Montréal, Département des sciences biologiques, Montréal, QC H2X 1Y4, Canada.
| | - Chasity Bilbrey
- University of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, PO Box 210088, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States
| | - Matt Olenski
- University of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, PO Box 210088, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States
| | - Nicholas DiRienzo
- University of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, PO Box 210088, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States
| | - Pierre-Olivier Montiglio
- Université du Québec à Montréal, Département des sciences biologiques, Montréal, QC H2X 1Y4, Canada
| | - Anna Dornhaus
- University of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, PO Box 210088, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States
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2
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Hernández Duran L, Wilson DT, Briffa M, Rymer TL. Beyond spider personality: The relationships between behavioral, physiological, and environmental factors. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:2974-2989. [PMID: 33841759 PMCID: PMC8019048 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Spiders are useful models for testing different hypotheses and methodologies relating to animal personality and behavioral syndromes because they show a range of behavioral types and unique physiological traits (e.g., silk and venom) that are not observed in many other animals. These characteristics allow for a unique understanding of how physiology, behavioral plasticity, and personality interact across different contexts to affect spider's individual fitness and survival. However, the relative effect of extrinsic factors on physiological traits (silk, venom, and neurohormones) that play an important role in spider survival, and which may impact personality, has received less attention. The goal of this review is to explore how the environment, experience, ontogeny, and physiology interact to affect spider personality types across different contexts. We highlight physiological traits, such as neurohormones, and unique spider biochemical weapons, namely silks and venoms, to explore how the use of these traits might, or might not, be constrained or limited by particular behavioral types. We argue that, to develop a comprehensive understanding of the flexibility and persistence of specific behavioral types in spiders, it is necessary to incorporate these underlying mechanisms into a synthesized whole, alongside other extrinsic and intrinsic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Hernández Duran
- College of Science and EngineeringJames Cook UniversityCairnsQldAustralia
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability SciencesJames Cook UniversityCairnsQldAustralia
| | - David Thomas Wilson
- Centre for Molecular TherapeuticsAustralian Institute for Tropical Health and MedicineJames Cook UniversityCairnsQldAustralia
| | - Mark Briffa
- School of Biological and Marine SciencesPlymouth UniversityPlymouthUK
| | - Tasmin Lee Rymer
- College of Science and EngineeringJames Cook UniversityCairnsQldAustralia
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability SciencesJames Cook UniversityCairnsQldAustralia
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3
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Mah A, Ayoub N, Toporikova N, Jones TC, Moore D. Locomotor activity patterns in three spider species suggest relaxed selection on endogenous circadian period and novel features of chronotype. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2020; 206:499-515. [PMID: 32219511 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-020-01412-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
We examined the circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in three spider species in the Family Theridiidae under light-dark cycles and constant darkness. Contrary to previous findings in other organisms, we found exceptionally high variability in endogenous circadian period both within and among species. Many individuals exhibited circadian periods much lower (19-22 h) or much higher (26-30 h) than the archetypal circadian period. These results suggest relaxed selection on circadian period as well as an ability to succeed in nature despite a lack of circadian resonance with the 24-h daily cycle. Although displaying similar entrainment waveforms under light-dark cycles, there were remarkable differences among the three species with respect to levels of apparent masking and dispersion of activity under constant dark conditions. These behavioral differences suggest an aspect of chronotype adapted to the particular ecologies of the different species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Mah
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Pl #809, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Nadia Ayoub
- Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Howe Hall, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA
| | - Natalia Toporikova
- Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Howe Hall, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA
- Neuroscience Program, Washington and Lee University, 204 W. Washington Street, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA
| | - Thomas C Jones
- Department of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Box 70703, Johnson City, TN, 37604, USA
| | - Darrell Moore
- Department of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Box 70703, Johnson City, TN, 37604, USA.
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4
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Social tipping points in animal societies in response to heat stress. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:1298-1305. [PMID: 29942021 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0592-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Living systems sometimes experience abrupt tipping points in response to stress. Here we investigate the factors contributing to the appearance of such abrupt state transitions in animal societies. We first construct a mathematical account of how the personality compositions of societies could alter their propensity to shift from calm to violent states in response to thermal stress. To evaluate our model, we subjected experimental societies of the spider Anelosimus studiosus to heat stress. We demonstrate that both colony size and personality composition influence the timing of and recoverability from sudden transitions in social state. Groups composed of aggressive personalities transitioned into violent within-group dynamics sooner during heating, and also resisted recovery to baseline non-aggressive behaviour during cooling. We further observed hysteresis in groups composed of aggressive individuals, where group behaviour depended strongly on whether the colony had previously been in a calm or agitated state. These results demonstrate that a society's susceptibility to sudden state shifts and their recoverability from them can be driven by the personalities of their constituents.
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5
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DiRienzo N, Aonuma H. Plasticity in extended phenotype increases offspring defence despite individual variation in web structure and behaviour. Anim Behav 2018; 138:9-17. [PMID: 30364586 PMCID: PMC6197064 DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Many animals actively defend their offspring using a range of behaviours from calling and mobbing in birds, to physical grappling in crustaceans, and the expression of these behaviours positively scale with offspring value. While this role of behaviour in defence is well studied, very little is known about how other traits, specifically the structure of architectural constructions such as webs and nests, contribute to offspring defence. Additionally, although some tax a show consistent individual differences in offspring defence behaviour, it is completely unknown whether individuals also differ in defensive structures. We addressed these questions in the redback spider, Latrodectus hasselti, by measuring how a female laying an eggcase influences female behaviour and web structure, and whether those traits scale with relative reproductive investment. Our results show that females modified web structure in response to an eggcase, but only the protective elements of web structure positively scaled with the relative value of that eggcase. Finally, despite the significant correlations, fixed effects (e.g. eggcase possession/value) in the models explained only 5-23% of the variation in behaviour and web structure, while the random effect of individual identity explained 46-65% of the variation. This variation drove moderate to high repeatability estimates across all traits, suggesting that some individuals consistently invest relatively more in defence, while some invest less. These results highlight that extended phenotypic traits may be a critical component of offspring defence in some taxa. Furthermore, individual variation in these traits suggest that different reproductive strategies may exist, whereby some individuals invest more in reproduction at a cost to safety/foraging and vice versa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas DiRienzo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A
- Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Correspondence: N. DiRienzo, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210088, Tucson, AZ 85721, U.S.A. (N. DiRienzo)
| | - Hitoshi Aonuma
- Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo, Japan
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Watts JC, Jones TC, Herrig A, Miller M, Tenhumberg B. Temporal Variation in Predation Risk May Explain Daily Rhythms of Foraging Behavior in an Orb-Weaving Spider. Am Nat 2018; 191:74-87. [DOI: 10.1086/694775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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7
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DiRienzo N, Aonuma H. Individual differences are consistent across changes in mating status and mediated by biogenic amines. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2345-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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8
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Intense group selection selects for ideal group compositions, but selection within groups maintains them. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.11.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Ingley SJ, Pruitt JN, Scharf I, Purcell J. Social context, but not individual personality, alters immigrant viability in a spider with mixed social structure. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15216, USA
| | - Charles J Goodnight
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15216, USA
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11
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Grinsted L, Bilde T, Gilbert JDJ. Questioning evidence of group selection in spiders. Nature 2015; 524:E1-3. [PMID: 26310770 DOI: 10.1038/nature14595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2015] [Accepted: 05/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lena Grinsted
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
| | - Trine Bilde
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, building 1540, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - James D J Gilbert
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.,School of Biological, Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
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