1
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Alruiz JM, Peralta-Maraver I, Cavieres G, Bozinovic F, Rezende EL. Fitness surfaces and local thermal adaptation in Drosophila along a latitudinal gradient. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14405. [PMID: 38623056 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Local adaptation is commonly cited to explain species distribution, but how fitness varies along continuous geographical gradients is not well understood. Here, we combine thermal biology and life-history theory to demonstrate that Drosophila populations along a 2500 km latitudinal cline are adapted to local conditions. We measured how heat tolerance and viability rate across eight populations varied with temperature in the laboratory and then simulated their expected cumulative Darwinian fitness employing high-resolution temperature data from their eight collection sites. Simulations indicate a trade-off between annual survival and cumulative viability, as both mortality and the recruitment of new flies are predicted to increase in warmer regions. Importantly, populations are locally adapted and exhibit the optimal combination of both traits to maximize fitness where they live. In conclusion, our method is able to reconstruct fitness surfaces employing empirical life-history estimates and reconstructs peaks representing locally adapted populations, allowing us to study geographic adaptation in silico.
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Affiliation(s)
- José M Alruiz
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Ignacio Peralta-Maraver
- Departamento de Ecología e Instituto del Agua, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Research Unit Modeling Nature (MNat), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Grisel Cavieres
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Francisco Bozinovic
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Enrico L Rezende
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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2
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Gastélum-Reyes JJ, Peñalba-Garmendia MC, Fu-Castillo A, Navarro-Gómez N, Castillo-Gámez RA, Meling-López AE. FOREIGN SPIDERS AND INSECTS IN ANELOSIMUS CF. ANALYTICUS (ARANEAE: THERIDIIDAE) NESTS IN THE SONORAN DESERT, MEXICO. SOUTHWEST NAT 2022. [DOI: 10.1894/0038-4909-66.3.193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julio Javier Gastélum-Reyes
- Departamento de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de la Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora C.P. 83000, Mexico
| | | | - Agustín Fu-Castillo
- Departamento de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de la Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora C.P. 83000, Mexico
| | - Narciso Navarro-Gómez
- Departamento de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de la Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora C.P. 83000, Mexico
| | - Reyna Amanda Castillo-Gámez
- Departamento de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de la Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora C.P. 83000, Mexico
| | - Alf Enrique Meling-López
- Departamento de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de la Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora C.P. 83000, Mexico
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3
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Vásárhelyi Z, Scheuring I, Aviles L. The ecology of spider sociality – A Spatial Model. Am Nat 2022; 199:776-788. [DOI: 10.1086/719182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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4
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McCabe LM, Aslan CE, Cobb NS. Decreased bee emergence along an elevation gradient: Implications for climate change revealed by a transplant experiment. Ecology 2021; 103:e03598. [PMID: 34813669 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Bees experience differences in thermal tolerance based on their geographical range; however, there are virtually no studies that examine how overwintering temperatures may influence immature survival rates. Here, we conducted a transplant experiment along an elevation gradient to test for climate-change effects on immature overwinter survival using movement along elevational gradient for a community of 26 cavity-nesting bee species in the family Megachilidae along the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona elevational gradient. In each of three years, we placed nest blocks at three elevations, to be colonized by native Megachilidae. Colonized blocks were then (1) moved to lower (warmer) elevations; (2) moved to higher (cooler) elevations; or (3) left in their natal habitat (no change in temperature). Because Megachilidae occupy high elevations with colder temperatures more than any other family of bees, we predicted that emergence would decrease in nest blocks moved to lower elevations, but that we would find no differences in emergence when nest blocks were moved to higher elevations. We found three major results: (1) Bee species moved to lower (warmer) habitats exhibited a 30% decrease in emergence compared with species moved within their natal habitat. (2) Habitat generalists were more likely than habitat specialists to emerge when moved up or down in elevation regardless of their natal life zones. (3) At our highest elevation treatment, emergence increased when blocks were moved to higher elevations, indicating that at least some Megachilidae species can survive at colder temperatures. Our results suggest that direct effects of warming temperatures will have negative impacts on the overall survival of Megachilidae. Additionally, above the tree line, low availability of wood-nesting resources is a probable limiting factor on bees moving up in elevation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsie M McCabe
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA.,USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit, Logan, Utah, 84341, USA
| | - Clare E Aslan
- Landscape Conservation Initiative, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
| | - Neil S Cobb
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
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5
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Straus S, González AL, Matthews P, Avilés L. Economies of scale shape energetics of solitary and group-living spiders and their webs. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:255-265. [PMID: 34758114 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Metabolic scaling, whereby larger individuals use less energy per unit mass than smaller ones, may apply to the combined metabolic rate of group-living organisms as group size increases. Spiders that form groups in high disturbance environments can serve to test the hypothesis that economies of scale benefit social groups. Using solitary and group-living spiders, we tested the hypothesis that spiders exhibit negative allometry between body or colony mass and the standing mass of their webs and whether, and how, such a relationship may contribute to group-living benefits in a cooperative spider. Given the diverse architecture of spider webs-orb, tangle and sheet-and-tangle, and associated differences in silk content, we first assessed how standing web mass scales with spider mass as a function of web architecture and whether investment in silk differs among web types. As group-living spiders are predominantly found in clades that build the presumably costlier sheet-and-tangle webs, we then asked whether cost-sharing through cooperative web maintenance contributes to a positive energy budget in a social species. We found that larger spiders had a relatively smaller investment in silk per unit mass than smaller ones, but more complex sheet-and-tangle webs contained orders of magnitude more silk than simpler orb or tangle ones. In the group-living species, standing web mass per unit spider mass continued to decline as colony size increased with a similar slope as for unitary spiders. When web maintenance activities were considered, colonies also experienced reduced mass-specific energy expenditure with increasing colony size. Activity savings contributed to a net positive energy balance for medium and large colonies after inputs from the cooperative capture of large prey were accounted for. Economies of scale have been previously demonstrated in animal societies characterized by reproductive and worker castes, but not in relatively egalitarian societies as those of social spiders. Our findings illustrate the universality of scaling laws and how economies of scale may transcend hunting strategies and levels of organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Straus
- Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Angélica L González
- Biology Department & Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA
| | - Philip Matthews
- Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology & Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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6
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Predictors of colony extinction vary by habitat type in social spiders. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020; 74. [PMID: 32431472 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2781-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Many animal societies are susceptible to mass mortality events and collapse. Elucidating how environmental pressures determine patterns of collapse is important for understanding how such societies function and evolve. Using the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola, we investigated the environmental drivers of colony extinction along two precipitation gradients across southern Africa, using the Namib and Kalahari deserts versus wetter savanna habitats to the north and east. We deployed experimental colonies (n = 242) along two ~ 800-km transects and returned to assess colony success in the field after 2 months. Specifically, we noted colony extinction events after the 2-month duration and collected environmental data on the correlates of those extinction events (e.g., evidence of ant attacks, no. of prey captured). We found that colony extinction events at desert sites were more frequently associated with attacks by predatory ants as compared with savanna sites, while colony extinctions in wetter savannas sites were more tightly associated with fungal outbreaks. Our findings support the hypothesis that environments vary in the selection pressures that they impose on social organisms, which may explain why different social phenotypes are often favored in each habitat.
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7
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Welti EAR, Prather RM, Sanders NJ, de Beurs KM, Kaspari M. Bottom-up when it is not top-down: Predators and plants control biomass of grassland arthropods. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:1286-1294. [PMID: 32115723 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We investigate where bottom-up and top-down control regulates ecological communities as a mechanism linking ecological gradients to the geography of consumer abundance and biomass. We use standardized surveys of 54 North American grasslands to test alternate hypotheses predicting 100-fold shifts in the biomass of four common grassland arthropod taxa-Auchenorrhyncha, sucking herbivores, Acrididae, chewing herbivores, Tettigoniidae, omnivores, and Araneae, predators. Bottom-up models predict that consumer biomass tracks plant quantity (e.g. productivity and standing biomass) and quality (nutrient content) and that ectotherm access to food increases with temperature. Each of the focal trophic groups responded differently to these drivers: the biomass of sucking herbivores and omnivores increased with plant biomass; that of chewing herbivores tracked plant quality; and predator biomass did not depend on plant quality, plant quantity or temperature. The Exploitation Ecosystem Hypothesis is a top-down hypothesis that predicts a shift from resource limitation of herbivores when plant production is low, to predator limitation when plant production is high. In grasslands where spider biomass was low, herbivore biomass increased with plant biomass, whereas bottom-up structuring was not evident when spiders were abundant. Furthermore, neither predator biomass nor trophic position (via stable isotope analysis) increased with plant biomass, suggesting predators themselves are top-down limited. Stable isotope analysis revealed that trophic position of the chewing herbivore and omnivore increased significantly with plant biomass, suggesting these groups increased scavenging and meat consumption in grasslands with higher carbohydrate availability. Taken together, our snapshot sampling documents gradients of food web structure across 54 grasslands, consistent with multiple hypotheses of bottom-up and top-down regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen A R Welti
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Rebecca M Prather
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Nathan J Sanders
- The Environmental Program, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - Kirsten M de Beurs
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Michael Kaspari
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
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8
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Silva LM, Batalha-Filho H, Japyassú HF, El-Hani CN. Population history of a social spider reveals connection between South American tropical forests. ZOOL ANZ 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2020.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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9
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Haberkern AM, Fernandez‐Fournier P, Avilés L. Spinning in the rain: Interactions between spider web morphology and microhabitat use. Biotropica 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea M. Haberkern
- Department of Biology California State University, Northridge Northridge CA USA
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Philippe Fernandez‐Fournier
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences Simon Fraser University Burnaby BC Canada
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
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10
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Lichtenstein JLL, Fisher DN, McEwen BL, Nondorf DT, Calvache E, Schmitz C, Elässer J, Pruitt JN. Collective aggressiveness limits colony persistence in high- but not low-elevation sites at Amazonian social spiders. J Evol Biol 2019; 32:1362-1367. [PMID: 31464022 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Revised: 08/10/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Identifying the traits that foster group survival in contrasting environments is important for understanding local adaptation in social systems. Here, we evaluate the relationship between the aggressiveness of social spider colonies and their persistence along an elevation gradient using the Amazonian spider, Anelosimus eximius. We found that colonies of A. eximius exhibit repeatable differences in their collective aggressiveness (latency to attack prey stimuli) and that colony aggressiveness is linked with persistence in a site-specific manner. Less aggressive colonies are better able to persist at high-elevation sites, which lack colony-sustaining large-bodied prey, whereas colony aggression was not related to chance of persistence at low-elevation sites. This suggests that low aggressiveness promotes colony survival in high-elevation, prey-poor habitats, perhaps via increased tolerance to resource limitation. These data reveal that the collective phenotypes that relate to colony persistence vary by site, and thus, the path of social evolution in these environments is likely to be affected.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L L Lichtenstein
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California - Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - David N Fisher
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Brendan L McEwen
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Daniel T Nondorf
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Esteban Calvache
- Department of Biology, Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | | | | | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California - Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.,Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
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11
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The survival of the shyest: a computational model shows the effect of web structure on the origins of social spiders. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.05.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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12
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Camacho LF, Avilés L. Decreasing Predator Density and Activity Explains Declining Predation of Insect Prey along Elevational Gradients. Am Nat 2019; 194:334-343. [DOI: 10.1086/704279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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13
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Socias-Martínez L, Kappeler PM. Catalyzing Transitions to Sociality: Ecology Builds on Parental Care. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
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14
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Kamath A, Primavera SD, Wright CM, Doering GN, Sheehy KA, Pinter-Wollman N, Pruitt JN. Collective behavior and colony persistence of social spiders depends on their physical environment. Behav Ecol 2019; 30:39-47. [PMID: 30846891 PMCID: PMC6398429 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The physical environment occupied by group-living animals can profoundly affect their cooperative social interactions and therefore their collective behavior and success. These effects can be especially apparent in human-modified habitats, which often harbor substantial variation in the physical environments available within them. For nest-building animal societies, this influence of the physical environment on collective behavior can be mediated by the construction of nests-nests could either buffer animal behavior from changes in the physical environment or facilitate shifts in behavior through changes in nest structure. We test these alternative hypotheses by examining the differences in collective prey-attacking behavior and colony persistence between fence-dwelling and tree-dwelling colonies of Stegodyphus dumicola social spiders. Fences and trees represent substantially different physical environments: fences are 2-dimensional and relatively homogenous environments, whereas tree branches are 3-dimensional and relatively heterogeneous. We found that fence-dwelling colonies attack prey more quickly and with more attackers than tree-dwelling colonies in both field and controlled settings. Moreover, in the field, fence-dwelling colonies captured more prey, were more likely to persist, and had a greater number of individuals remaining at the end of the experiment than tree-dwelling colonies. Intriguingly, we also observed a greater propensity for colony fragmentation in tree-dwelling colonies than fence-dwelling colonies. Our results demonstrate that the physical environment is an important influence on the collective behavior and persistence of colonies of social spiders, and suggest multiple possible proximate and ultimate mechanisms-including variation in web complexity, dispersal behavior, and bet-hedging-by which this influence may be realized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ambika Kamath
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management & Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Skylar D Primavera
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Colin M Wright
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Grant N Doering
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Kirsten A Sheehy
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Noa Pinter-Wollman
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada
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15
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16
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Majer M, Holm C, Lubin Y, Bilde T. Cooperative foraging expands dietary niche but does not offset intra-group competition for resources in social spiders. Sci Rep 2018; 8:11828. [PMID: 30087391 PMCID: PMC6081395 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-30199-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Group living animals invariably risk resource competition. Cooperation in foraging, however, may benefit individuals in groups by facilitating an increase in dietary niche. To test this, we performed a comparative study of social and solitary spider species. Three independently derived social species of Stegodyphus (Eresidae) occupy semi-arid savannas and overlap with three solitary congeners. We estimated potential prey availability in the environment and prey acquisition by spiders in their capture webs. We calculated dietary niche width (prey size) and breadth (taxonomic range) to compare resource use for these six species, and investigated the relationships between group size and average individual capture web production, prey biomass intake rate and variance in biomass intake. Cooperative foraging increased dietary niche width and breadth by foraging opportunistically, including both larger prey and a wider taxonomic range of prey in the diet. Individual capture web production decreased with increasing group size, indicating energetic benefits of cooperation, and variance in individual intake rate was reduced. However, individual biomass intake also decreased with increasing group size. While cooperative foraging did not completely offset resource competition among group members, it may contribute to sustaining larger groups by reducing costs of web production, increasing the dietary niche and reducing the variance in prey capture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marija Majer
- Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 8499000, Israel
- Institute of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Christina Holm
- Institute of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yael Lubin
- Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 8499000, Israel.
| | - Trine Bilde
- Institute of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark
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17
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Aceves-Aparicio A, Tapia-McClung H, Macías-Ordóñez R, Rao D. Subsocial spiders in space and time: A fine scale approach to the dynamics of dispersal. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Dinesh Rao
- Inbioteca; Universidad Veracruzana; Xalapa Veracruz México
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18
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Trait overdispersion and the role of sociality in the assembly of social spider communities across the Americas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:6010-6015. [PMID: 29784785 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1721464115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Among the factors that may lead to differences in resource use among closely related species, body size and morphology have been traditionally considered to play a role in community assembly. Here we argue that for animals that live and forage in groups, level of sociality, reflecting differences in group size and cooperative tendencies, can be an additional and powerful dimension separating species in niche space. We compare 50+ communities of the social spider genus Anelosimus across the Americas against a null model that accounts for known effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the distribution of social systems in the genus. We show that these communities are more overdispersed than expected by chance in either or both body size and level of sociality, traits we have previously shown to be associated with differences in resource utilization (prey size, microhabitat, and phenology). We further show that the contribution of sociality to differences in the size of the prey captured is two to three times greater than that of body size, suggesting that changes in group size and cooperative tendencies may be more effective than changes in body size at separating species in niche space.
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19
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Dew RM, Shell WA, Rehan SM. Changes in maternal investment with climate moderate social behaviour in a facultatively social bee. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2488-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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20
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Weissflog A, Markesteijn L, Lewis OT, Comita LS, Engelbrecht BM. Contrasting patterns of insect herbivory and predation pressure across a tropical rainfall gradient. Biotropica 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anita Weissflog
- Department of Plant Ecology; Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER); 95440 Bayreuth Germany
| | - Lars Markesteijn
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa República de Panama
- School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography; Bangor University; Bangor Gwynedd LL57 2DG UK
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; South Parks Road Oxford OX1 3PS UK
| | - Owen T. Lewis
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; South Parks Road Oxford OX1 3PS UK
| | - Liza S. Comita
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa República de Panama
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Yale University; New Haven CT 06511 USA
| | - Bettina M.J. Engelbrecht
- Department of Plant Ecology; Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER); 95440 Bayreuth Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa República de Panama
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21
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Hoffman CR, Avilés L. Rain, predators, and spider sociality: a manipulative experiment. Behav Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Catherine R. Hoffman
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
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22
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Lee-Yaw JA, Kharouba HM, Bontrager M, Mahony C, Csergő AM, Noreen AM, Li Q, Schuster R, Angert AL. A synthesis of transplant experiments and ecological niche models suggests that range limits are often niche limits. Ecol Lett 2016; 19:710-22. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2015] [Revised: 09/29/2015] [Accepted: 03/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julie A. Lee-Yaw
- Department of Botany; University of British Columbia; Vancouver British Columbia Canada
- Institut de Biologie; Université de Neuchatel; Neuchatel Switzerland
| | - Heather M. Kharouba
- Department of Evolution and Ecology; University of California Davis; Davis CA USA
| | - Megan Bontrager
- Department of Botany; University of British Columbia; Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Colin Mahony
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; University of British Columbia; Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | | | - Annika M.E. Noreen
- Department of Botany; University of British Columbia; Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Qin Li
- Department of Botany; University of British Columbia; Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Richard Schuster
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences; University of British Columbia; Vancouver British Columbia Canada
| | - Amy L. Angert
- Department of Botany; University of British Columbia; Vancouver British Columbia Canada
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23
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Keiser CN, Wright CM, Pruitt JN. Warring arthropod societies: Social spider colonies can delay annihilation by predatory ants via reduced apparency and increased group size. Behav Processes 2015. [PMID: 26205161 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2015.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Sociality provides individuals with benefits via collective foraging and anti-predator defense. One of the costs of living in large groups, however, is increased apparency to natural enemies. Here, we test how the individual-level and collective traits of spider societies can increase the risk of discovery and death by predatory ants. We transplanted colonies of the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola into a habitat dense with one of their top predators, the pugnacious ant Anoplolepis custodiens. With three different experiments, we test how colony-wide survivorship in a predator-dense habitat can be altered by colony apparency (i.e., the presence of a capture web), group size, and group composition (i.e., the proportion of bold and shy personality types present). We also test how spiders' social context (i.e., living solitarily vs. among conspecifics) modifies their behaviour toward ants in their capture web. Colonies with capture webs intact were discovered by predatory ants on average 25% faster than colonies with the capture web removed, and all discovered colonies eventually collapsed and succumbed to predation. However, the lag time from discovery by ants to colony collapse was greater for colonies containing more individuals. The composition of individual personality types in the group had no influence on survivorship. Spiders in a social group were more likely to approach ants caught in their web than were isolated spiders. Isolated spiders were more likely to attack a safe prey item (a moth) than they were to attack ants and were more likely to retreat from ants after contact than they were after contact with moths. Together, our data suggest that the physical structures produced by large animal societies can increase their apparency to natural enemies, though larger groups can facilitate a longer lag time between discovery and demise. Lastly, the interaction between spiders and predatory ants seems to depend on the social context in which spiders reside.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl N Keiser
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
| | - Colin M Wright
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
| | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
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24
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Wright CM, Keiser CN, Pruitt JN. Personality and morphology shape task participation, collective foraging and escape behaviour in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Anim Behav 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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25
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Majer M, Agnarsson I, Svenning JC, Bilde T. Social spiders of the genus Anelosimus occur in wetter, more productive environments than non-social species. Naturwissenschaften 2013; 100:1031-40. [PMID: 24177705 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-013-1106-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2013] [Revised: 09/23/2013] [Accepted: 10/07/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Latitude, rainfall, and productivity have been shown to influence social organisation and level of sociality in arthropods on large geographic scales. Social spiders form permanent group-living societies where they cooperate in brood care, web maintenance, and foraging. Sociality has evolved independently in a number of unrelated spider genera and may reflect convergent evolutionary responses to common environmental drivers. The genus Anelosimus contains a third of approximately 25 described permanently social spider species, eight to nine species that all occur in the Americas. To test for environmental correlates of sociality in Anelosimus across the Americas, we used logistic regression to detect effects of annual rainfall, productivity, and precipitation seasonality on the relative likelihood of occurrence of social and non-social Anelosimus spiders. Our analyses show that social species tend to occur at higher annual rainfall and productivity than non-social species, supporting the hypothesised effects of these environmental variables on the geographical distribution of social species. We did not find support for the hypothesis that permanently social species occur in areas with low precipitation seasonality. High annual precipitation and, to less extent, high productivity favour the occurrence of permanently group-living Anelosimus spiders relative to subsocial and solitary species. These results are partially consistent with previous findings for the Old World spider genus Stegodyphus, where a link between high habitat productivity and sociality was also found. Unlike Anelosimus, however, Stegodyphus typically occur in dry habitats negating a general importance of high precipitation for sociality. Sociality in spiders thus seems to be strongly linked to productivity, probably reflecting the need for relatively high availability of large prey to sustain social colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marija Majer
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000, Aarhus-C, Denmark,
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26
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Co-evolution between sociality and dispersal: The role of synergistic cooperative benefits. J Theor Biol 2012; 312:44-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2012.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2011] [Revised: 07/14/2012] [Accepted: 07/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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27
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Pruitt JN, Oufiero CE, Avilés L, Riechert SE. Iterative evolution of increased behavioral variation characterizes the transition to sociality in spiders and proves advantageous. Am Nat 2012; 180:496-510. [PMID: 22976012 DOI: 10.1086/667576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of group living is regarded as a major evolutionary transition and is commonly met with correlated shifts in ancillary characters. We tested for associations between social tendency and a myriad of abiotic variables (e.g., temperature and precipitation) and behavioral traits (e.g., boldness, activity level, and aggression) in a clade of spiders that exhibit highly variable social structures (genus Anelosimus). We found that, relative to their subsocial relatives, social species tended to exhibit reduced aggressiveness toward prey, increased fearfulness toward predators, and reduced activity levels, and they tended to occur in warm, wet habitats with low average wind velocities. Within-species variation in aggressiveness and boldness was also positively associated with sociality. We then assessed the functional consequences of within-species trait variation on reconstituted colonies of four test species (Anelosimus eximius, Anelosimus rupununi, Anelosimus guacamayos, and Anelosimus oritoyacu). We used colonies consisting of known ratios of docile versus aggressive individuals and group foraging success as a measure of colony performance. In all four test species, we found that groups composed of a mixture of docile and aggressive individuals outperformed monotypic groups. Mixed groups were more effective at subduing medium and large prey, and mixed groups collectively gained more mass during shared feeding events. Our results suggest that the iterative evolution of depressed aggressiveness and increased within-species behavioral variation in social spiders is advantageous and could be an adaptation to group living that is analogous to the formation of morphological castes within the social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
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28
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Corcobado G, Rodríguez-Gironés MA, Moya-Laraño J, Avilés L. Sociality level correlates with dispersal ability in spiders. Funct Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.01996.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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29
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Abstract
Species that differ in their social system, and thus in traits such as group size and dispersal timing, may differ in their use of resources along spatial, temporal, or dietary dimensions. The role of sociality in creating differences in habitat use is best explored by studying closely related species or socially polymorphic species that differ in their social system, but share a common environment. Here we investigate whether five sympatric Anelosimus spider species that range from nearly solitary to highly social differ in their use of space and in their phenology as a function of their social system. By studying these species in Serra do Japi, Brazil, we find that the more social species, which form larger, longer–lived colonies, tend to live inside the forest, where sturdier, longer lasting vegetation is likely to offer better support for their nests. The less social species, which form single-family groups, in contrast, tend to occur on the forest edge where the vegetation is less robust. Within these two microhabitats, species with longer-lived colonies tend to occupy the potentially more stable positions closer to the core of the plants, while those with smaller and shorter-lived colonies build their nests towards the branch tips. The species further separate in their use of common habitat due to differences in the timing of their reproductive season. These patterns of habitat use suggest that the degree of sociality can enable otherwise similar species to differ from one another in ways that may facilitate their co-occurrence in a shared environment, a possibility that deserves further consideration.
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30
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Sih
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California at Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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31
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Agnarsson I. Systematics of new subsocial and solitary Australasian Anelosimus species (Araneae:Theridiidae). INVERTEBR SYST 2012. [DOI: 10.1071/is11039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Species of the cobweb spider genus Anelosimus range from solitary to subsocial to social, and sociality has evolved repeatedly within the genus. Thus, this genus allows studies of the traits that play a role in social evolution. However, taxonomic knowledge of Anelosimus is geographically narrow and nearly all sociobiological studies have been done in the Americas. Only one behaviourally unknown species has been described from all of Australasia. Here, I describe seven new Anelosimus from Papua New Guinea (Anelosimus potmosbi, sp. nov., Anelosimus pomio, sp. nov., Anelosimus eidur, sp. nov. and Anelosimus luckyi, sp. nov.), Bali (Anelosimus bali, sp. nov.), Australia (Anelosimus pratchetti, sp. nov.) and an unknown locality (Anelosimus terraincognita, sp. nov.), ranging from solitary to subsocial. A phylogenetic analysis supports the inclusion of these species in Anelosimus, and suggests that solitary Papuan species represent a second reversal from subsocial behaviour. Both solitary species inhabit the beachfront, a habitat that appears not to be conducive to social behaviour in spiders. Subsocial species, as in other parts of the world, are found in montane tropical forests of Papua New Guinea, and at relatively high latitudes in Australia. Thus, a global ecological pattern of sociality in Anelosimus is emerging as taxonomic, phylogenetic and ethological knowledge extends beyond the Americas.
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32
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The Evolution of Inbred Social Systems in Spiders and Other Organisms. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-394288-3.00003-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
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33
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Samuk KM, LeDue EE, Avilés L. Sister clade comparisons reveal reduced maternal care behavior in social cobweb spiders. Behav Ecol 2011. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arr146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
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Within-group behavioral variation promotes biased task performance and the emergence of a defensive caste in a social spider. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2010; 65:1055-1060. [PMID: 21625651 PMCID: PMC3078319 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-1112-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2010] [Revised: 11/01/2010] [Accepted: 11/04/2010] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
The social spider Anelosimus studiosus exhibits a behavioral polymorphism where colony members express either a passive, tolerant behavioral tendency (social) or an aggressive, intolerant behavioral tendency (asocial). Here we test whether asocial individuals act as colony defenders by deflecting the suite of foreign (i.e., heterospecific) spider species that commonly exploit multi-female colonies. We (1) determined whether the phenotypic composition of colonies is associated with foreign spider abundance, (2) tested whether heterospecific spider abundance and diversity affect colony survival in the field, and (3) performed staged encounters between groups of A. studiosus and their colony-level predator Agelenopsis emertoni (A. emertoni)to determine whether asocial females exhibit more defensive behavior. We found that larger colonies harbor more foreign spiders, and the number of asocial colony members was negatively associated with foreign spider abundance. Additionally, colony persistence was negatively associated with the abundance and diversity of foreign spiders within colonies. In encounters with a colony-level predator, asocial females were more likely to exhibit escalatory behavior, and this might explain the negative association between the frequency of asocial females and the presence of foreign spider associates. Together, our results indicate that foreign spiders are detrimental to colony survival, and that asocial females play a defensive role in multi-female colonies.
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35
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Purcell J. Geographic patterns in the distribution of social systems in terrestrial arthropods. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2010; 86:475-91. [PMID: 20840372 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2010.00156.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The role of ecology in the evolution and maintenance of arthropod sociality has received increasing research attention in recent years. In some organisms, such as halictine bees, polistine wasps, and social spiders, researchers are investigating the environmental factors that may contribute to high levels of variation in the degree of sociality exhibited both among and within species. Within lineages that include only eusocial members, such as ants and termites, studies focus more on identifying extrinsic factors that may contribute to the dramatic variation in colony size, number of queens, and division of labour that is evident across these species. In this review, I propose a comparative approach that seeks to identify environmental factors that may have a common influence across such divergent social arthropod groups. I suggest that seeking common biogeographic patterns in the distribution of social systems or key social traits may help us to identify ecological factors that play a common role in shaping the evolution of sociality across different organisms. I first review previous studies of social gradients that form along latitudinal and altitudinal axes. Within families and within species, many organisms show an increasing degree of sociality at lower latitudes and altitudes. In a smaller number of cases, organisms form larger groups or found nests cooperatively at higher latitudes and altitudes. I then describe several environmental factors that vary consistently along such gradients, including climate variables and abundance of predators, and outline their proposed role in the social systems of terrestrial arthropods. Finally, I map distributions of a social trait against several climatic factors in five case studies to demonstrate how future comparative studies could inform empirical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Purcell
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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