Body spot coloration of a nocturnal sit-and-wait predator visually lures prey

A dual function of white coloration in a nocturnal spider Dolomedes raptor (Araneae: Pisauridae)

“…Conspicuous body coloration has recently been reported to function as a prey lure in nocturnal web-building spiders, such as N. pilipes (Chuang et al, 2007) and N. punctigera (Blamires et al, 2012). In these spiders, coloration can apparently increase foraging success (i.e.…”

“…In these spiders, coloration can apparently increase foraging success (i.e. increase the interception rate of the web) by attracting prey such as moths (Blamires et al, 2012;Chuang et al, 2008). The conspicuous body color of these nocturnal web-building spi- ders, however, is unlikely to also have a sexual function because males of these species are very myopic and dull in color (Land, 1985).…”

“…For example, the brightly colored body parts of the giant wood spider, Nephila pilipes, have been shown to function as a visual lure for attracting both diurnal and nocturnal prey (Chuang, Yang, & Tso, 2007). The conspicuous yellow ventral spots in the garden spider, Neoscona punctigera, can also lure prey at night (Blamires et al, 2012). Aside from these examples, the role of conspicuous coloration in luring prey at night has not been well studied or known in nocturnal cursorial arthropods.…”

A nocturnal cursorial predator attracts flying prey with a visual lure

“…For nocturnal arthropods, however, visual signalling has been largely ignored because of the low ambient illumination at night, technical constraints of conducting research in dim light conditions and the dull body coloration of nocturnal organisms in general (Blamires et al, 2012). But there is growing evidence that various nocturnal trap-building predators can visually attract insects at night by conspicuous signals on their body.…”

“…But there is growing evidence that various nocturnal trap-building predators can visually attract insects at night by conspicuous signals on their body. For example, the conspicuous body parts of the giant wood spider, Nephila pilipes (Chuang, Yang, & Tso, 2007), orchid spider, Leucauge magnifica (Tso, Huang, & Liao, 2007) and the garden spider, Neoscona punctigera (Blamires et al, 2012;Chuang, Yang, & Tso, 2008) have been shown to function as visual lures for nocturnal prey.…”