Intersexual Conflict in Spiders

Schneider, Jutta M.; Lubin, Yael

doi:10.2307/3546677

Cited by 103 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Behavioral modulation processes coordinate these steps, where aggressive attenuation and mutual arousal (or stimulation) are the best-known functional examples (Robinson 1982;Schneider and Lubin 1998). It is probable that some of these properties act together during courtship, or at least have some influence on the evolution of courtship and speciation processes (Miller et al 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuptial gifts and sexual behavior in two species of spider (Araneae, Trechaleidae, Paratrechalea)

Costa-Schmidt

Carico

Araújo

2008

Naturwissenschaften

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Male delivering of a prey packed in silk as a nuptial gift is rare in spiders and restricted until now to Pisauridae. Here, we describe this behavioral pattern found in two Trechaleidae species, Paratrechalea azul Carico 2005, and Paratrechalea ornata (Mello-Leitão 1943), mainly based on field observations. We observed the following steps of sexual behavior: sperm induction, nuptial gift construction, mate searching, pre-copulatory courtship, copulation, and copulatory ending. In this group, a nuptial gift consists of a prey wrapped in silk, which appears as a white rounded shape. The male carries his nuptial gift in his chelicerae while searching for a female. When he finds a female, he shows a stereotyped courting behavior consisting of a hyperflexed posture that is also assumed by the receptive female while they face each other. The copulatory position and pattern is similar to that found in other Lycosoidea: the male mounts the female and makes a total of four palpal insertions while alternating sides. However, after each palpal insertion the male dismounts and returns to a frontal position while biting the gift. Copulatory courtship is evidenced by palpal and leg movements. The copulation ends by female initiative and she almost always retains the nuptial gift. No case of pre-copulatory or post-copulatory cannibalism has been recorded. Descriptions of nuptial gift construction by males and copulation in these species, as well as hypotheses about the origin of nuptial gift construction among spiders, are presented. These descriptions are the first records of such nuptial gift offering for Neotropical spiders and for non-Pisauridae species as well.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuptial gifts and sexual behavior in two species of spider (Araneae, Trechaleidae, Paratrechalea)

Costa-Schmidt

Carico

Araújo

2008

Naturwissenschaften

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“…Gift-giving is a feature of human courtship (Miller 2000), and mating systems in a number of arthropod species involve nuptial gifts (Schneider & Lubin 1998;Vahed 1998). The role of gifts in essentially symmetric interactions has been modelled by economists (Camerer 1988;Carmichael & MacLeod 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costly but worthless gifts facilitate courtship

Sozou

Seymour

2005

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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What are the characteristics of a good courtship gift? We address this question by modelling courtship as a sequential game. This is structured as follows: the male offers a gift to a female; after observing the gift, the female decides whether or not to accept it; she then chooses whether or not to mate with the male. In one version of the game, based on human courtship, the female is uncertain about whether the male intends to stay or desert after mating. In a second version, there is no paternal care but the female is uncertain about the male's quality. The two versions of the game are shown to be mathematically equivalent. We find robust equilibrium solutions in which mating is predominantly facilitated by an ‘extravagant’ gift which is costly to the male but intrinsically worthless to the female. By being costly to the male, the gift acts as a credible signal of his intentions or quality. At the same time, its lack of intrinsic value to the female serves to deter a ‘gold-digger’, who has no intention of mating with the male, from accepting the gift. In this way, an economically inefficient gift enables mutually suitable partners to be matched.

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“…Indeed, across cannibalistic spider taxa (Class Arachnida, Order Araneae), sexual cannibalism is commonly associated with extreme morphologies and striking mating systems (reviewed in [9,10]). For example, sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is often associated with sexual cannibalism [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits of size dimorphism and copulatory silk wrapping in the sexually cannibalistic nursery web spider, Pisaurina mira

Anderson¹,

Hebets²

2016

Biol. Lett.

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In sexually cannibalistic animals, male fitness is influenced not only by successful mate acquisition and egg fertilization, but also by avoiding being eaten. In the cannibalistic nursery web spider, Pisaurina mira , the legs of mature males are longer in relation to their body size than those of females, and males use these legs to aid in wrapping a female's legs with silk prior to and during copulation. We hypothesized that elongated male legs and silk wrapping provide benefits to males, in part through a reduced likelihood of sexual cannibalism. To test this, we paired females of random size with males from one of two treatment groups—those capable of silk wrapping versus those incapable of silk wrapping. We found that males with relatively longer legs and larger body size were more likely to mate and were less likely to be cannibalized prior to copulation. Regardless of relative size, males capable of silk wrapping were less likely to be cannibalized during or following copulation and had more opportunities for sperm transfer (i.e. pedipalpal insertions). Our results suggest that male size and copulatory silk wrapping are sexually selected traits benefiting male reproductive success.

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Intersexual Conflict in Spiders

Cited by 103 publications

References 54 publications

Nuptial gifts and sexual behavior in two species of spider (Araneae, Trechaleidae, Paratrechalea)

Nuptial gifts and sexual behavior in two species of spider (Araneae, Trechaleidae, Paratrechalea)

Costly but worthless gifts facilitate courtship

Benefits of size dimorphism and copulatory silk wrapping in the sexually cannibalistic nursery web spider, Pisaurina mira

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