Jumping spider mating strategies: sex among cannibals in and out of webs

Jackson, Robert R.; Pollard, Simon D.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511721946.021

Cited by 66 publications

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“…Sensory-exploitation hypotheses have been proposed in other research on salticid courtship behavior (11,25). For example, males may sometimes attract the female's attention during courtship by using specific movement patterns that simulate the movement-related cues by which females normally detect prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although all spiders probably rely to some substantial extent on chemoreception (8), salticids are better known for having unique, complex eyes (9) and vision based on a level of spatial acuity that is unrivalled by animals of comparable size (10). Yet salticids use tactile, auditory, and percussion signals, either in conjunction with or as alternatives to visionbased signals (11,12). Salticids are also one of the spider families for which we have the most experimental evidence of refined ability to use chemical signals (13,14).…”

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confidence: 99%

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How blood-derived odor influences mate-choice decisions by a mosquito-eating predator

Cross

Jackson

Pollard

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Evarcha culicivora (Araneae, Salticidae) feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by choosing, as preferred prey, bloodcarrying female mosquitoes. Mutual mate-choice behavior is also pronounced in this species. Here we show that, when E. culicivora feeds indirectly on blood, it acquires a diet-related odor that makes it more attractive to the opposite sex. The mate-choice decisions of the adults of both sexes were investigated in a series of experiments based on comparing how long the test spider remained close to the odor of one source spider on one day and to the odor of a different source spider on the following day. Four different maintenance diets for source spiders were used in these experiments: bloodfed female mosquitoes (Culicidae, Anopheles gambiae ss), sugar-fed female mosquitoes, male mosquitoes, and lake flies (Chironomidae, Nilodorum brevibucca). Both sexes of E. culicivora spent more time close to the odor of opposite-sex conspecifics that had been on a diet of bloodfed mosquitoes (blood diet) instead of any of the three nonblood diets. Opposite-sex conspecifics that had been on a nonblood diet became more attractive once they were switched to a blood diet. That the attractive odor from blood dissipates was shown when spiders became less attractive once they were switched to a nonblood diet or subjected to a fast. However, there was no evident preference for the odor of a same-sex conspecific on a blood diet instead of a lake fly diet. These findings are discussed in the context of sexual selection and sensory exploitation.mosquitoes ͉ olfaction ͉ predation ͉ sensory exploitation ͉ sexual selection

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

How blood-derived odor influences mate-choice decisions by a mosquito-eating predator

Cross

Jackson

Pollard

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Although many arthropods are known to use chemical cues to locate relevant individuals in their environments (Nation, 2002), airborne and waterborne chemical cues can be difficult or even impossible to localize in certain conditions, for example on a breezy day or in turbulent waters (Willemse and Takken, 1994;Murlis et al, 2000;Weissburg and Zimmer-Faust, 1993;Weissburg and Zimmer-Faust, 1994), and contact chemical cues can only be detected if an individual happens to cross a path recently traversed by a conspecific (Cook, 1985;Baruffaldi et al, 2010). Furthermore, among taxa that are potentially dangerous to one another, such as jumping spiders, accurate identifications can mean the difference between life and death (Jackson and Pollard, 1997;Harland et al, 2012). Thus, to increase the probability and accuracy of detection and discrimination, selection should favor recognition of species-and sex-specific cues in additional modalities, such as vision (Johnstone, 1996;Endler, 2000;McLennan, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pheromones exert top-down effects on visual recognition in the jumping spiderLyssomanes viridis

Tedore

Johnsen

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYIn diverse and productive habitats, predaceous arthropods are expected to frequently encounter dangerous conspecifics and heterospecifics. This should make quick and accurate discriminations between species and sexes adaptive. By simultaneously sampling both visual cues and pheromones, and by utilizing stringent species-and sex-specific visual recognition templates, an individual should be able to increase both its speed and accuracy in making such discriminations. We tested for the use and stringency of visual recognition templates in the jumping spider Lyssomanes viridis by presenting males with animated images of conspecifics, heterospecifics and composite images that combined the facial coloration and morphology of one sex or species with the leg coloration of another. Malesʼ courtship versus threat displays indicated whether a stimulus was perceived as a potential mate or a threat. By comparing malesʼ visual inspection times of, and display types towards, the various images in the presence versus absence of female pheromones, we were able to deduce whether males tend to inspect a subset of the color pattern and morphological features that make up their conspecific recognition templates (i.e. those on just the face or just the legs), or all features, and whether this changes in the presence of pheromones. We found that the male recognition template for conspecific female was surprisingly coarse, whereas the recognition template for conspecific male, and especially the male face, was more specific. Pheromones hastened the recognition of images with coloration and morphology closely matching those of conspecifics, presumably by activating conspecific visual recognition templates. When males were presented with an image that was, overall, a poor match to a conspecific female, but that contained a subset of female or female-like features, female pheromones usually did not hasten recognition, but did increase the likelihood that the image would be identified as a female. Taken together, our data suggest that males examined features on both the face and the legs in both the presence and absence of pheromones, and that female pheromones tipped the balance in favor of a female identification when a male was unsure how to categorize an incongruous set of visual features. Supplementary material available online at

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“…However, many salticids are also known to make considerable use of chemical cues (Pollard et al 1987;Jackson & Pollard 1997;Jackson et al 2002Jackson et al , 2005, Evarcha culicivora Wesolowska & Jackson being a striking example. This unusual salticid from the Lake Victoria region of East Africa is the only predator known to feed indirectly on vertebrate blood, achieving this by routinely choosing as preferred prey blood-carrying female mosquitoes (Wesolowska & Jackson 2003;Jackson et al 2005;Nelson et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Salticids are also known for having some of the most complex vision-based courtship routines in the animal kingdom (Jackson & Pollard 1997), with E. culicivora 7 s courtship behaviour being exceptionally complex even for a salticid (Cross et al 2008) and departing in interesting ways from the salticid norm. The general pattern with salticids seems to be for males to place greater emphasis on displaying during courtship and for females to place greater emphasis on deciding whether to mate with the courting male.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Odour‐mediated response to plants byevarcha culicivora, a blood‐feeding jumping spider from East Africa

Cross

Jackson

2009

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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Evarcha culicivora Wesolowska & Jackson, a salticid from the Lake Victoria region of East Africa, is known to associate with Lantana camara L. (family Verbenaceae) and Ricinus communis L. (family Euphorbiaceae), two plant species that are common in the same habitat. E. culicivora is an unusual salticid because, by choosing blood-carrying mosquitoes as preferred prey, it feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood, and E. culicivora apparently also feeds on nectar taken from L. camara and R. communis. The experimental findings reported here show that the odour of these two plants is salient to E. culicivora. A Y-shaped olfactometer was used in the experiments, with plant odour on one side and the other side a control (no odour). Juveniles, adult males and adult females chose the odour of L. camara and R. communis more often than the control.

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Jumping spider mating strategies: sex among cannibals in and out of webs

Cited by 66 publications

References 0 publications

How blood-derived odor influences mate-choice decisions by a mosquito-eating predator

How blood-derived odor influences mate-choice decisions by a mosquito-eating predator

Pheromones exert top-down effects on visual recognition in the jumping spiderLyssomanes viridis

Odour‐mediated response to plants byevarcha culicivora, a blood‐feeding jumping spider from East Africa

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