Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) that feed on nectar

Jackson, Robert R.; Pollard, Simon D.; Nelson, Ximena J.; Edwards, G. B.; Barrion, A. T.

doi:10.1017/s095283690100108x

Cited by 83 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Consistent with how nectar feeding appears especially common among salticids (Jackson et al 2001), we have observed that juveniles, adult males and adult females of E. culicivora in the field sometimes press their chelicerae into L. camara flowers or into the extra-floral nectaries of R. communis, with these most likely being instances of the spider feeding on nectar. We also observed this when E. culicivora was given access to L. camara and R. communis in the laboratory (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 78%

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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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 78%

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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“…), which also dominate the ants' diet [6][7][8]. Although no other spiders are known to rely as heavily on herbivory as B. kiplingi, many spiders do supplement a predatory diet with nectar taken from the floral or extrafloral nectaries of plants (e.g., [9][10][11][12]). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Presence of fructose was confirmed using cold-anthrone testing, a procedure developed by Van Handel [15,16] for detecting the presence of fructose in mosquitoes. While field and laboratory observations suggest that nectarivory might be especially prevalent among jumping spiders ( Figure 1) [12,17], only one species (Plexippus selipes) has been shown to be fructose positive by coldanthrone testing [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nectar Meals of a Mosquito-Specialist Spider

Kuja

Jackson

Sune

et al. 2012

Psyche: A Journal of Entomology

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Evarcha culicivora, an East African jumping spider, is known for feeding indirectly on vertebrate blood by actively choosing blood-carrying mosquitoes as prey. Using cold-anthrone tests to detect fructose, we demonstrate that E. culicivora also feeds on nectar. Field-collected individuals, found on the plant Lantana camara, tested positive for plant sugar (fructose). In the laboratory, E. culicivora tested positive for fructose after being kept with L. camara or one of another ten plant species (Aloe vera, Clerodendron magnifica, Hamelia patens, Lantana montevideo, Leonotis nepetaefolia, Parthenium hysterophorus, Ricinus communis, Senna didymobotrya, Striga asiatica, and Verbena trivernia). Our findings demonstrate that E. culicivora acquires fructose from its natural diet and can ingest fructose directly from plant nectaries. However, experiments in the laboratory also show that E. culicivora can obtain fructose indirectly by feeding on prey that have fed on fructose, implying a need to consider this possibility when field-collected spiders test positive for fructose. In laboratory tests, 53.5% of 1,215 small juveniles, but only 3.4% of 622 adult E. culicivora, left with plants for 24 hours, were positive for fructose. These findings, along with the field data, suggest that fructose is especially important for early-instar juveniles of E. culicivora.

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“…Salticid spiders were observed preying on species other than Guayaquila on plants with flowers, so the wider range of prey species on plants with flowers may reduce the risk of predation for the treehoppers (cf., Krebs & Davies, 1993). Second, spiders may feed on nectar (Jackson et al, 2001). Moreover, the adults of predatory syrphids and most parasitoid wasps feed on nectar and/or pollen (Jervis & Kidd, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host-plant flowering status and the concentration of sugar in phloem sap: Effects on an ant-treehopper interaction

Quental¹,

Trigo²,

Oliveira³

2005

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. Host-plant mediation in ant-hemipteran mutualisms requires three conditions. First, hemipteran attractiveness to ants should vary with plant quality. Second, ants should preferentially tend those Hemiptera that produce the most nutritious attractant. Third, increased ant attendance based on a richer food reward should have a significant effect on some measure of hemipteran fitness. A field experiment is used to test these conditions. This is the first study to simultaneously test these three conditions, and the first to test the effect of plant flowering status on the ant-derived benefits for a honeydew-producing hemipteran. It is hypothesized that membracids (Guayaquila xiphias) feeding on plants (Didymopanax vinosum) with flowers ingest phloem sap of higher quality (higher sugar concentration), produce a higher-quality honeydew and, as a result, are attended by more ants and are better protected compared to those on plants without flowers. Total nitrogen content of the phloem sap of plants with or without flowers did not differ significantly, whereas the sugar concentration was higher in the sap of plants with flowers. Honeydew sugar concentration, honeydew production, and ant tending levels did not vary significantly with flowering status. Membracid survival increased, and natural enemy abundance decreased when ants were present. Plant flowering status did not affect the ant-derived protection afforded to treehoppers, but plants with flowers accumulated more natural enemies through time than plants without flowers. The results suggest that a trade-off between feeding on a higher-quality food and running increased risk of predation on flowering plants could underlie this ant-hemipteran interaction. Based on the parameters measured in this study it is concluded that host-plant mediation does not occur in the ant-Guayaquila system. The results suggest, however, that the way in which the host-plant could affect ant-Guayaquila interactions is complex and likely to involve other species.

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Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) that feed on nectar

Cited by 83 publications

References 26 publications

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

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

Nectar Meals of a Mosquito-Specialist Spider

Host-plant flowering status and the concentration of sugar in phloem sap: Effects on an ant-treehopper interaction

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