Nocturnal, diurnal, crepuscular: activity assessments of Pisauridae and Lycosidae

Abstract

Animals are commonly categorized as diurnal, nocturnal, or crepuscular depending on the times of day when they are most active. These categories, although convenient, would be more useful if we knew more about how closely animal activity conformed to the labels. Similarly, if we knew more about the degree of nocturnality or diurnality of a particular species, we would have increased understanding of the selective forces acting on it. To clarify the intensity of nocturnality or diurnality in lycosoid spiders, we measured activity in 46 spiders divided among three congeneric species of fishing spiders (Pisauridae) and five species of wolf spiders (Lycosidae), in an austere laboratory setting. Overall, the three pisaurid species, pooled, were less than half as active as the five lycosid species, also pooled. All three species of fishing spiders and four of the five species of wolf spiders were strongly nocturnal in their activity. Only one species, the wolf spider Piratula minuta (Emerton 1885), was diurnal. None of the individual spiders that showed statistically significant nocturnal or diurnal activity (31 of 31 lycosids, 14 of 15 pisaurids) was purely nocturnal or diurnal. In all individual cases except for a single ambivalent Dolomedes tenebrosus Hentz 1844 (Pisauridae), statistically strong nocturnality was accompanied by substantial activity during the light hours, and statistically strong diurnality was accompanied by substantial activity during the dark hours. We discuss the overall low variability in activity patterns among the fishing spiders in comparison to the much higher variability among the activity patterns of the wolf spiders, the common but not ubiquitous presence of ultradian periodicities in individual spiders, and the significance of the fact that none of the individual spiders was strictly nocturnal or strictly diurnal.

Diel periodicity of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) under field conditions

“…suzukii in the present study. While some insects and spiders find dawn to be optimal period for peak activity, other animals such as the table mountain stag beetle, Chinese rose beetle, and wolf spider are nocturnally active [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. The results of the present study show that D .…”

Circadian rhythms in the locomotor activity of the spiders Carrhotus xanthogramma (Salticidae) and Philodromus cespitum (Philodromidae): Temporal patterns and sexual differences

“…It should be noted that the ultradian periodicities were only recorded for some individuals. The presence of ultradian spectral components are reported in other spiders (Suter, 1993;Suter & Benson, 2014); however, their role is still not entirely clear. We hypothesized that the signifi cant spectral components of the activities will be more numerous in males than in females and the males did indeed exhibit more ultradian periodicities than females, but not because they were more active.…”

“…All spiders were kept and our tests carried out in a behavioural laboratory at the Department of Entomology (Budapest, Hungary, 47°28´50˝N, 19°02´25˝E, 125 m a.s.l.). The plastic trays holding the Petri dishes with spiders were surrounded with a cardboard panel, and to minimize human disturbance, we only went into locomotor activity in spiders can be circadian (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1987, 2000, higher-frequency (ultradian) endogenous rhythms can control their motor activity (Suter, 1993), they may not be purely nocturnal or diurnal (Suter & Benson, 2014) and even the locomotor activity of cavedwelling species may be controlled by free-running circadian rhythms (Soriano-Morales et al, 2013). However, less attention has been given to sexual differences among spiders in either their rhythmic processes or diel activity (e.g., Schmitt et al, 1990;Krumpalová & Tuf, 2013).…”

“…cespitum was found to be dominantly circadian, two females did not exhibit a daily activity cycle. Suter & Benson (2014) also report that some individuals of Dolomedes triton (Walckenaer, 1837) (Pisauridae) do not have a one cycle per day oscillation in their activity, whereas others do. Furthermore, unlike C. xanthogramma, the relative power of ultradian rhythmic components in Ph.…”

Daily locomotor activity of the parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) that attacks exposed lepidopteran larvae

“…Gauld (1987) has suggested three possible advantages of nocturnal foraging of parasitoid wasps: (1) escape from diurnal predators, (2) access to nocturnal hosts, and (3) avoidance of high temperatures and drying in sunlight. Predation of small wasps such as Meteorus by hunting spiders is probably common enough to serve as a selective force for evolution of mimicry in parasitoids (Malcicka et al 2015), but many wolf spiders are nocturnal rather than diurnal according to Suter (2014). Thus, their forces on the daily activity pattern of prey parasitoids seem limited, if any.…”