Safety is increasingly important in cobweb spiders based on life history

ZHANG, Haixin; ZHONG, Rui; Yu, Long; Chen, Jian; Agnarsson, Ingi; Liu, Jie

doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12682

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Most euryphagous spiders seem to avoid preying on ants because they have strong spines, mandibles, and formic acid for effective group attacks (Pekaŕ and Toft, 2015). Our results are consistent with previous studies showing that egg production has significant effects on cobweb (black widow web) architecture (Dirienzo and Aonuma, 2018;Zhang et al, 2022a).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The behavior of cobweb-building spiders that build detritus-based, bell-shaped cobweb has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years (Li et al, 2021). Previous studies have shown that the spider's behavior is highly plastic and susceptible to internal factors such as development stage and feeding (Zhang et al, 2022a;Zhang et al, 2022b). However, whether external factors such as prey or predator cues and detritus material weight will affect the cobweb-building behavior of those spiders is still unknown.…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, whether external factors such as prey or predator cues and detritus material weight will affect the cobweb-building behavior of those spiders is still unknown. The weight and volume of the bell-shaped retreat are the real reflection of different behavioral investments (Zhang et al, 2022a;Zhang et al, 2022b); therefore, it is highly possible that this spider will actively choose detritus to build web, which may provide a new perspective for the study of web-building behavior. The cobweb architecture of this spider is easy to measure and the behavioral investment is easy to quantify, which makes it an ideal model for studying the trade-offs between different behavioral investments (Zhang et al, 2022a;Zhang et al, 2022b).…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The weight and volume of the bell-shaped retreat are the real reflection of different behavioral investments (Zhang et al, 2022a;Zhang et al, 2022b); therefore, it is highly possible that this spider will actively choose detritus to build web, which may provide a new perspective for the study of web-building behavior. The cobweb architecture of this spider is easy to measure and the behavioral investment is easy to quantify, which makes it an ideal model for studying the trade-offs between different behavioral investments (Zhang et al, 2022a;Zhang et al, 2022b). The construction of a more defensive retreat may require higher energy costs because it requires transporting heavier detritus, while building a capture web with higher foraging functions may only require more silk protein to build more gumfooted lines.…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We cut the retreat off from the web and measured its weight to the nearest 0.01 mg using an electronic balance (FA1004N type, HANGPING). Because the capture area is an important indicator for prey capture and the volume of retreat is an important indicator of predator avoidance, spiders with a bigger capture area may have higher foraging success and spiders with larger retreats may offer better protection from predation (Manicom et al, 2008); we used the same formula in previous studies to calculate the capture area and retreat volume (Zhang et al, 2022a;Zhang et al, 2022b) and also quantify the foraging investment (i.e., total length of gumfooted lines, GTL and lateral area of retreats, RLA) and defense investment (DI) during web-building (Zhang et al, 2022a;Zhang et al, 2022b). For each web of the medium treatment, we also the proportion of soil particles, of soil particles, the weight of retreat, and defense investment in the detritus in each finished web.…”

Section: Web Architecture Measurement and Behavioral Investment Quant...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Economic web-building behavior and behavioral investment trade-offs in a cobweb spider

Zhang

Wen

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Web-building spiders that build detritus-based bell-shaped cobwebs are model organisms for studies on behavioral plasticity because their web architecture components are easily quantified and behavioral investments are clearly separated. We investigated the web architectures and behavioral investments of the cobwebs built by Campanicola campanulata under different weight (heavy, medium, and light) detritus to research its cobweb architecture variation and analyzed the investment trade-off between foraging and defense. The results showed that spiders could actively choose lighter detritus to build retreats to reduce material and energy cost. There was a clear trade-off between defense and foraging investment of spiders choosing different weight detritus for their webs. The total length of gumfooted lines (foraging investment) was longer for the spiders that chose lighter detritus, but the energy expenditure during web-building (defense investment) was higher for the spiders that chose heavier detritus.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Web Architecture Measurement and Behavioral Investment Quant...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Economic web-building behavior and behavioral investment trade-offs in a cobweb spider

Zhang

Wen

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Imperfect but effective crypsis and flower-visiting strategy in a crab spider

Li,

Yu,

et al. 2024

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Feeding mediated web-building plasticity in a cobweb spider

Zhang

et al. 2022

Current Zoology

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Behavioral plasticity has been proposed as a means by which animals alter their phenotypes in response to changing conditions. Animals may display behavioral plasticity as a consequence of environmental variation. The detritus-based, bell-shaped cobweb spider Campanicola campanulata is an ideal model to study behavioral plasticity, because its web architectures are easy to be quantified, and the function of different part of the webs are clear. Though the plasticity of cobweb architecture has been reported in a few species, retreats as important defensive structures have rarely been considered before because retreats in most cobwebs are relatively small comparing with the web size. We studied web-building behaviors of C. campanulata under different feeding regimes. We set up three spider treatments with different feeding conditions: marginally well fed, moderately well-fed and extremely well fed, and observed the differences of the web architectures among them. In addition, we measured the mechanical properties of anchor silk, and also calculated the foraging and defense investment of the spiders. The results showed that marginally well-fed spiders build cobwebs with significantly longer length of anchor silk, lower retreat to the ground, more number and longer gumfooted lines, and larger capture area, while extremely well-fed spiders build cobwebs with significantly bigger retreat volume and higher height of retreat to the ground. In addition, marginally well-fed spiders invest significantly less during cobweb construction. However, there was no significant difference between the breaking force and elongation at break in anchor silk among different treatments. These results demonstrated that marginally well-fed spiders invest more in foraging, and extremely well-fed spiders invest more in defense, and the spider made a balance between foraging and predator avoidance in response to changes in physiological state. Our study strengthens the current understanding of web construction in cobweb spiders, especially those facing high costs during retreat construction.

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Safety is increasingly important in cobweb spiders based on life history

Cited by 3 publications

References 55 publications

Economic web-building behavior and behavioral investment trade-offs in a cobweb spider

Economic web-building behavior and behavioral investment trade-offs in a cobweb spider

Imperfect but effective crypsis and flower-visiting strategy in a crab spider

Feeding mediated web-building plasticity in a cobweb spider

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