Sociality and resource use: insights from a community of social spiders in Brazil

Guevara, Jennifer; Gonzaga, Marcelo O.; Vasconcellos‐Neto, João; Avilés, Leticia

doi:10.1093/beheco/arr022

Cited by 32 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Social predators, however, hunt in groups, with the size of prey captured probably determined by the size of the groups and the extent to which group members participate, or cooperate, in prey capture. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the group-hunting behaviour of three sympatric group-living spider species known to capture prey of different sizes and to display different levels of sociality [3]. In this community, the size of prey captured has been shown to correlate positively with a species' level of sociality [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To test this hypothesis, we investigated the group-hunting behaviour of three sympatric group-living spider species known to capture prey of different sizes and to display different levels of sociality [3]. In this community, the size of prey captured has been shown to correlate positively with a species' level of sociality [3]. One species, Anelosimus baeza Agnarsson, which is considered to be subsocial as it lives in single-family groups, captures the smallest prey.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in group size and the extent of individual participation in group hunting may contribute to differential prey-size use among social spiders

Harwood

Avilés

2013

Biol. Lett.

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We have previously shown that the range of prey sizes captured by co-occurring species of group-hunting social spiders correlates positively with their level of sociality. Here, we show that this pattern is probably caused by differences among species in colony size and the extent to which individuals participate in group hunting. We assess levels of participation for each species from the fraction of individuals responding to the struggling prey that partake as attackers and from the extent to which the number of attackers increases with colony size. Of two species that form equally large colonies, the one that captures on average larger prey engaged as attackers a significantly larger fraction of individuals that responded to struggling prey and also increased its number of attackers in larger colonies when presented with large prey items. Surprisingly, a third co-occurring species previously found to capture smaller insects than the other two exhibited the highest levels of participation. This species, however, typically forms small single-family colonies, thereby being limited in the size of insects it can capture. It is thus a combination of colony size and the extent of individual participation (or cooperation) that probably determines patterns of resource use in this community of co-occurring social predators.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in group size and the extent of individual participation in group hunting may contribute to differential prey-size use among social spiders

Harwood

Avilés

2013

Biol. Lett.

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“…Colonial web‐building spiders benefit from higher capture rates owing to the accumulation of individual webs: The interconnected webs form a three‐dimensional structure that is more effective than a single web in trapping insects (Lubin, ; Uetz, ). Likewise, web structure seems to play an important role in enhancing the capture rates of subsocial and social web‐builders (Guevara, Gonzaga, Vasconcellos‐Neto, & Avilés, ; Harwood & Avilés, ; Nentwig, ). The Neotropical social spider Anelosimus eximius , for instance, captures a greater variety of prey types than solitary species because it accesses the flyways of larger insects with capture threads measuring several metres (Nentwig, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advantages of social foraging in crab spiders: Groups capture more and larger prey despite the absence of a web

2018

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Among group‐living spiders, subsocial representatives in the family of crab spiders (Thomisidae) are a special case, as they build protective communal leaf nests instead of extensive communal capture webs. It could thus be inferred that antipredator benefits (e.g., enhanced protection in larger nests) rather than foraging‐related advantages (e.g., capture of more and larger prey) promote sociality in this family. Nonetheless, subsocial crab spiders do share prey, and if this behaviour does not reflect mere food scramble but has a cooperative character, crab spiders may offer insights into the evolution of social foraging applicable to many other cooperative predators that hunt without traps. Here, we performed a comparative laboratory feeding experiment on three of the four subsocial crab spider species—Australomisidia ergandros, Australomisidia socialis and Xysticus bimaculatus—to determine if crab spiders derive advantages from foraging in groups. In particular, we tested artificially composed groups of five sibling spiderlings vs. single siblings in terms of prey capture success and prey size preference. Across species, groups had higher prey capture success (measured in terms of capture rates and capture latency) and were more likely to attack large, sharable prey—dynamics leading to reduced food competition among group members in favour of living and foraging in groups. Within groups, we further compared prey extraction efficiency among the three applied social foraging tactics: producing, scrounging and feeding alone. In A. ergandros, individuals were exceptionally efficient when using the non‐cooperative scrounger tactic, which entails feeding on the prey provided by others. Thus, our multispecies comparison confirms foraging advantages in maintaining a cooperative lifestyle for crab spiders, but also demonstrates the relevance of research into exploitation of cooperative foraging in this family.

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“…Therefore, adult presence could dictate the diversity of prey size classes that smaller groups are able to subdue. This is a vital point because the ability to subdue large, profitable prey is thought to be the primary driver of sociality in social spiders and other cooperative hunters (Creel & Creel, 1995;Guevara, Gonzaga, Vasconcellos-Neto, & Avil es, 2011;Scheel & Packer, 1991). Harwood and Avil es (2013) previously suggested that whether spider colonies realize the full hunting potential of their group size depends on the behaviour of its members.…”

Section: Adults Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult presence augments juvenile collective foraging in social spiders

et al. 2015

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Available online MS. number: A15-00152R Keywords: age demography collective behaviour foraging group size keystone individual social spiderThe presence of a few highly influential individuals, so called 'keystone individuals', is thought to influence group dynamics and success in a diverse variety of animal societies. Although older, experienced individuals often occupy keystone roles such as leader or dominant individual, few studies have performed manipulations to study their impact. Here, we investigate how juvenile collective foraging behaviour is influenced by adult presence in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Our manipulation of age demography revealed that the presence of a few mature females drastically increased a groups' foraging aggressiveness, demonstrating that adults indeed act as keystone individuals in juvenile spider groups. Interestingly, the magnitude of their positive impact on collective foraging was mediated by group size: adult presence shortened latency to attack prey more strongly in large groups than in small groups. Conversely, adult presence increased the number of attackers only in small groups. Surprisingly, intergroup variation in collective foraging, which is known to be consistent in mature social spiders, was not repeatable in juvenile groups. Thus, juvenile groups seem to behave more erratically or need more time to develop collective personalities. Together, our results suggest that adult presence can have profound, catalytic effects on juvenile collective foraging behaviour, and that these effects are modulated by group size.

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Sociality and resource use: insights from a community of social spiders in Brazil

Cited by 32 publications

References 46 publications

Differences in group size and the extent of individual participation in group hunting may contribute to differential prey-size use among social spiders

Differences in group size and the extent of individual participation in group hunting may contribute to differential prey-size use among social spiders

Advantages of social foraging in crab spiders: Groups capture more and larger prey despite the absence of a web

Adult presence augments juvenile collective foraging in social spiders

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