Wrap attack activates web-decorating behavior in Argiope spiders

Walter, André; Elgar, Mark A.; Bliss, Peter; Moritz, Robin F. A.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arn030

Cited by 19 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…However, Nentwig and Rogg (Nentwig and Rogg, 1988) compared Argiope webs with and without decorations and found no significant difference in spider body temperatures. Recently, several researchers demonstrated that silk decoration building might function to regulate aciniform silk gland activity (Tso, 2004;Walter et al, 2008a). Because aciniform gland silks are used for prey wrapping and decoration building, the silk reserve of this gland might be quite variable according to various environmental conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect form vision as one potential shaping force of spider web decoration design

Cheng

Yang

Lin

et al. 2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYProperties of prey sensory systems are important factors shaping the design of signals generated by organisms exploiting them. In this study we assessed how prey sensory preference affected the exploiter signal design by investigating the evolutionary relationship and relative attractiveness of linear and cruciate form web decorations built by Argiope spiders. Because insects have an innate preference for bilaterally symmetrical patterns, we hypothesized that cruciate form decorations were evolved from linear form due to their higher visual attractiveness to insects. We first reconstructed a molecular phylogeny of the Asian members of the genus Argiope using mitochondrial markers to infer the evolutionary relationship of two decoration forms. Results of ancestral character state reconstruction showed that the linear form was ancestral and the cruciate form derived. To evaluate the luring effectiveness of two decoration forms, we performed field experiments in which the number and orientation of decoration bands were manipulated. Decoration bands arranged in a cruciate form were significantly more attractive to insects than those arranged in a linear form, no matter whether they were composed of silks or dummies. Moreover, dummy decoration bands arranged in a cruciate form attracted significantly more insects than those arranged in a vertical/horizontal form. Such results suggest that pollinator insects' innate preference for certain bilateral or radial symmetrical patterns might be one of the driving forces shaping the arrangement pattern of spider web decorations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect form vision as one potential shaping force of spider web decoration design

Cheng

Yang

Lin

et al. 2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…After they finish building the orb spirals, A. bruennichi individuals decorate their webs with stabilimenta to be placed in a vertical linear pattern through the center of the web. A stabilimentum is made by using a densely-woven zig-zag stich and consists of two parts: an upper part and a lower part (Walter et al 2008). In this report, it is described that because A. bruennichi do not always decorate their webs, and the number and size of silk bands placed on their webs vary depending on daily conditions, the spiders can be found on webs without stabilimenta, on webs with one-armed stabilimenta consisting of either a lower part or an upper part, or on webs with both upper and lower parts of the stabilimentum, depending on daily conditions.…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual physical variables involved in the stabilimentum decoration in the wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi

Kim

2015

J. Ecol. Environ.

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The physical factors of Argiope bruennichi (Araneae, Araneidae) that influence the stabilimentum decoration on the web, a conspicuous white silk structure reflecting much more ultraviolet light than other spider silks in the web, have been poorly understood. In this study, individual variables involved in decorating the webs with stabilimenta by A. bruennichi were examined. The results revealed that the physical condition of the female A. bruennichi affected the behaviors of the stabilimentum decoration on the web. Among the 82 female spiders building their webs, the 49 female spiders adding upper and lower stabilimenta on their web weighed less, and had a narrower cephalothorax and shorter abdomen than the 33 female spiders that did not use stabilimentum. The heavier females decorated their webs with stabilimentum of greater widths. There were also significant positive relationships between the stabilimentum area and the female spider's cephalothorax width, and between the stabilimentum area and female spider's abdomen length. Taken together, this study suggests that spiders allocate their resources in stabilimentum decoration as a functional response to the spider's physical conditions, and also supports the "prey-attraction hypothesis," which states that the use of stabilimentum increases the foraging success by attracting more prey to the web.

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“…However, the absence of a crucial control group comprising spiders that did not experience any depletion, an artificial (mealworm) diet and small sample sizes make these data difficult to interpret. A more extensive study using three species of Argiope revealed opposite results (Walter et al , 2008 b ). In these species, individuals invested significantly more in web decorations following gland depletion by wrapping (but not consuming) additional prey items.…”

Section: Early Evolution Of Silken Web Decorations In Argiope Spmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous species from different families add extra silk structures to their capture webs (reviews in Herberstein et al , 2000 a ; Eberhard, 2003; Bruce, 2006; Théry & Casas, 2009). Silk decorations are externally constructed signals and thus can be considered an extended phenotype (Walter et al , 2008 b ; Schaedelin & Taborsky, 2009), which implies that the original function may have to be separated from its contemporary signal effect. For over one hundred years, biologists have struggled to resolve the contemporary adaptive value of web decorations, predominantly confining their investigations to the web‐decorating behaviour of spiders in the genus Argiope .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of novel animal signals: silk decorations as a model system

Walter

Elgar

2012

Biological Reviews

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Contemporary animal signals may derive from an elaboration of existing forms or novel non-signalling traits. Unravelling the evolution of the latter is challenging because experiments investigating the maintenance of the signal may provide little insight into its early evolution. The web decorations, or stabilimenta of some orb web spiders represent an intriguing model system to investigate novel animal signals. For over 100 years, biologists have struggled to explain why spiders decorate their webs with additional threads of silk, producing a conspicuous signal on a construction whose function is to entangle unsuspecting prey. The numerous explanations for the maintenance of this behaviour starkly contrast with the absence of a plausible explanation for its evolutionary origin. Our review highlights the difficulties in resolving both the evolution and maintenance of animal signalling, and inferring the causative arrow-even from experimental studies. Drawing on recent research that focuses on physiological processes, we provide a model of the evolutionary progression of web-decorating behaviour.

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Wrap attack activates web-decorating behavior in Argiope spiders

Cited by 19 publications

References 49 publications

Insect form vision as one potential shaping force of spider web decoration design

Insect form vision as one potential shaping force of spider web decoration design

Individual physical variables involved in the stabilimentum decoration in the wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi

The evolution of novel animal signals: silk decorations as a model system

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