Prey Capture by a West African Social Spider (Uloboridae: Philoponella sp.)

Biotropica ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall Breitwisch
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
West African ◽  
Social Spider

Prey Capture Behaviour in the Social Spider Anelosimus eximius (Araneae: Theridiidae): Responses to Prey Size and Type

Ethology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 113 (9) ◽  
pp. 856-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andréa L.T. Souza ◽  
Marcelo O. Gonzaga ◽  
João Vasconcellos-Neto
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
The Social

Nest of the Social Spider Phryganoporus-Candidus (Araneae, Desidae) - Structure, Annual Growth-Cycle and Host-Plant Relationships

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 237 ◽  
Author(s):  
MF Downes
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Growth Cycle ◽  
Nest Size ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
Evolution Of Sociality ◽  
The Social ◽  
Form Compound ◽  
Nest Height ◽  
And Function

Aspects of the biology of the social spider Phryganoponrs candidus (=Badumna candida) (L. Koch) in relation to its life history are described, based on data from a field and laboratory study conducted over several years at Townsville, Queensland. Host plant records and preferences are given, and an analysis made of the effects of nest height and ecotone proximity on nest occurrence. Founded between October and February as a chambered silk funnel by a solitary subadult female, the nest was enlarged by the female and her progeny into a complex retreat area and an outlying prey-trapping area. The architecture of the retreat was not an aggregation of repeated subunits. Closely adjacent nests sometimes united their prey-capture webbing to form compound nests. From a tagged sample of new-founded nests, 31% reached a stage at which thriving spiderlings were present. Numbers of spiders in nests ranged from 9 to 224 and correlated with nest size, which ranged from 70 to more than 20 000 cm(2). At the peak of nest growth in October, the stage at which subadult spiders began to disperse, about 90 spiders inhabited each nest; only 12% of new-founded nests reached this stage. Summer dispersal left nests empty; they degenerated under rain and became moribund by March. The main host plants were Zizyphus mauritiana (the chinee apple) and Dolichondrone heterophylla. Most nests occurred between 0.5 and 2.5 m from the ground but height did not influence nest success. Nests were prevalent at ecotones, although they did not thrive better there. Because so much of the social biology of spiders is integrated with the structure and function of their nests, these findings are relevant to an understanding of the evolution of sociality in spiders.

scholarly journals Response to habitat modification by foraging Dark-chanting Goshawks Melierax metabates in a West African savanna

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALPH BUIJ ◽  
NIKIE VAN DORST ◽  
HENRIËTTE F. SALOMONS ◽  
BARBARA M. CROES ◽  
MAURINE W. DIETZ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
West African ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Herbaceous Layer ◽  
Foraging Effort ◽  
Patch Use ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
Prey Resources

SummaryAnthropogenic habitat alteration has probably contributed significantly to the decrease of raptor populations in West African savannas. To evaluate the impact of habitat degradation on foraging by sedentary Afrotropical raptors, we investigated the differences in microhabitat selection, foraging effort and energy returns between Dark-chanting Goshawks Melierax metabates inhabiting natural and transformed savannas in Cameroon. We expected that the agro-ecosystems in the transformed savannas have become unprofitable for Dark-chanting Goshawks due to scarcity of food resources. In both savanna types we radio-tracked six mated, adult males during the non-breeding season and determined foraging effort, by time spent at each perch and distance covered between perches, and energy intake through estimation of the energy value of prey items. Goshawks in natural habitats had smaller home-ranges and exploited their range more intensively than Goshawks in transformed habitats. In both natural and transformed habitats, Goshawks selected foraging patches with comparatively tall trees, underlining their importance to foraging Goshawks. The extent of shrub and herbaceous layer cover, agriculture cover, and tree density were other important predictors of foraging patch use, but their importance differed between habitats. The extent of shrub, herbaceous layer and agriculture cover were positively associated with foraging patch use in transformed habitats, suggesting that cultivated fields and ground vegetation support important prey resources for Goshawks in agro-ecosystems. The composition of broad prey categories to the diet, foraging effort and returns were comparable between habitats. However, we found indications that the proportion of heavy-bodied lizard species among reptile prey items was higher in natural than transformed habitats, whereas on average smaller lizards were more commonly caught in the latter. Mean herbaceous layer height and tree density within home ranges, both higher in natural habitat, were negatively related to prey capture rates. Tree clearance and livestock grazing thus favored greater prey capture rates in transformed habitat, offsetting a lower meal energy value compared to natural habitat. We conclude that foraging Dark-chanting Goshawks may cope with moderate land transformation, but practices focused on conservation of tall trees and ground vegetation cover would be beneficial by maintaining important prey resources and their exploitability under growing land pressure.

scholarly journals The legacy effects of keystone individuals on collective behaviour scale to how long they remain within a group

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1814) ◽  
pp. 20151766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan N. Pruitt ◽  
Noa Pinter-Wollman
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Collective Behaviour ◽  
Legacy Effects ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
The Social ◽  
Collective Foraging ◽  
The Individual

The collective behaviour of social groups is often strongly influenced by one or few individuals, termed here ‘keystone individuals’. We examined whether the influence of keystone individuals on collective behaviour lingers after their departure and whether these lingering effects scale with their tenure in the group. In the social spider, Stegodyphus dumicola , colonies' boldest individuals wield a disproportionately large influence over colony behaviour. We experimentally manipulated keystones' tenure in laboratory-housed colonies and tracked their legacy effects on collective prey capture following their removal. We found that bolder keystones caused more aggressive collective foraging behaviour and catalysed greater inter-individual variation in boldness within their colonies. The longer keystones remained in a colony, the longer both of these effects lingered after their departure. Our data demonstrate that, long after their disappearance, keystones have large and lasting effects on social dynamics at both the individual and colony levels.

scholarly journals Is cooperation in prey capture flexible in the Indian social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum?

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Ovatt Mohanan Drisya-Mohan ◽  
Neisseril Anirudhan Kashmeera ◽  
Ambalaparambil Vasu Sudhikumar
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
Stegodyphus Sarasinorum

scholarly journals Behavioral responses vary with prey species in the social spider, Stegodyphus sarasinorum

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 938-947
Author(s):  
Bharat Parthasarathy ◽  
Hema Somanathan
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Personality Types ◽  
Task Specialization ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
Interindividual Differences ◽  
Capture Event ◽  
The Social ◽  
Stegodyphus Sarasinorum

Abstract Predators living in social groups often show consistent interindividual differences in prey capture behavior that may be linked to personality. Though personality predisposes individuals for certain behaviors, responses can also be influenced by context. Studies examining personality-dependent participation in prey capture have largely employed only one prey species, offering the predator no choice. In nature, predators encounter a range of prey species, therefore participation in or leading a prey capture event must also depend on prey attributes (e.g., size and risk). In the social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum, collective prey capture is mediated by personality types as a consequence of which some individuals are consistently more likely to attack. Here, we examined if an individual’s consistency to attack persisted within and between the 2 prey species (honeybees and grasshoppers) and if the same individuals attacked first with both prey species. Our results showed that interindividual differences in attacking persisted within and between the 2 prey species. Spiders showed greater participation in attacking grasshoppers relative to bees. Identities of the first attackers were not the same for bees and grasshoppers. Spiders showed greater consistency over time in attacking bees relative to grasshoppers. Bees attracted fewer attackers than size-matched grasshoppers. These results suggest that greater task specialization may be necessary to successfully subdue bees. Spiders handled bees more cautiously, which is likely to explain the observed plasticity in attacking the 2 prey species. Thus, participation in prey capture in social spiders is influenced by the attributes of prey species.

Long-term behavioural consistency in prey capture but not in web maintenance in a social spider

2015 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1019-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thejasvi Beleyur ◽  
Divya Uma Bellur ◽  
Hema Somanathan
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
Behavioural Consistency

Prey Capture and Feeding in the Social Spider Anelosimus eximius

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRITZ VOLLRATH ◽  
DOROTHEE ROHDE-ARNDT
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals Individual personalities shape task differentiation in a social spider

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1767) ◽  
pp. 20131407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Grinsted ◽  
Jonathan N. Pruitt ◽  
Virginia Settepani ◽  
Trine Bilde
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Developmental Stage ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Dispersal Distance ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Social Spider ◽  
Field Independent ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Variation ◽  
Colony Efficiency

Deciphering the mechanisms involved in shaping social structure is key to a deeper understanding of the evolutionary processes leading to sociality. Individual specialization within groups can increase colony efficiency and consequently productivity. Here, we test the hypothesis that within-group variation in individual personalities (i.e. boldness and aggression) can shape task differentiation. The social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum (Eresidae) showed task differentiation (significant unequal participation) in simulated prey capture events across 10-day behavioural assays in the field, independent of developmental stage (level of maturation), eliminating age polyethism. Participation in prey capture was positively associated with level of boldness but not with aggression. Body size positively correlated with being the first spider to emerge from the colony as a response to prey capture but not with being the first to attack, and dispersal distance from experimental colonies correlated with attacking but not with emerging. This suggests that different behavioural responses to prey capture result from a complex set of individual characteristics. Boldness and aggression correlated positively, but neither was associated with body size, developmental stage or dispersal distance. Hence, we show that personalities shape task differentiation in a social spider independent of age and maturation. Our results suggest that personality measures obtained in solitary, standardized laboratory settings can be reliable predictors of behaviour in a social context in the field. Given the wealth of organisms that show consistent individual behavioural differences, animal personality could play a role in social organization in a diversity of animals.

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