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    The influence of web silk decorations on fleeing behaviour of Florida orb weaver spiders, Argiope florida (Aranaeidae)

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Bateman, Bill
    Fleming, P.
    Date
    2013
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Bateman, B. and Fleming, P. 2013. The influence of web silk decorations on fleeing behaviour of Florida orb weaver spiders, Argiope florida (Aranaeidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology. 91 (7): pp. 468-472.
    Source Title
    Canadian Journal of Zoology
    DOI
    10.1139/cjz-2012-0312
    ISSN
    0008-4301
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49534
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Spider web silk decorations may (i) act to attract prey, (ii) be decoys for predators, and (iii) make the web visible to prevent larger animals from destroying them. To disentangle the last two hypotheses, we examined the fleeing response and flight initiation distance (FID) of the Florida orb weaver spider (Argiope florida Chamberlin and Ivie, 1944). Spiders were approached in one of two manners: (1) a "predatory" one mimicking a bird and (2) a "looming" approach mimicking the approach of a large animal. We predicted that if silk decorations had an antipredator function, then the extent of silk decoration would influence whether spiders fled from the predatory approach. However, if the function was primarily a signal to large animals, then all spiders would flee the looming approach, but FID would be influenced by the extent of silk decoration. We found no influence of silk decorations on fleeing behaviour and FID of spiders. Spider fleeing behaviour was, however, influenced by height of the web from the ground. The effects of web height might reflect an adaptive response to a more exposed position and therefore could support either of the two hypotheses tested; however, we have no evidence supporting the role of silk decorations on antipredator responses.

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