Attending to detail by communal spider-eating spiders

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Biological Sciences
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2012
Authors
Jackson, R.R.
Nelson, X.J.
Abstract

Communal predators may often need to make especially intricate foraging decisions, as a predator’s success may depend on the actions of its neighbours. Here, we consider the decisions made by Portia africana, a jumping spider (Salticidae) that preys on other spiders, including Oecobius amboseli (Oecobiidae), a small prey spider that lives under small sheets of silk (nests) on the walls of buildings. P. africana juveniles settle near oecobiid nests and then ambush oecobiids as they leave or enter the nest. Two or more P. africana juveniles sometimes settle at the same nest and, when an oecobiid is captured, the P. africana juveniles may share the meal. We investigated the joining decisions made by naïve P. africana juveniles. Experiments were based on using lures (dead spiders positioned in lifelike posture) arranged in a series of 17 different scenes defined by the presence/absence of a nest, the lure types present and the configuration of the lures and the nest. Our findings imply that P. africana juveniles make remarkably precise predatory decisions, with the variables that matter including whether a nest is present, the identity of spiders inside and outside a nest and how spiders are positioned relative to each other and the nest.

Description
Citation
Jackson, R.R., Nelson, X.J. (2012) Attending to detail by communal spider-eating spiders. Animal Cognition, 15(4), pp. 461-471.
Keywords
Foraging, Predatory tactics, Perception, Decision-making, Communal predation, Araneophagy
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::31 - Biological sciences::3109 - Zoology::310901 - Animal behaviour
Fields of Research::31 - Biological sciences::3109 - Zoology::310913 - Invertebrate biology
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