Do the color and pattern of Micrathena gracilis (Araneae: Araneidae) attract prey? Examination of the prey attraction hypothesis and crypsis

Journal of Insect Behavior

Volumn 21, Issue 6, 2008, Pages 469-475

  Vanderhoff, E Natasha ^a,b   Byers, Catherine J ^a,c   Hanna, Chadwick J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE   (United States)

^b FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c Alice Lloyd College   (United States)

Author keywords

Body color; Crypsis; Micrathena gracilis; Prey attraction; Spider; Warning coloration

Indexed keywords

ARANEAE; ARANEIDAE; MICRATHENA GRACILIS;

EID: 53849098021     PISSN: 08927553     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10905-008-9142-3     Document Type: Article

References (26)

1. K Andrews SM Reed SE Masta 2007 Spiders fluoresce variably across many taxa Biol Lett 3 265 267
2. BT Bjorkman-Chiswell MM Kulinski RL Muscat KA Nguyen BA Norton MRE Symonds GE Westhorpe MA Elgar 2004 Web-building spiders attract prey by storing decaying matter Naturwissenschaften 91 245 248
3. TA Blackledge 1998 Signal conflict in spider webs driven by predators and prey Proc R Soc Lond BBiol Sci 265 1991 1996
4. TA Blackledge JW Wenzel 1999 Do stabilimenta in orb webs attract prey or defend spiders? Behav Ecol 10 372 376
5. TC Bukowski TE Christenson 1997 Natural history and copulatory behavior of the spiny orb weaving spider Micrathena gracilis (Araneae, Araneidae) J Arachnol 25 307 320
6. TC Bukowski TE Christenson 2000 Determinants of mating frequency in the spiny orb weaving spider, Micrathena gracilis (Araneae: Araneidae) J Insect Behav 13 331 352
7. CL Craig 1991 Physical constraints on group foraging and social evolution: observations on web-spinning spiders Funct Ecol 5 649 654
8. CL Craig GD Bernard 1990 Insect attraction to ultraviolet-reflecting spider webs and web decorations Ecology 71 616 623
9. CL Craig K Ebert 1994 Color and pattern in predator-prey interactions: the bright body colors and patterns of a tropical orb spinning spider attract flower-seeking prey Funct Ecol 8 616 620
10. WG Eberhard 2007 Stabilimenta of Philoponella vicina (Araneae: Uloboridae) and Gasteracantha cancriformis (Araneae: Araneidae): Evidence against a prey attractant function Biotropica 39 216 220
11. ME Hauber 2002 Conspicuous coloration attracts prey to a stationary predator Ecological Entomol 27 686 691
12. KF Haynes C Gemeno KV Yeargan JG Millar KM Johnson 2002 Aggressive chemical mimicry of moth pheromones by a bolas spider: how does this specialist predator attract more than one species of prey? Chemoecology 12 99 105
13. AM Heiling ME Herberstein L Chittka 2003 Pollinator attraction: crab-spiders manipulate flower signals Nature 421 334 334
14. ME Herberstein CL Craig JA Coddington MA Elgar 2000 The functional significance of silk decorations of orb-web spiders: a critical review of the empirical evidence Biol Rev 75 649 669
15. FJ Hoese EAJ Law D Rao ME Herberstein 2006 Distinctive yellow bands on a sit-and-wait predator: prey attractant or camouflage? Behaviour 143 763 781
16. HW Levi 1978 The American orb weaver genera Colphepeira, Micrathena and Gasteracantha north of Mexico (Araneae; Araneidae) Bull Mus Comp Zool 148 417 442
17. HW Levi 1985 The spiny orb-weaver genera Micrathena and Chaetacis Araneae Araneidae Bull Mus Comp Zool 150 429 618
18. GS Oxford RG Gillespie 1998 Evolution and ecology of spider coloration Annu Rev Entomol 43 619 643
19. SAS Institute (2002) SAS system version 9.1 for Windows. SAS Institute, Cary
20. MK Stowe JH Tumlinson RR Heath 1987 Chemical mimicry: bolas spiders emit components of moth prey species sex-pheromones Science 236 964 967
21. IM Tso PL Tai TH Ku CH Kuo EC Yang 2002 Color-associated foraging success and population genetic structure in a sit-and-wait predator Nephila maculata (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) Anim Behav 63 175 182
22. IM Tso CW Lin EC Yang 2004 Colorful orb-weaving spiders, Nephila pilipes, through a bee's eyes J Exp Biol 207 2631 2637
23. IM Tso CP Liao RP Huang EC Yang 2006 Function of being colorful in web spiders: attracting prey or camouflaging oneself? Behav Ecol 17 606 613
24. GW Uetz JM Biere 1980 Prey of Micrathena gracilis (Walckenaer) (Araneae: Araneidae) in comparison with artificial webs and other trapping devices Bull Br Arachnol Soc 5 101 107
25. GW Uetz SP Hartsock 1987 Prey selection in an orb-weaving spider Micrathena gracilis (Araneae, Araneidae) Psyche (Cambridge) 94 103 116
26. R Vaclav P Prokop 2006 Does the appearance of orb weaving spiders attract prey? Annales Zoologici Fennici 43 65 71