Do social spiders cooperate in predator defense and foraging without a web?

Nearly all social spiders spin prey-capture webs, and many of the benefits proposed for sociality in spiders, such as cooperative prey capture and reduced silk costs, appear to depend on a mutually shared web. The social huntsman spider, Delena cancerides (Sparassidae), forms colonies under bark wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 2011-10, Vol.65 (10), p.1935-1947
Main Authors: Yip, Eric C., Rayor, Linda S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age groups
Animal behavior
Animal Ecology
Ants
Araneae
Bark
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cooperation
Ecology
Foraging
Foraging behavior
Insect behavior
Insect colonies
Instars
Life Sciences
Original Paper
Predation
Predators
Prey
Social behavior
Sparassidae
Spiders
Zoology
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Summary:Nearly all social spiders spin prey-capture webs, and many of the benefits proposed for sociality in spiders, such as cooperative prey capture and reduced silk costs, appear to depend on a mutually shared web. The social huntsman spider, Delena cancerides (Sparassidae), forms colonies under bark with no capture web, yet these spiders remain in tightly associated, long-lasting groups. To investigate how the absence of the web may or may not constrain social evolution in spiders, we observed D. cancerides colonies in the field and laboratory for possible cooperative defense and foraging benefits. We observed spiders' responses to three types of potential predators and to prey that were introduced into retreats. We recorded all natural prey capture over 447 h both inside and outside the retreats of field colonies. The colony's sole adult female was the primary defender of the colony and captured most prey introduced into the retreat. She shared prey with younger juveniles about half the time but never with older subadults. Spiders of all ages individually captured and consumed the vast majority of prey outside the retreat. Young spiders benefited directly from maternal defense and prey sharing in the retreat. However, active cooperation was rare, and older spiders gained no foraging benefit by remaining in their natal colony. D. cancerides does not share many of the benefits of group living described in other webbuilding social spiders. We discuss other reasons why this species has evolved group living.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-011-1203-5