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67 results for “social spiders”
Global expansion of a solitary-social tropical spitting spider shaped by multiple long-distance dispersals
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Data from: Trait-specific indirect effects underlie variation in the response of spiders to cannibalistic social partners
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Social context, but not individual personality, alters immigrant viability in a spider with mixed social structure
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Code and data associated with 'The web architecture, dynamics, and silk investment in the social spider, Stegodyphus sarasinorum'
<p>Location of the main files and folders relevant to the paper:</p> <p>All R based analyses were done with a combination of a Windows 8 laptop and a Linux Mint 19.2 Cinnamon.<br> The nparLD analyses require R version 2.15.3, and the other analyses were done with R version<br> 3.4.4. Multiple versions of R can be installed and run on the same system using the Rbuild and Renv packages. Please see the parts of the Rmd files describing the nparLD analyses to see how this was done.</p> <p>## Silk investment and topology related analyses are in the folder 'web-construction FINAL round- raw data/analysis-FINALround/analysis-results/feb_2016_Rmdfiles/</p> <p>R Markdown notebook files and associated HTML outputs used to replicate figures and results in paper:</p> <p>### Pore-size and coordination number analysis</p> <p>- beleyur_et_al_topology_analyses.Rmd</p> <p>### Silk investment and per-capita analyses</p> <p>- beleyur_et_al_silk_analyses.Rmd</p> <p>### Weight-loss analysis</p> <p>- weight_loss_analysis.Rmd</p> <p>### nparLD analysis scripts</p> <p>- poresize_CN_nparLD.R<br> - silk_nparLD.R</p> <p>## Coordination number and pore size calculations</p> <p>Code and data used to quantify the coordination number and pore size in 'AllResults.zip' - a combination of raw images, .mat data files and .m files that can be analysed using the MATLAB platform.</p> <p>All data and code in 'AllResults.zip'</p> <p> </p> <p>## Raw data location:</p> <p>'web-construction FINAL round- raw data/pics-till 11th March/pics by date and batch/'</p> <p>All raw JPG images are placed according to their batch (A-J), and group size. Please note that not all webs can be finally analysed as having the labelled group size because despite all efforts spiders somehow managed to move between colonies in some cases! Please refer to the actual colonies used in the manuscript, these webs have definitely been built by the specified number of spiders.</p> <p>## Hand-cropped images of only web with retreat</p> <p>'web-construction FINAL round- raw data/pics-till 11th March/cropped_photos_in_one_place/'</p> <p>These are TIF files made after manual cropping of the web pictures. Please see the note above explaining how to choose the webs with valid group sizes.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>
Data from: Collective aggressiveness limits colony persistence in high but not low elevation sites in Amazonian social spiders
Identifying the traits that foster group survival in contrasting environments is important for understanding local adaptation in social systems. Here we evaluate the relationship between the aggressiveness of social spider colonies and their persistence along an elevation gradient using the Amazonian spider, Anelosimus eximius. We found that colonies of A. eximius exhibit repeatable differences in their collective aggressiveness (latency to attack prey stimuli), and that colony aggressiveness is linked with persistence in a site-specific manner. Less aggressive colonies are better able to persist at high-elevation sites, which lack colony-sustaining large-bodied prey, whereas colony aggression was not related to chance of persistence at low-elevation sites. This suggests that low aggressiveness promotes colony survival in high-elevation, prey-poor habitats, perhaps via increased tolerance to resource limitation. These data reveal that the collective phenotypes that relate to colony persistence vary by site, and thus, the path of social evolution in these environments is likely to be affected.
Data from: Rain, predators, and spider sociality: a manipulative experiment
Group-living organisms offer a unique perspective on how environmental gradients influence geographic distributions, as not only the properties of individuals, but also those of their groups interact with the environment to determine a species range. In turn, the ranges of group-living organisms should provide insights on the conditions that favor group versus solitary living. Here we show that rain intensity and predation by ants, factors postulated to exclude subsocial Anelosimus spiders from the lowland tropical rainforest, are greater in this habitat than at higher elevations. We further show that experimentally excluding these factors increases the survival of subsocial Anelosimus colonies when transplanted to the lowland rainforest, but not at their native higher elevation range. While providing a rare experimental test of the simultaneous importance of abiotic and biotic gradients on species range limits, these results provide direct evidence that adverse environmental factors may prevent solitary living and require group living in certain environments.
Data from: Evolution of sociality in spiders leads to depleted genomic diversity at both population and species level
Across several animal taxa, the evolution of sociality involves a suite of characteristics, a 'social syndrome', that includes cooperative breeding, reproductive skew, primary female biased sex-ratio, and the transition from outcrossing to inbreeding mating system, factors that are expected to reduce effective population size (Ne). This social syndrome may be favoured by short-term benefits but come with long-term costs, because the reduction in Ne amplifies loss of genetic diversity by genetic drift, ultimately restricting the potential of populations to respond to environmental change. To investigate the consequences of this social life form on genetic diversity, we used a comparative RAD-sequencing approach to estimate genome-wide diversity in spider species that differ in level of sociality, reproductive skew, and mating system. We analysed multiple populations of three independent sister-species pairs of social inbreeding and subsocial outcrossing Stegodyphus spiders, and a subsocial outgroup. Heterozygosity and within population diversity were 6-10 fold lower in social compared to subsocial species, and demographic modelling revealed a tenfold reduction in Ne of social populations. Species-wide genetic diversity depends on population divergence and the viability of genetic lineages. Population genomic patterns were consistent with high lineage turnover, which homogenizes the genetic structure that builds up between inbreeding populations, ultimately depleting genetic diversity at the species level. Indeed, species-wide genetic diversity of social species was 5-8 times lower than that of subsocial species. The repeated evolution of species with this social syndrome is associated with severe loss of genome-wide diversity, likely to limit their evolutionary potential.
Data from: The social factors driving settlement and relocation decisions in a solitary and aggregative spider
Both ecological and social factors play an important role in determining the structure of animal settlement patterns. While the ecological factors determining animal settlement are generally well known, the relative importance of social factors in mediating fine-scale settlement choices is poorly understood. As a result, we have little knowledge of why individuals choose to settle near specific neighbors. Here we used a web-building spider (Nephila plumipes) that settles both solitarily and next to neighbors within aggregations to examine the specific social factors that influence settlement decisions. Within experimental enclosures we observed the settlement patterns of females pre- and post-male release. This allowed us to compare two models of aggregative settlement in lekking species, the hotshot and preferences models, to examine the relative importance of a female's phenotype and mate attraction to further dissect settlement and relocation decisions. We show that mate attraction increased with aggregation size, and that larger females were generally preferred, supporting both the hotshot and preference models of aggregative settlement. We further demonstrate that smaller females that attracted fewer males within an aggregation were most likely to relocate. Our results demonstrate how social feedback can affect initially state-dependent settlement decisions, thereby highlighting the dynamic nature of settlement.
Data from: The shortfall of sociality: group-living affects hunting performance of individual social spiders
Ineffective hunters in cooperative foraging groups may be shielded from natural selection by their more effective group mates, whereas those living solitarily would starve and thus be removed from the population. The problem may be exacerbated in large groups where it may be easier for individuals to withhold participation. Group foragers may thus be ineffective individual hunters or exhibit greater inter-individual variation in hunting abilities, in particular when living in large groups. We test these hypotheses in spider species of the genus Anelosimus that differ in their level of sociality and, among social species, in colonies of different sizes. We found that individuals from the more social species, and those from larger groups, reacted more slowly to prey than those from solitary species or small groups. Individuals from these categories also had greater inter-individual variation in reaction times. Individuals from large social groups also had lower prey capture success than those from small ones. These differences may have been driven by the size of the group from which the social individuals were taken, as those from small colonies behaved similarly to individuals of the two less social species. This finding suggests that hunting ability may develop as a phenotypically plastic trait.
Data from: Fitness consequences of outcrossing in a social spider with an inbreeding mating system
Inbreeding mating systems are uncommon because of inbreeding depression. Mating among close relatives can evolve, however, when outcrossing is constrained. Social spiders show obligatory mating among siblings. In combination with a female-biased sex ratio, sib-mating results in small effective populations. In such a system high genetic homozygosity is expected, and drift may cause population divergence. We tested the effect of outcrossing in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Females were mated to sib-males, to a non-nestmate within the population, or to a male from a distant population, and fitness traits of F1s were compared. We found reduced hatching success of broods from between-population crosses, suggesting the presence of population divergence at a large geographical scale that may result in population incompatibility. However, a lack of a difference in offspring performance between inbred and outbred crosses indicates little genetic variation between populations, and could suggest recent colonisation by a common ancestor. This is consistent with population dynamics of frequent colonisations by single sib-mated females of common origin, and extinctions of populations after few generations. While drift or single mutations can lead to population divergence at a relatively short time scale, it is possible that dynamic population processes homogenize these effects at longer time scales.
Data from: Effects of host colony size and hygiene behaviors on social spider kleptoparasite loads along an elevation gradient
1.Group living animals are likely to attract more parasites than solitary ones. Parasite loads, however, should also depend on environmental conditions and on host characteristics and behaviors. Previous work has found that social spider colonies harbor communities of kleptoparasitic spiders thats forego building their own web and, instead, steal prey from their social host. 2.We examined parasite loads and host hygiene behaviors in colonies of social and subsocial spiders in the genus Anelosimus along an elevation gradient in eastern Ecuador. 3.We found that parasite loads declined dramatically with increasing elevation. Host hygiene behaviors, such as debris removal, web repair, and interactions with the parasites, also declined with elevation. Within elevations, species with more frequent hygiene behaviors appeared more successful at keeping parasites at bay. Contrary to our predictions, parasite density declined with host nest and colony size. 4.The decline in parasite loads at higher elevations likely reflects a lower rate of energy exchange between colonies and their environments, where colder temperatures mean fewer and smaller prey for colonies to process. The decline in parasite density with host colony size may reflect a decline in the number of accessible prey in larger host colonies, as larger colonies should capture fewer but larger insects due to scaling properties of their three dimensional webs. 5.Social immunity, whereby a social host uses social behaviour to fight against parasites, has been studied in eusocial and non‐eusocial insects. This study opens up social spiders as a novel system in which to study how host characteristics interact with environmental factors to affect parasite loads. It also introduces the concept of group‐level immunity to social spiders and suggests a role for colony‐level metabolism in determining ecological patterns in parasitism.
Data from: The ecology of spider sociality – A spatial model
<p>The emergence of animal societies offers unsolved problems for both evolutionary and ecological studies. Social spiders are specially well suited to address this problem given their multiple independent origins and distinct geographical distribution. Based on long term research on the spider genus <em>Anelosimus</em>, we developed a spatial model that recreates observed macroecological patterns in the distribution of social and subsocial spiders. We show that parallel gradients of increasing insect size and disturbance (rain, predation) with proximity to the lowland tropical rainforest would explain why social species are concentrated in the lowland wet tropics, but absent from higher elevations and latitudes. The model further shows that disturbance, which disproportionately affects small colonies, not only creates conditions that require group living, but also tempers the dynamics of large social groups. Similarly simple underlying processes, albeit with different players on a somewhat different stage, may explain the diversity of other social systems.</p> <p> </p>
Metabolite profiling of the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola along a climate gradient
<p>Animals experience climatic variation in their natural habitats, which may lead to variation in phenotypic responses among populations through local adaptation or phenotypic plasticity. In ectotherm arthropods, the expression of thermoprotective metabolites such as free amino acids, sugars, and polyols, in response to temperature stress, may facilitate temperature tolerance by regulating cellular homeostasis. If populations experience differences in temperatures, individuals may exhibit population-specific metabolite profiles through differential accumulation of metabolites that facilitate thermal tolerance. Such thermoprotective metabolites may originate from the animals themselves or from their associated microbiome, and hence microbial symbionts may contribute to shape the thermal niche of their host.</p> <p>The social spider Stegodyphus dumicola has extremely low genetic diversity, yet it occupies a relatively broad temperature range occurring across multiple climate zones in Southern Africa. We investigated whether the metabolome, including thermoprotective metabolites, differs between populations, and whether population genetic structure or the spider microbiome may explain potential differences. To address these questions, we assessed metabolite profiles, phylogenetic relationships, and microbiomes in three natural populations along a temperature gradient.</p> <p>The spider microbiomes in three genetically distinct populations of S. dumicola showed no significant population-specific pattern, and none of its dominating genera (Borrelia, Diplorickettsia, and Mycoplasma) are known to facilitate thermal tolerance in hosts. These results do not support a role of the microbiome in shaping the thermal niche of S. dumicola. Metabolite profiles of the three spider populations were significantly different. The variation was driven by multiple metabolites that can be linked to temperature stress (e.g. lactate, succinate or xanthine) and thermal tolerance (e.g. polyols, trehalose, or glycerol): these metabolites had higher relative abundance in spiders from the hottest geographic region. These distinct metabolite profiles are consistent with a potential role of the metabolome in temperature response.</p>
Data from: Not just females: the socio-ecology of social interactions between spider monkey males
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Male-male relationships are mostly characterized by competition. However, males also cooperate with one another if socio-ecological conditions are suitable. Due to their male philopatry, need for cooperation in home range defence and high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, spider monkeys provide an opportunity to investigate how male-male interactions are associated with socio-ecological factors, such as the presence of potentially receptive females, the degree of food availability and the likelihood of home range defence. We tested predictions about changes in social interactions between wild spider monkey males in relation to these factors. First, males did not change their interaction patterns when potentially receptive females were in the subgroup compared to when they were absent. Second, males tended to be less tolerant of one another when feeding, but spent more time grooming, in contact and proximity with one another when food availability was lower than when it was higher. Third, males exchanged fewer embraces, spent less time grooming, in proximity and in contact with one another, and spent more time vigilant at the home range boundary area than at other locations. Our findings contribute to the understanding of social flexibility and the importance of considering males in socio-ecological models of any group-living species.</span></p>
Data from: Task specialization in two social spiders, Stegodyphus sarasinorum (Eresidae) and Anelosimus eximius (Theridiidae).
Understanding the social organization of group living organisms is crucial for the comprehension of the underlying selective mechanisms involved in the evolution of cooperation. Division of labour and caste formation is restricted to eusocial organisms, but behavioural asymmetries and reproductive skew is common in other group living animals. Permanently social spiders form highly related groups with reproductive skew and communal brood care. We investigated task differentiation in non-reproductive tasks in two permanently and independently derived social spider species asking the following questions: Do individual spiders vary consistently in their propensity to engage in prey attack? Are individual spiders' propensities to engage in web maintenance behaviour influenced by their previous engagement in prey attack? Interestingly, we found that both species showed some degree of task specialization, but in distinctly different ways: Stegodyphus sarasinorum, showed behavioural asymmetries at the individual level, i.e. individual spiders that had attacked prey once were more likely to attack prey again, independent of their body size or hunger level. In contrast, Anelosimus eximius showed no individual specialization, but showed differentiation according to life stage, where adult and subadult females were more likely to engage in prey attack than were juveniles. We found no evidence for division of labour between prey attack and web maintenance. Different solutions to achieve task differentiation in prey attack for the two species studied here suggest an adaptive value of task specialization in foraging for social spiders.
Antimicrobial Compounds in the Volatilome of Social Spider Communities
<p>This data set contains the raw GC-MS data in cdf-format of the corresponding publication.</p>
Sperm induction in the social spider Anelosimus jabaquara Levi, 1956 (Theridiidae)
<p>Movie file to accompany Sperm induction in the social spider Anelosimus jabaquara Levi, 1956 (Theridiidae), Arachnology 18(9).</p>
Data from: Good reasons to leave home: proximate dispersal cues in a social spider
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Data from: The social factors driving settlement and relocation decisions in a solitary and aggregative spider
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Data from: The shortfall of sociality: group-living affects hunting performance of individual social spiders
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