Article
Behavioral Sciences
Wonbin Lim, Changku Kang
Summary: This study examines the function and adaptive significance of jerking behavior in Cyclosa argenteoalba orb-weaving spiders. The results show that spiders jerk more as prey size increases and spider size decreases. Jerks reduce the likelihood of prey escaping and increase the number of spiral threads contacting the prey. The efficiency of jerks is lower in larger prey, potentially due to spiders' cautiousness and reduced jerk efficiency towards larger prey. These findings highlight the importance of jerking behavior in prey capture for orb-weaving spiders.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Khairul Saleh
Summary: This paper analyzes a modified ratio-dependent predator-prey model with a strong Allee effect and linear prey refugee, and finds rich dynamics in the model. The model exhibits different scenarios including oscillation, coexistence, and extinction, with bounded solutions and positive initial values. The paper also explores several bifurcations in the system, and identifies the Bogdanov-Takens bifurcation as the organizing center for the survival or extinction of both interacting species.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Lucas Baumgart, Eva-Marie Schaa, Florian Menzel, Anna-Christin Joel
Summary: Most spiders use specialized adhesive substances to capture prey, while cribellate spiders rely on nanofibers and the interaction with cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to catch prey. This study found that the interaction between CHCs and cribellate threads not only affects adhesion, but also changes the mechanical characteristics of the threads. These mechanical changes are beneficial for the spider in capturing and immobilizing prey.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2022)
Article
Biology
Claire Goiran, Terri Shine, Richard Shine
Summary: The evolution of bright warning colors in nontoxic animals is often attributed to mimicry of toxic species. By pulling snake-shaped models through the water and observing the response of predatory fish, the study found that banded color patterns reduce the vulnerability of non-venomous marine snakes to predation.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Jennifer E. Smith, John Keane, Craig Mundy, Caleb Gardner, Michael Oellermann
Summary: Climate change increases the need to control range-extending species, but the predation rate of resident Southern Rock Lobsters on the Longspined Sea Urchins is low, indicating the need for additional control methods to safeguard ecological communities and commercial stocks.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Wenbin Lyu
Summary: This paper establishes the existence of globally bounded classical solutions to a predator-prey model with attraction-repulsion taxis in a smooth bounded domain, and obtains the global stabilization of solutions with convergence rates to constant steady states.
MATHEMATICAL BIOSCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Klaus Birkhofer, El Aziz Djoudi, Benjamin Schnerch, Radek Michalko
Summary: This meta-analysis examines the impact of global change on the relative importance of different prey groups in spider diets. It finds that climatic conditions, land-use types, and functional traits of spider species all play a role in determining the importance of Hemiptera, Araneae, and Collembola prey. Future increases in temperature seasonality and conversion of non-agricultural to agricultural land are predicted to increase the importance of Collembola prey in spider diets.
Article
Zoology
Mateusz Augustyniak, Kalina Kolacka, Jaroslaw Kobak, Piotr Hliwa, Piotr Klosinski, Malgorzata Poznanska-Kakareko, Lukasz Jermacz, Tomasz Kakareko
Summary: After invasive fish are detected by native predators, their antipredator behaviors can shape their role in the invaded community and contribute to the success of the invasion. Comparing the behaviors of invasive and native fish species, it was found that the invasive fish were equivalent to or more profitable prey for native predators, facilitating their integration into local food webs.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vicki L. Thill, Haley A. Moniz, Mike B. Teglas, McKenzie J. Wasley, Chris R. Feldman
Summary: In the western USA, two lizard species are able to consume black widow spiders without significant negative effects, while another lizard species that is preyed upon by the spiders experiences performance reductions and tissue damage when exposed to black widow spider venom.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Scarlett R. Howard, Jair E. Garcia, Adrian G. Dyer
Summary: Flower color signaling is a primary communication system between plants and pollinators, with bees being important pollinators. While managed eusocial bee species are well-studied, native non-eusocial bees are often overlooked. Australian native halictid bees show color preferences, with one species preferring UV-absorbing white and yellow stimuli, while another species shows no color preference. Green contrast and spectral purity positively influence the visits of one bee species to stimuli. Color preferences in bees may be phylogenetically conserved and influenced by both innate and environmental factors.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Leanne K. van der Weyde, Daniel T. Blumstein, Mike Letnic, Katherine Tuft, Ned Ryan-Schofield, Katherine E. Moseby
Summary: Prey species that are naive to novel predators are at increased risk of predation and potential extinction. Exposure to native predators can improve anti-predator traits in prey, but this advantage may not apply to novel predators with different behaviors. Predator naivety negatively affects reintroduction success, especially when prey encounters predators without evolutionary experience. Exposing prey to native predators first may be an effective way to improve their responses to evolutionarily novel predators.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Ailing Xiang, Liangchen Wang
Summary: This paper investigates the predator-prey system with density-dependent motilities and indirect pursuit-evasion interaction. Under certain assumptions, the global existence and boundedness of classical solutions are proven in two dimensions, and it is also shown that the global solutions are uniformly bounded with respect to time in higher dimensions.
NONLINEAR ANALYSIS-REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Minzhen Xu, Shangjiang Guo
Summary: In this paper, the local dynamics of a class of 3-dimensional Lotka-Volterra systems with a discrete delay are studied, focusing on linear stability, Hopf bifurcation, regions of attraction for the positive steady state, and conditions for the principle of competitive exclusion.
DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS-SERIES B
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Marta Skowron Volponi, Luca Pietro Casacci, Paolo Volponi, Francesca Barbero
Summary: The study found that the buzzing sounds of Southeast Asian clearwing moths closely resemble those of Tetragonilla collina bees, but differ from two control species of bees. This suggests that clearwing moths exhibit multimodal mimicry of their evolutionary models in terms of morphology, behavior, and sound.
FRONTIERS IN ZOOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Andrea Romano, Robin Sechaud, Alexandre Roulin
Summary: This study investigated the covariation between the western barn owl and its prey in terms of wing length, bill length, and plumage color. The findings showed a positive correlation between wing length and prey size, as well as a tendency for paler plumaged individuals to hunt larger prey. These results suggest that predator-prey interactions can influence spatial phenotypic variation and the evolution of local adaptations.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jonas O. Wolff, Kaja Wierucka, Gabriele Uhl, Marie E. Herberstein
Summary: By studying the evolutionary rates of body morphology in spiders that build and do not build structures, the research found that variation in morphology evolution is poorly explained by artifact use. Natural selection directly acting on body morphology is the main driver of phenotypic diversity.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Anne E. Wignall, Marie E. Herberstein
Summary: Male spiders generate shudder vibrations in the female's web to reduce the risk of being mistaken for prey by females during courtship. These vibrations also delay female aggression towards real prey in the web. The structure of shudder vibrations varies among distantly related spider species, indicating the influence of female preferences on courtship signals. Male courtship in web-building spiders serves multiple functions, including reducing the risk of sexual cannibalism. Shudder vibrations are highly conserved across web-building spider species, but there are variations in their structure.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Evolutionary Biology
Wijayamuni Dewage Sanjaya Chathuranga Dharmarathne, Mariella Elisabeth Herberstein
Summary: This article reviews the limitations of sperm transfer in spiders and conducts a meta-analysis on published data. The study identifies behavioral factors that influence sperm transfer and lists morphological and physiological traits where the impact on sperm transfer is still unclear.
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Natalia D. Mello, Luis G. F. Sanchez, Felipe M. Gawryszewski
Summary: Studies suggest that animal camouflage may be influenced by natural selection, with the colors of animal communities potentially following patterns similar to vegetation, indicating a potential for camouflage against the environment.
EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
David W. Kikuchi, Michael Barfield, Marie E. Herberstein, Johanna Mappes, Robert D. Holt
Summary: Understanding the population dynamics of predators and alternative prey is crucial in determining the prevalence and abundance of model-mimic systems in Batesian mimicry. This study reveals that the population dynamics of predators and alternative prey can reverse traditional theoretical predictions, leading to apparent competition and potentially affecting the relative abundances of mimic and model populations. It suggests that the availability of alternative prey and numerical responses by predators may play a significant role in the scarcity of warning signals in nature.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Giselle E. Muschett, Christina J. Painting, Marie E. Herberstein, Kate D. L. Umbers
Summary: This study investigates the variation in aggressive behavior among four skyhopper species and examines whether the traits used in fighting show signatures of sexual selection. The results reveal clear differences in the numbers and types of aggressive behaviors among species, and indicate that mandible size and pronotum size may be related to aggressive behavior.
EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Jonas O. Wolff, Kaja Wierucka, Gustavo B. Paterno, Jonathan A. Coddington, Gustavo Hormiga, Michael B. J. Kelly, Marie E. Herberstein, Martin J. Ramirez
Summary: This study investigates the interaction between spider morphology, ecology, and phenotypic diversity. It finds that spider body size and proportions are related to foraging style. Some traits differ between ecological guilds, but there is no specific morphometric trait associated with the relative ecological mode. Eye size and fang length do not differ between ecological guilds. The study highlights the importance of combining phylogenomics with trait-based approaches.
SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, Donald James McLean, Zoe Wild, Jutta M. Schneider, Marie E. Herberstein
Summary: This study provides the first detailed description of the novel retreat building strategy of the tree trunk jumping spider, Arasia mullion. These spiders build silk retreats on the exposed surface of tree trunks and decorate them with bark debris. These findings contribute to our understanding of the ecological role of tree trunk jumping spiders in challenging habitats.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marie E. Herberstein, Donald James McLean, Elizabeth Lowe, Jonas O. Wolff, Md Kawsar Khan, Kaitlyn Smith, Andrew P. Allen, Matthew Bulbert, Bruno A. Buzatto, Mark D. B. Eldridge, Daniel Falster, Laura Fernandez Winzer, Simon C. Griffith, Joshua S. Madin, Ajay Narendra, Mark Westoby, Martin J. Whiting, Ian J. Wright, Alexandra J. R. Carthey
Summary: Trait databases are important resources for comparative studies in ecology and evolution. AnimalTraits database is introduced here, which includes body mass, metabolic rate, and brain size data of terrestrial animals. The database covers a wide range of taxonomic groups and species, sourced from original empirical publications with accompanying metrics and measurements. Additional R scripts are provided to assist researchers in aggregating standardized observations.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Md Kawsar Khan, Marie E. Herberstein
Summary: Sexual selection plays a crucial role in improving population fitness by promoting condition-dependent mate selection and purging deleterious mutations from the gene pool. Parasitism, an ecological factor that reduces individual condition, can influence individuals' mutation load and genetic quality. The study found that parasitised individuals were less likely to be observed mating, indicating the role of sexual selection in countering parasitism.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shatabdi Paul, Md Kawsar Khan, Marie E. Herberstein
Summary: The prevalence and intensity of parasitism vary between sexes, species, and developmental stages. This study found differences in parasitism patterns among damselflies, with variations in prevalence and intensity based on sex and developmental stage.
Article
Ecology
Georgina E. Binns, Liisa Hamalainen, Darrell J. Kemp, Hannah M. Rowland, Kate D. L. Umbers, Marie E. Herberstein
Summary: Many aposematic species show variation in their color patterns, which can be explained by trade-offs with other functions of coloration. This study found no effect of temperature on warning signal expression but observed sex- and population-level differences in wing patterns. Most of the variability in the trait is genetic, indicating the need for further research on the signaling and non-signaling functions of wing coloration.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, Ajay Narendra, Donald James McLean, Elizabeth C. Lowe, Marcelo Christian, Jonas O. Wolff, Jutta M. Schneider, Marie E. Herberstein
Summary: This article focuses on the behavioral analysis of the Australian ant-slayer spider Euryopis umbilicata, which is capable of capturing larger and defended Camponotus ants on vertical tree trunks. The study reveals that this spider exhibits a high level of acrobatic ability and ritualized hunting steps, resulting in an exceptionally high prey capture success rate.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Editorial Material
Ecology
Michael Hrncir, Felipe Malheiros Gawryszewski, Pedro Z. Z. de Moraes, Daniel Marques Almeida Pessoa
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Sofia Coradini Schirmer, Felipe Malheiros Gawryszewski, Marcio Zikan Cardoso, Daniel Marques Almeida Pessoa
Summary: The study aimed to evaluate the differences in melanism and color saturation of butterfly assemblages between tropical rainforest and xeric white forest biomes in the Neotropics. The results showed that rainforest butterflies had higher melanism on their dorsal wing surfaces, possibly as a defense against parasites. Furthermore, rainforest butterflies exhibited darker dorsal wing surfaces compared to their ventral surfaces, indicating thermoregulatory advantages. The study also found that there was higher variance in dorsal wing coloration between species, suggesting the influence of ecological factors on ventral wing coloration.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)