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A natural history of web decorations in the St Andrew’s Cross spider ( Argiope keyserlingi )

A natural history of web decorations in the St Andrew’s Cross spider ( Argiope keyserlingi ) A long-running debate in the spider literature concerns the function of the extra silk decorations in some spider webs. These decorations are appended to the web and constitute a highly visible signal, which is inconsistent with the trend towards web invisibility. Despite the sustained attention of researchers, the exact function of these decorations is yet to be understood. While most studies have focussed on testing particular hypotheses, there has been a dearth of natural history data regarding web decorations in field conditions. In this study we present baseline data regarding the influence of seasonality, microhabitat characteristics and ecology on the presence of web decorations in an Australian orb web spider, Argiope keyserlingi . In particular, we show that there is preference among spiders to build their webs between bushes and to face the south-east, but this preference does not influence decoration building. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian Journal of Zoology CSIRO Publishing

A natural history of web decorations in the St Andrew’s Cross spider ( Argiope keyserlingi )

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Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Copyright
CSIRO
ISSN
0004-959X
eISSN
1446-5698
DOI
10.1071/ZO06010
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A long-running debate in the spider literature concerns the function of the extra silk decorations in some spider webs. These decorations are appended to the web and constitute a highly visible signal, which is inconsistent with the trend towards web invisibility. Despite the sustained attention of researchers, the exact function of these decorations is yet to be understood. While most studies have focussed on testing particular hypotheses, there has been a dearth of natural history data regarding web decorations in field conditions. In this study we present baseline data regarding the influence of seasonality, microhabitat characteristics and ecology on the presence of web decorations in an Australian orb web spider, Argiope keyserlingi . In particular, we show that there is preference among spiders to build their webs between bushes and to face the south-east, but this preference does not influence decoration building.

Journal

Australian Journal of ZoologyCSIRO Publishing

Published: Mar 23, 2007

References