Substrate Preference in a Colonial Spider: Is substrate choice affected by colour morph?

FERNÁNDEZ CAMPÓN, FLORENCIA

ENTOMOLOGICAL SCIENCE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2013

1343-8786

Animals can show preference for a particular background as a way of decreasing visibility. Species withcolor polymorphism may have morph-dependent background preference. I test this hypothesis on theorb-weaving spider Parawixia bistriata. Adult females of P. bistriata present two distinct morphs characterizedby brown and yellow opisthosomata. This nocturnal spider can be found in its retreat on thevegetation during the day. In order to examine whether females exhibit substrate preference dependent ontheir color morph, I first recorded the distribution of color morphs on different substrates (leaf and branch)and then performed a mark and release experiment. Field censuses indicated that the yellow morph wasassociated with leaves while the brown morph was found on either substrate type. The results of a markand reciprocal release experiment agreed with the censuses and suggest that the two morphs differ in theirassociation to substrate type: yellow females were associated with the leaf substrate, while brown femalesshowed no association to a particular substrate type. Possible forces behind these differences in substratechoice are discussed.