Can’t you find me? Female sexual response in Grammostola schulzei (Schmidt 1994), an Argentinean tarantula.

FERRETTI NELSON; COPPERI SOFÍA; POMPOZZI GABRIEL; PÉREZ-MILES FERNANDO

Siedlce, Polonia

Congreso; 18th International Congress of Arachnology; 2010

International Society of Arachnology

Despite the Theraphosidae are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, their biology is poorly known. Studies of mating behavior are limited to few species. Vibratory sexual signals (acoustic and seismic) are frequently used in spider courtship, especially in tarantulas (Uetz & Stratton 1982; Prentice 1992; Quirici & Costa 2005, 2007). Seismic signals generated by male spiders can reach 1 m in ctenids (Barth et al. 1988) and 1.30 m in theraphosids (Quirici & Costa 2007). The usual indicator of effective male signals is the behavioral change of the receptive female. The most unambiguous receptive response usually is leg waving, leg tapping or body vibrations (Ferretti & Ferrero 2008; Prentice 1992; Quirici & Costa 2005, 2007). Grammostola schulzei (Schmidt 1994) is a tarantula from Argentina that lives in burrows under stones in rocky hills (Ferretti & Ferrero 2008). G. schulzei is the unique species of the genus where females showed sexual response to courting males, but the context and possible function of this response was not elucidated (Ferretti & Ferrero 2008). In captivity, female sexual response could be observed allowing females to build and occupy a retreat as in natural conditions but not in open arena (Bertani et al. 2008). The main objective of this work is to elucidate under what context females responded to male’s courtships and to determine the possible function of these behaviors.