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Sex pheromones function as species and sex recognition signals but can be equally important for mate assessment and choice. Adaptive mate choice requires the covariation of signal characteristics with fitness‐relevant traits, which can be achieved by condition‐dependent costs of signalling. Given a physiological link between signal production and other vital processes, such as immune system function,...
Among group‐living spiders, subsocial representatives in the family of crab spiders (Thomisidae) are a special case, as they build protective communal leaf nests instead of extensive communal capture webs. It could thus be inferred that antipredator benefits (e.g., enhanced protection in larger nests) rather than foraging‐related advantages (e.g., capture of more and larger prey) promote sociality...
High male mating investment may favor selection on male mate choice particularly if females vary in quality. Terminal investment strategies constitute a maximal mating effort and have evolved independently in the absence of paternal investment in several spider taxa including the genus Argiope. To test for male mate preferences in the above context, we used the sexually cannibalistic spider A. bruennichi...
Pre‐copulatory cannibalism – females devouring males during courtship – may bring no benefit to either sex. The ‘aggressive spillover hypothesis’ (ASH) posits that pre‐copulatory cannibalism represents a spillover of female aggressiveness from the juvenile foraging context, when aggressiveness is advantageous, to the adult mating context, when aggressiveness may be non‐adaptive or maladaptive. The...
In many mating systems, males strive for securing paternity through monopolizing females. As male monopolization attempts often contradict female interests, this conflict may fuel an evolutionary arms race. In the widow spider genus Latrodectus, females are commonly polyandrous, whereas males are monogynous, hence restricted to mate with a single female, making paternity protection particularly important...
Spatial and temporal variation in ecological parameters selects for plastic responses to prevailing conditions. Males of web spiders have been shown to adjust developmental decisions to cues that relate to the degree of competition from other males. Here, we explore experimentally whether males of the spider Nephila senegalensis base behavioural decisions in the context of mate choice and sperm allocation...
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