Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)

Abstract In the last decade there has been a renewed interest in the study of behavioural adaptations to environmental constraints with a focus on adaptations to challenging habitats due to their reduced ecological complexity. However, behavioural studies on organisms adapted to nutrient poor subter...

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Autores principales:	Daniel Simonsen, Thomas Hesselberg
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6ec5b0405d1c496eb3bdf8ab8974bb05
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6ec5b0405d1c496eb3bdf8ab8974bb052021-12-02T15:13:01ZUnique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)10.1038/s41598-020-79868-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/6ec5b0405d1c496eb3bdf8ab8974bb052021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79868-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract In the last decade there has been a renewed interest in the study of behavioural adaptations to environmental constraints with a focus on adaptations to challenging habitats due to their reduced ecological complexity. However, behavioural studies on organisms adapted to nutrient poor subterranean habitats are few and far between. Here, we compared both morphological traits, in terms of relative leg lengths, and behavioural traits, captured in the geometry of the spider web, between the cave-dwelling spider, Meta menardi, and two aboveground species from the same family (Tetragnathidae); Metellina mengei and Tetragnatha montana. We found that the webs of the cave spider differed significantly from the two surface-dwelling species. The most dramatic difference was the lack of frame threads with the radii in the webs instead attaching directly to the surrounding rock, but other differences in relative web size, web asymmetry and number of capture spiral threads were also found. We argue that these modifications are likely to be adaptations to allow for a novel foraging behaviour to additionally capture walking prey within the vicinity of the web. We found only limited evidence for morphological adaptations and suggest that the cave orb spider could act as a model organism for studies of behaviour in energy-poor environments.Daniel SimonsenThomas HesselbergNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Daniel Simonsen Thomas Hesselberg Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)
description	Abstract In the last decade there has been a renewed interest in the study of behavioural adaptations to environmental constraints with a focus on adaptations to challenging habitats due to their reduced ecological complexity. However, behavioural studies on organisms adapted to nutrient poor subterranean habitats are few and far between. Here, we compared both morphological traits, in terms of relative leg lengths, and behavioural traits, captured in the geometry of the spider web, between the cave-dwelling spider, Meta menardi, and two aboveground species from the same family (Tetragnathidae); Metellina mengei and Tetragnatha montana. We found that the webs of the cave spider differed significantly from the two surface-dwelling species. The most dramatic difference was the lack of frame threads with the radii in the webs instead attaching directly to the surrounding rock, but other differences in relative web size, web asymmetry and number of capture spiral threads were also found. We argue that these modifications are likely to be adaptations to allow for a novel foraging behaviour to additionally capture walking prey within the vicinity of the web. We found only limited evidence for morphological adaptations and suggest that the cave orb spider could act as a model organism for studies of behaviour in energy-poor environments.
format	article
author	Daniel Simonsen Thomas Hesselberg
author_facet	Daniel Simonsen Thomas Hesselberg
author_sort	Daniel Simonsen
title	Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)
title_short	Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)
title_full	Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)
title_fullStr	Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)
title_full_unstemmed	Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)
title_sort	unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider meta menardi (araneae, tetragnathidae)
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6ec5b0405d1c496eb3bdf8ab8974bb05
work_keys_str_mv	AT danielsimonsen uniquebehaviouralmodificationsinthewebstructureofthecaveorbspidermetamenardiaraneaetetragnathidae AT thomashesselberg uniquebehaviouralmodificationsinthewebstructureofthecaveorbspidermetamenardiaraneaetetragnathidae
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Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae)

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