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Evidence that web reduction by western black widow malesfunctions in sexual communication

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2012

Catherine Scott ,
Samantha Vibert  and
Gerhard Gries
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Abstract

A well-accepted function of courtship in sexually dimorphic andcannibalistic spiders is suppression of female predatory responses. Wequantitatively analysed courtship in the western black widow, Latrodectus hesperus Chamberlin and Ivie (Araneae:Theridiidae), to determine the behavioural elements of the males’ courtshipthat are correlated with mating success and/or the females’ responses. The58% of males that engaged in web reduction elicited fewer aggressiveresponses from females and induced female quiescence more quickly than didmales not exhibiting web reduction behaviour. Our data suggest that webreduction by male L. hesperus functions in sexualcommunication, a context not previously explored.

Résumé

Chez les araignées qui présentent un dimorphisme et un cannibalisme sexuels,une fonction reconnue du comportement de cour est la suppression de laréponse de prédation de la femelle. Nous avons analysé quantitativement lecomportement de cour chez la veuve noire de l'ouest, Latrodectus hesperus Chamberlin et Ivie (Araneae: Theridiidae), afin dedéterminer les éléments du comportement de cour des mâles qui sont corrélésavec leur succès de reproduction et/ou les réponses de la femelle. 58% desmâles se sont consacrés à la réduction de la toile; ils ont provoqué moinsde réponses agressives de la part des femelles, et ont induit plusrapidement un état de transe chez la femelle, que les mâles qui ne se sontpas livrés à ce comportement de réduction de la toile. Nos données suggèrentque la réduction de la toile par les mâles L. hesperus joueun rôle dans la communication entre mâles et femelles, un contexte qui n'apas été exploré jusqu’à présent.

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Type
Original Article
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 144 , Issue 5 , October 2012 , pp. 672 - 678
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2012

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