Predator perception of detritus and eggsac decorations spun by orb-web spiders Cyclosa octotuberculata:Do they function to camouflage the spiders?

Camouflage is one of the most widespread and powerful strategies that animals use to make detection/recognition more difficult. Many orb-web spiders of the genus Cyclosa add prey remains, plant debris, moults, and/or eggsacs to their webs called web decorations. Web decorations resembling spider body colour pattern have been considered to camouflage the spider from predators. While this camouflage is obvious from a human＇s perspective, it has rarely been investigated from a predator＇s perspective. In this study, we tested the visibility of web decorations by calculating chromatic and achromatic contrasts of detritus and eggsae decorations built by Cyclosa octotubereulata, against four different backgrounds viewed by both bird （e.g., blue tits） and hymenopteran （e.g. wasps） predators. We showed that both juvenile and adult spiders on webs with detritus or egg-sac deco- rations were undetectable by both hymenopteran and bird predators over short and long distances. Our results thus suggest that decorating webs with detritus or eggsacs by C octotuberculata may camouflage the spiders from both hymenopteran and bird predators in their common habitats [Current Zoology 56 （3）： 379-387, 2010].

Males armed with big weapons win fights at limited cost in ant-mimickingjumping spiders

A core assumption of sexual selection theory is that sexually selected weapons,specialized morphological structures used directly in male con-tests,can improve an individual's reproductive success but only if the bearer can overcome associated costs,the negative effects on the bear-er's fitness components.However,recent studies have shown that producing and wielding exaggerated weapons may not necessarily be costly.Rather,some traits can be selected for supporting,or compensating for,the expense of producing and wielding such exaggerated weapons.n the ant-mimicking jumping spider Myrmarachne gisti,exaggerated chelicerae are borne only by adult males and not females,showing sexual dimorphism and steep positive allometry with body size.Here,we determine the potential benefits of bearing exaggerated chelicerae during male contests and explore the potential for costs in terms of prey-capture efficiency and compensation between chelicera size and neighboring trait size.While males with longer chelicerae won most of their male-male contests,we found no significant differences in prey-capture effi-ciency between males and females regardless of whether prey was winged or flightless.Males'elongated chelicerae thus do not impede their efficiency at capturing prey.Furthermore,we found that the sizes of all neighboring traits are positively correlated with chelicera size,suggesting that these traits may be under correlational selection.Taken together,our findings suggest that M.gisti males armed with the exaggerated chelicerae that function as weapons win more fights at limited cost for performance in prey capture and compensate for neighboring structures.

Conspicuous cruciform silk decorations deflect avian predator attacks

Although camouflage as an effective antipredator defense strategy is widespread across animals,highly conspicuous color patterning is not uncommon either.Many orb-web spiders adorn their webs with extra bright white silk.These conspicuous decorations are hypothesized to deter predators by warning the presence of sticky webs,camouflaging spiders,acting as a decoy,or intimidating predators by their apparent size.The decorations may also deflect predator attacks from spiders.However,empirical evidence for this deflection function remains limited.Here,we tested this hypothesis using the X-shaped silk cruciform decorations built by females of Argiope minuta.We employed visual modeling to quantify the conspicuousness of spiders and decorations from a perspective of avian predators.Then,we determined actual predation risk on spiders using naïve chicks as predators.Spider bodies and decorations were conspicuous against natural backgrounds to the avian visual systems.Chicks attacked the spider main bodies significantly less frequently on the decorated webs than on the undecorated webs,thus reducing predation risk.When both spiders and decorations were present,chicks also attacked the spider main bodies and their legs or decorations,and not randomly:they attacked the legs or decorations sooner and more frequently than they attacked the main bodies,independent of the ratio of the surface area between the decoration and spider size.Despite the increase in detectability,incorporating a conspicuous cruciform decoration to the web effectively defends the spider by diverting the attack toward the decoration or leg,but not by camouflaging or intimidating,thus,supporting the deflection hypothesis.

Masquerading predators deceive prey by aggressively mimicking bird droppings in a crab spider

In aggressive mimicry,a predator accesses prey by mimicking the appearance and/or behavior of a harmless or beneficial model in order to avoid being correctly identified by its prey.The crab spider genus Phrynarachne is often cited as a textbook example of masquerading as bird droppings(BDs)in order to avoid predation.However,Phrynarachne spiders may also aggressively mimic BDs in order to deceive potential prey.To date,there is no experimental evidence to support aggressive mimicry in masquerading crab spiders;therefore,we performed a field survey,a manipulative field experiment,and visual modeling to test this hypothesis using Phrynarachne ceylonica.We compared prey-attraction rates among BDs,spiders,and control empty leaves in the field.We found that although all prey combined and agromyzid dipterans,in particular,were attracted to BDs at a higher rate than to spiders,other dipterans and hymenopterans were attracted to BDs at a similar rate as to spiders.Both spiders and BDs attracted insects at a significantly higher rate than did control leaves.As predicted,prey was attracted to experimentally blackened or whitened spiders significantly less frequently than to unmanipulated spiders.Finally,visual modeling suggested that spiders and BDs can be detected by dipterans and hymenopterans against background leaves,but they are indistinguishable from each other.Taken together,our results suggest that insects lured by spiders may misidentify them as BDs,and bird-dropping masquerading may serve as aggressive mimicry in addition to predator avoidance in P.ceylonica.