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Discrimination and release of unpalatable butterflies by Nephila clavipes , a neotropical orb‐weaving spider
Author(s) -
VASCONCELLOSNETO JOÃO,
LEWINSOHN THOMAS MICHAEL
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1984.tb00857.x
Subject(s) - spider , biology , butterfly , pieridae , predation , ecology , zoology
. 1. Nephila clavipes (L.), a common spider in neotropical forests, discriminates some unpalatable prey and releases them unharmed from its web. Release is not accidental but results from a specific behavioural sequence. 2. Field trials with twenty‐seven butterfly species showed that spiders respond consistently to butterfly species and higher taxa. Ithomiinae and some Danainae are almost always released while Heliconiinae, Nymphalinae, Acraeinae, Pieridae and Papilionidae are usually eaten. 3. Paired tests showed that an immediately preceding experience with a different butterfly did not reveal any change in the spider's usual response to a particular butterfly. 4. Warning coloration is not involved in spider response. Spiders rejected the models but ate the mimics of two different butterfly species pairs. Distastefulness is probably signalled by chemical cues. 5. Some unpalatable butterflies stay motionless when entangled and while the spiders release them. Motionlessness in webs seems to be a requisite to allow recognition of their distastefulness without being bitten by the spider. 6. Spiders differ from vertebrates in the prey accepted and in rejection mechanics. Although there is no indication of learning, spiders may select butterflies for distastefulness, chemical signals and motionlessness, at the individual level.